A man and woman were rescued from two different parts of Washington state's Pacific West Trail on Tuesday as the Coast Guard worked to locate two other missing hikers, the New York Daily News reported.
Matt Margiotta and Kyla Arnold were taken from of the trail by a Coast Guard helicopter and flown to Portland, Ore. for medical treatment, although they did not require any, Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox said.
The hikers approached the trail after beginning their walk from Mexico with the end point being Canada. After their path was blocked by early snowfall, they called authorities for assistance.
A search team used the GPS location of Margiotta and Arnold to reach them but were forced to turn around due to inclement weather conditions. However, the helicopter that rescued them was able to take advantage of a weather window to get close.
Now that two hikers have been returned to safety, officials are hoping to locate Alejandrea Wilson, another hiker on the same trail, and Kristopher Zitzewitz, who was last seen in the Big Lava Beds area of Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Wilson's father, Dane, contacted authorities after he didn't hear from his daughter since Friday when she was near Trout Lake. She is expected to be around 20 miles north of Margiotta and Arnold's hike.
"We'll keep trying to ping her phone, get a location on her," Cox said.
On Tuesday, more than 40 ground searchers and four dog teams also began looking for Zitzewitz, 31, who got separated from his partner on Saturday at the Big Lava Beds.
Cox said his office requested for additional backup to help locate both missing hikers.
"The problem with all the snow on the ground is you can't even tell where the trail is," Cox added. "Some folks try to push on and wind up getting lost."
