The King County Sheriff’s Department’s Guardian One helicopter rescued three men who got lost atop Mount Si Wednesday afternoon, July 15.

According to sheriff’s reports, the trio, two men, ages 18 and 19, from Maple Valley and an 18-year-old from Seattle, were hiking Mount Si together when the Seattle man got separated and walked down the trail by himself.

The Maple Valley men ended up in a rock field on the north side of Mount Si. The area is steep and dangerous, with lots of loose rock. The two used a cell phone to call for help, and the helicopter team used a winch to bring them on board and fly them to safety.

Sheriff’s spokesman John Urquhart said the inexperienced, unequipped hikers made a bad choice in going into the dangerous rock field. However, they were smart to have a working cell phone with good batteries, and followed directions to stay put until they could be rescued.