Two teens found after getting lost in mountains

Two teens were located by search-and-rescue teams Sunday night after they got lost hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains southwest of Saratoga, according to the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

The fire department and sheriff’s office were alerted around 7:30 p.m. to a distress call from a cell phone, but they were not able to pinpoint the call to locate its source, authorities said. The hikers’ parents, however, also placed emergency calls confirming that their children were lost.

Cal Fire, the Santa Cruz County Fire Department and the Santa Clara County Parks Department contributed staff to the search parties, and the California Highway Patrol sent a helicopter equipped with thermal imaging. The crews searched parts of the Skyline Trail, John Nicholas Trail and the Lake Ranch Reservoir.

Around 9 p.m., authorities located the lost hikers on Sanborn Road near Lake Ranch Road. After being treated for exposure — temperatures dipped below 40 degrees in the area — the teens were released to their parents, authorities said.

The fire department used the episode to warn about the dangers recent storms and low temperatures have created on trails in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and remind hikers to monitor trail conditions, dress warmly, have reliable communication and build in enough hiking time to ensure they can leave the trails before daylight ends.