NORTH BEND, Wash. -- Searchers found a 31-year-old Seattle woman safe on Monday, two days after she disappeared while snowshoeing near Snoqualmie Pass.

Rescuers in Guardian One, a King County sheriff's office helicopter, spotted her in the early afternoon, sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said. She was about a six-hour hike from the nearest rescuers on the ground.

She waved, but there was no place to land the helicopter in the mountainous terrain. Rescuers called for a Navy helicopter with a winch to be sent from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Urquhart said.

In the meantime, sheriff's Sgt. Sydney Jackson leapt out of Guardian One from 8 or 10 feet high to care for the woman, identified as Cindy Wysocki, a Seattle lawyer who is a native of Chicago. She arrived at Harborview Medical Center just before 2:30 p.m. She was in satisfactory condition, conscious and talking, said hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson.

With a storm bearing down on the region, the timing of the rescue was crucial.

"Today was do or die, literally," Urquhart said.

Many of the woman's relatives had arrived from Illinois and were thrilled at the news, he said.

The woman got lost while snowshoeing with two male friends Saturday near Hemlock Pass, about six miles beyond the Denny Creek trailhead at 4,600 feet. The men looked for her into Saturday night before calling the King County sheriff's office at 2 a.m. Sunday.

A cold rain hindered search efforts Sunday, but Monday was clear as 50 people resumed looking, Urquhart said.

Rescue officials said the woman was equipped only for a day hike and not prepared to spend cold, wet nights on the mountain.