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Hikers Rescued By Navy Chopper

POSTED: 7:23 am PDT August 28, 2008
UPDATED: 12:16 pm PDT August 30, 2008

A couple who had been stranded at the 8,000-foot level of a North Cascades mountainside since Wednesday were picked up by a Navy chopper that landed safely in Concrete, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

Thursday night, a Navy Nighthawk helicopter dropped a three-person rescue crew within a mile of the couple who managed to reach the stranded hikers Thursday at about 8:20 a.m. and provide them with food, shelter and warmer clothing.

The couple were cold and wet but coherent, but after an examination by the rescue team, the two were deemed well enough to start climbing the 3 miles down Spire Point to about the 5,000-foot- level below the cloud ceiling, where a helicopter from Whidbey Naval Air Station was able to reach them.

VIDEO: Couple Rescued After 2 Days On Mountain

Once they landed in Concrete, they were met by family members and a Navy paramedic.

The Skagit County Sheriff's Office said the two are in fair condition and will not need to be hospitalized.

The two hikers -- Matthew Edwards, 33, and Robin Gibson, 27, of Wendell, Massachusetts, -- called for help Wednesday night, saying they were descending the mountain along the Ptarmigan Traverse hiking route when they lost their gear near Dana Glacier and were stranded on an 18-inch ledge, unable to climb up or down, said Will Reichardt of the Skagit County Sheriff's Office.

A Navy helicopter crew tried several times Wednesday night to reach the couple, but deteriorating weather conditions forced the crew to return to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Reichardt said.

The Navy crew tried again Thursday afternoon to reach the couple, but cloudy weather again prevented the couple's rescue.

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