It was on Monday night at approximately 8:33 pm that 44-year-old Haines resident Kelly Williamson and her father 67-year-old John Hamilton from Florida made contact with the Alaska State Troopers and reported themselves overdue on a hiking trip.

The two hikers had begun their hike at 8 am on Monday and summited the Mount Ripinsky after entering and the trailhead and hiking the trail at Skyline Drive. After successfully summiting the mountain, the two began their descent. They soon lost the trail and as darkness came on they contacted the troopers to let them know that they were safe but lost and were going to spend the night and find and re-access the trail at daybreak. They assured troopers that they did not need a search party.

At 5 am on Tuesday, Williamson again contacted the troopers to report that her father was weak and would face difficulty hiking any distance.

A Search and Rescue team from Haines responded and summited the mountain at 7:40 am and attempted to locate the hikers with no success.

At 10:41 am, an aircraft was dispatched and located Williamson and Hamilton. The SAR team also located and made contact with them at that time. It was determined that lack of food and water as well as exposure made it impossible for the hikers to make it out on their own.

A United States Coast Guard helicopter was launched and hoisted both hikers off of the mountain and transported them to Haines at 4:38 pm.

The hikers reported no injuries.