Three Hikers Rescued by Helicopter From Sierra Buttes Ridge

Three people stranded on a steep mountainside in Northern California were rescued by helicopter Sunday after an emergency satellite signal prompted a search, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said.

The group was located on the Sierra Buttes, south of a lookout tower near the summit. The sheriff’s office received notice at about 2:30 p.m. that a Garmin inReach device had sent an SOS to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Deputies began a search-and-rescue response and requested assistance from the Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Mountain Rescue Team and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office RAVEN helicopter crew.

After spotting the stranded people, a member of the rescue team was lowered from the helicopter to reach them. The three were then lifted from the mountainside and flown to a landing zone, where Sierra County deputies were waiting. The sheriff’s office said the terrain and the group’s location made a helicopter hoist necessary.

The agency thanked the assisting teams for their coordination and work. Officials released images and video showing the helicopter operating beside the rugged slope. The material provided did not identify the rescued people, explain how they became stranded or say whether any of them suffered injuries.

The Sierra Buttes rise above the North Yuba River canyon. The Pacific Crest Trail Association describes the mountain as approximately 8,600 feet high, with a fire lookout near its top.

The rescue follows other recent mountain incidents in Northern California described by authorities. Last week, a 39-year-old Florida man was taken to a hospital after falling through a snow bridge on the Whitney Glacier and severely injuring his leg, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. Rescuers reached him the next morning, but weather conditions prevented an aerial extraction. Crews carried him to a suitable helicopter landing area the following day.

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman from Salt Lake City were rescued after becoming trapped between cliffs on Mount Shasta. Authorities said they had been in the situation for 36 hours and were not injured.

The source material also included comments from social media users praising the rescue teams and the RAVEN helicopter unit. Those comments represent individual reactions, not official assessments of the operation.