Local search crews located and rescued a pair of missing Denver hikers who were found uninjured Thursday in the Missouri Gulch area.  Responders were called out in the early morning hours and found the two women about 11:30 a.m., according to a press release from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office.

 Denver residents Kennah Karner, 22, and Katie Mayer, 21, were hiking in the Mount Belford and Mount Oxford area. The family of one of the women called the sheriff’s office Wednesday after the two didn’t call in when they were supposed to finish their hike.

Responders found their vehicle at the Missouri Gulch trailhead.  Flight for Life found one of the hikers on a “rocky slide area on Missouri Mountain,” according to the release, and an Air National Guard helicopter retrieved her via a pulley system.  Search and Rescue ground crews soon found the other woman and escorted her out on foot.

Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, Search and Rescue North, Search and Rescue South, Buena Vista Volunteer Fire Department, Chaffee County Emergency Medical Services, Flight for Life and Air National Guard were all deployed to search for the missing hikers.