Two missing hikers made their own way off Mount Shasta, showing up hungry and tired in a town more than 10 miles from the mountaintop and two days after making a 911 call for help, authorities said.
Patricia Giamoni and friend Salvador Frias walked onto the shipping docks of Rosewood Forest Products in Weed late Monday, Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said.
Weed is just outside the boundaries of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, which includes Mount Shasta.
The hikers were taken to Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta, where they were evaluated and then released, said Michael Odle, a Shasta-Trinity spokesman.
"They're feeling better. They're still tired and worn. They're eager to get home," Odle said. "They were dehydrated, hungry and tired. They had minor abrasions. They're happy to be off the mountain."
Frias had called 911 late Saturday from the top of the 14,162-foot mountain and said they needed help. Giamoni, 37, of Apex, N.C., and Frias, 41, of Millbrae, had a day permit to hike the Cascade Range mountain about 220 miles north of Sacramento.
The aerial search for the pair had been hampered by smoke from hundreds of wildfires throughout Northern California.
Frias' 911 call Saturday was lost before it could be transferred to the sheriff's department, and authorities couldn't get through when they tried redialing the number.
About 30 minutes later, Giamoni's son, Frank Machado, called from North Carolina and said she had called him from the mountain reporting she and Frias needed help.
Frias had given a description of the area and partial coordinates, but that was not enough to help rescuers.
"They weren't able to pinpoint their location," Gravenkamp said.
As many as 100 searchers had combed the trails and rugged backcountry terrain since the 911 call. On Monday, two helicopters dropped eight rescuers onto the mountain, a volcanic peak of the Cascade Range that is about 220 miles north of Sacramento. Authorities also asked the roughly 120 recreational climbers on the mountain to watch for the pair.
