Rescuers near 2 hikers stuck in North Cascades

A Skagit County sheriff's spokesman says two hikers who had been stranded on a narrow mountain ledge in the North Cascades were able to make their way to a somewhat safer spot on a nearby glacier as they wait for rescue hikers.

Deputy Brad Holmes said that when "fast rescue" team members last reported their position late Thursday night, they felt they were within a couple hundred feet of the stranded pair's location at about 8,000 feet.

He said the 33-year-old man and his 27-year-old girlfriend were able to move off the 18-inch ledge on Spire Point about 200 feet onto nearby Dana Glacier, where they have some solid ground to bed down on and some protection from the wind. Holmes says they lost some of their gear and have one sleeping bag and a partial tent, but no heat source, no food and no dry clothes. Holmes says the hikers' exposed condition in the cold and intermittent rain is a serious concern.

They called for help Wednesday night after becoming stranded on the peak northeast of Darrington.