Two hikers stranded near the top of Granite Mountain overnight were rescued by members of the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office Back Country Unit and YCSO Forest Patrol. The rescued hikers walked down trail 261 to the Playa day use area shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday.

Trevor Dalton, 22, of Prescott Valley and Micah Larson, 19, of Prescott appeared to be in good condition after they veered off a trail Wednesday, got stranded, and spent a rainy, windy night on the Prescott mountain. The hikers refused medical services at the scene.

The two hikers walked to the parking lot with a YCSO deputy and family members, who had spent the night at the trailhead during the search, to speak with Sheriff's Forest Patrol Deputy Brian Kite.

"We were looking for the trail to get down, then it got too dark, so we had to find a place to take shelter, and call 911," Dalton told Kite, who helped coordinate their rescue.

GPS coordinates from their cell phone helped Kite locate the hikers, who stayed in one spot after they called for help.

Kite said he went up the trail Wednesday night, but couldn't reach the hikers, although he was just 120 feet below them, because there was a 40-foot sheer rock face between them that he couldn't get across.

"I went a quarter mile up and a quarter mile down, but couldn't reach them," Kite said. "So I came back down the mountain. Three volunteers with the Back Country Unit hiked up in the morning and got to the hikers at 10:13 a.m."

Throughout the night and morning, Kite and camp host Paul Neumann called the hikers periodically to check on them.

"I was trying to keep their spirits up and let them know they're not alone out there, that rescuers were searching for them," Newman said. "They were in good spirits, and they were tough about it, but you could tell by her voice this morning that it was getting to her."

When they were safely at the trailhead, Kite told the hikers he and the other searchers were glad they were going to be all right, they'd remember this for the rest of their lives, then asked if they'd learned something. Both hikers nodded.

"Go home and get some rest," Kite told them.

After family members took the hikers home, Kite talked about how important it is to plan for the unexpected when you go hiking.

"Even if you plan to only be out for an hour, prepare for two or four hours, because you don't know if you'll twist an ankle or something else will happen," Kite said. "Be prepared with a fully-charged cell phone, adequate water, food, a flashlight, and jackets or weather gear."

With the cold, rainy, windy weather last night, the hikers could have developed hypothermia, putting their lives in danger, Kite said.

Hikers also should carry a compass, a map, a mylar blanket that retains heat, and plenty of water, Neumann said.

"If you go off the trail you can get lost here in just three minutes," Neumann said. "Those things don't take up much room in a backpack, and they can help save your life."

Hikers should wear hiking boots as well, since many places on the trail are loose gravel and hiking boots provide greater traction than sneakers, Neumann said, adding that he also was concerned about the hikers running into wildlife, such as mountain lions, coyotes and javelina on the mountain.

The heavy rain and winds up to 25 mph that night at the top of the mountain precluded using a helicopter to reach the hikers, Kite said. Since neither hiker was injured and there was not medical

necessity, the DPS Ranger helicopter was not called in the morning either.

Meanwhile, a YCSO deputy and LifeLine Ambulance paramedics helped another man get back to the trailhead.

"He had fallen, injured his leg, and he was trying to walk out on his own," said Chris Ford, who had been hiking the trail. "After I saw him the first time, I saw him again 15 minutes later and he was having trouble. There's no cell phone reception in some places there, so I called 911."

Rescuers still were working on getting that man back to the trailhead at 2 p.m.

Glenn Kasprzyk, chief operations officer with LifeLine, said he hasn't heard of any rescues at Granite Mountain in the past year, except for the ones Thursday.

"The last time it (a rescue) happened was back in July on Thumb Butte," Kasprzyk

said. "These types of incidents don't happen up here as much as they do at Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. Maybe people here are better prepared for hiking with the equipment they need."