Stranded Snow Campers Offer a Valuable Lesson, Rescuers Say: Take Snowshoes

SEATTLE (AP) — The team that rescued two snow campers when they got trapped by the weather this past week say the pair was missing at least one vital piece of equipment.

The Seattle Times reports they did not check the weather report before hiking in the Denny Creek area and got stuck in new snow. The King County sheriff's office says they should have been carrying snowshoes.

The hikers were stranded in 6 feet of new snow off Interstate 90 near Denny Creek, just west of Snoqualmie Pass, overnight Monday before rescuers found them, gave them some snowshoes and guided them to safety Tuesday evening.

The 26-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman also would have benefited from an external charger for their cellphone, which was almost out of battery power when they called for help.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindi West says they were smart to call 911 because they wouldn't have made it down without snowshoes.