Rescuers walking stranded hikers off Spire Point

Published 2:55 pm Friday, August 29, 2008

CONCRETE — The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office says rescuers are helping two stranded hikers down from the 8,000-foot level of Spire Point in the North Cascades near Darrington.

They plan to drop below cloud cover at around 2,000 feet elevation so they can be picked up by a helicopter from the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

The 33-year-old Matt Edwards and his 27-year-old girlfriend Robin Gibson are from Massachusetts, but the sheriff’s office did not know their hometowns.

They had been trapped on an 18-inch ledge but were able to move Thursday to nearby Dana Glacier.