NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. — Three hikers who began their trek Tuesday in Nevada County were rescued Wednesday morning by snowcat, deputies said.
The three men in their 20s set out on foot around noon Tuesday with plans to hike Paradise Lake, according to a social media post by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. It was just after 8 a.m. Wednesday morning when they discovered they were stuck.
“Unfortunately, they got lost as a result of heavy snowfall,” the post said.
The hikers called the Cal Fire Nevada Yuba Placer Unit (Cal Fire NEU) to report they were lost near Basin Peak in Tahoe National Forest, according to Nevada County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Jason Perry. Perry said the call was redirected to the sheriff’s office.
“They were never missing,” Perry said. “They provided us with GPS coordinates, (and) we made contact with them by cell phone several times.”
All three individuals were rescued by snowcat just before noon Wednesday. The hikers were not injured and no medical attention was needed, according to the sheriff office.
Perry said none of the hikers were from the area. Two of the three men were from elsewhere in California and the third was an Oregon native.
The sheriff’s office said seven agencies and over 40 people helped rescue the three hikers. Agencies included Cal Fire NEU, the Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue Team, the Placer County Sheriff's Office, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, the Truckee Fire Protection District and the U.S. Forest Service.
