Last of missing Mt. Whitney hikers are safe

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The National Park Service says two mountain climbers who were listed as missing after a snowstorm blanketed Mt. Whitney walked out of the wilderness area early Thursday morning.

Sina Sadeghi Baghsorkhin, 27, and his father, Abdolreza Sadeghi, 56, were uninjured when they left the area about 1 a.m., roughly 50 miles from their planned exit.

On Thursday, three hikers -- Phillip Michael Abraham, 34; Stevan James Filips, 43; and Dale Clymens, 45; all of Omaha -- were plucked off the mountain by a rescue crew in a helicopter. That group had taken refuge from a blinding snowstorm in a rock hut during a 3 1⁄2-day ordeal. Only one of them was carrying a sleeping bag, according to hikers who spoke with them.

More than 75 searchers combed the mountain area for the hikers, all of whom were marooned for several days in inclement weather after what began as day trips under clear-blue skies.

-- Louis Sahagun