He squinted as bright red fabric caught his eye. “I think I see something over that ridge,” he said, pointing several feet away to his right. At least the hikers had enough common sense to wear a bright color.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t had enough sense to bring a compass, instead relying on their cell phone GPS systems to navigate. The station did a great job educating the kids about backwoods safety, but they needed a better training program for adults.

If only they could somehow make it mandatory.

Wade radioed the others as they drew closer to the ridge.

Careful of the false ground beneath them, Reed peered over the side. “Hikers located,” he said in his own radio. Two men sat on the side of the mountain on a ledge several feet below. If he had to guess, they’d been hiking up the side of the mountain, hoping to reach the trail at the top that the crew were standing on. They both still wore their climbing harnesses attached to the mountainside. They were secure, at least.

But the mountain terrain between the top and where the men had stopped was unclimbable. Snow was unpredictable—the frozen surface couldn’t be trusted—and blowing snow in the area made for terrible visibility. He waved his arms and called out, “Hey! Steven! Craig!”

Both men turned to look up and waved when they saw him.

It was hard to be certain from that distance, but it didn’t appear that either man was injured.

“How are we proceeding?” Wade asked, glancing toward the two men. He shook his head, his annoyance with these rescues at an all-time high. “They look like they’re sitting around, shooting the shit,” he said. “Fucking tourists.”

It didn’t help that it was Wade’s wedding anniversary and he’d no doubt gotten an earful when he’d had to rush out on his wife. Reed placed a hand on his shoulder. “We will get back to rescuing locals soon enough, okay.”

“Promise?” Wade mumbled. The others reached them and Reed walked them through the method by which they could get the two hikers to safety.

“Bringing them up here without jeopardizing our safety is dicey, so I suggest we take that side trail down to their location, then move south along the far path back toward the village,” he said.

Tyler frowned. “Couldn’t we just lower the litter here and bring them up one at a time? Seems faster.”

Reed considered the idea but shook his head. He carefully stamped a boot toward the edge. A big chunk of snow broke off and fell. “The ground here is too unpredictable. Farther out, we have no idea what’s false ground or not.”

Tyler didn’t look convinced. “That slope is steep, man. Climbing up to them isn’t a great idea either.”