ROADS END – Searchers found a trio of lost hikers, safe but thirsty, in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness last Friday, Aug. 12.

Chuck Thompson, a travel writer and editor for CNNGo.com, called 911 that afternoon to report that he and two nephews, age 17 and 14, were lost. They had hiked about eight to 10 miles without water, he told authorities.

Thompson was able to give a rough description of their location, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office began a search in the vicinity of Roads End on the south side of Strawberry Mountain.

The three hikers were found in Wildcat Basin just before dark. The youngest had fallen earlier in the day and was unable to carry his pack due to sore ribs.

Searchers guided the hikers back to Roads End, and they were taken back to their vehicle at the Joaquin Miller Trailhead.

Undersheriff Todd McKinley said they had begun a three-day hike in the wilderness on Thursday, Aug. 11, heading to Strawberry Lake. They apparently got turned around and then ran out of water on Friday.

McKinley hiked in about 6 p.m. and found them by 7:30 p.m., getting them to the vehicle by about 10 p.m.

The Sheriff’s Office urged people hiking in the wilderness to use caution, as some of the trails are obscurbed by heavy vegetation from the extremely wet spring.