Two hikers who had been missing for nearly five days on their way to reach California's Cucamonga Peak have been located, officials said Thursday. Gabrielle Wallace, 31, and Eric Desplinter, 33, were spotted by an aviation crew, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. A search team followed two sets of footprints in Cucamonga Canyon that led them to a camp fire – and two people. "It is confirmed these were the two hikers that had been lost for nearly five days," the department posted on Facebook. Early Thursday morning, a rescue team was preparing to hoist the pair out one at a time. They will be flown to a nearby fire station, where they will be reunited with their families. Volunteers have been searching an area of about 19,000 acres looking for the pair since they were reported missing in the snowy mountains over the weekend. The hike to Cucamonga Peak takes nearly four hours and spans 7 miles from Mount Baldy, according to Google Maps. The duo was last seen by other members of their group at about 10 a.m. Pacific time Saturday. They were reported missing at 8 p.m. after they did not make it home an hour earlier as intended, according to a news release from San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. They were believed to have little food and water. Contributing: Tyler J Davis, Des Moines Register. Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets<doc-sep>April 11 (Reuters) – After five days missing, two California hikers were found alive on Wednesday evening by searchers who had followed their footprints, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department announced. A search team found Eric Desplinter, 33, and Gabrielle Wallace, 31, in Cucamonga Canyon near Mt. Baldy, 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles, officials said in a statement. They had been gone since Saturday. “This evening a search team in Cucamonga Canyon found two sets of footprints and began following them,” the statement said. The searchers then called for a sheriff’s helicopter to fly over the area, where the aviation team spotted a campfire which helped them zero in on the lost hikers. They were hoisted onto a helicopter and taken to a local fire station to be examined by paramedics and reunited with family and friends, officials said. Desplinter, who is from Chino Hills, is an experienced outdoorsman, the Sheriff’s Department statement said earlier this week. He was wearing a jacket, and his friend Wallace, who is from Rancho Cucamonga, had a sweater. They were rationing their food and drinking water through a LifeStraw, a portable filter, Los Angeles TV station KABC said. The pair had been part of a foursome attempting to complete the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge, in which hikers to scale six of a designated dozen peaks in Southern California. Their goal Saturday was 8,862-foot Cucamonga Peak, a 5.3-mile hike from the Ice House Canyon trailhead on Mt. Baldy Road. When the other two in the group turned back, friends said, the pair continued toward Cucamonga Peak and said they would return around 7 p.m. When they hadn’t returned by 8 p.m., one of the friends reported them missing. The search covered more than 30 square miles, according to the sheriff’s office. “Volunteers are a real blessing to our agencies, providing thousands of hours giving back to make our communities better and stronger,” San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon said in a statement. The Southern California ‘Six-Pack Challenge” peaks: Mount Wilson, 5,712 feet Cucamonga Peak, 8,862 Mount San Antonio (Mount Baldy) 10,068 San Bernardino Peak, 10,649 Mount San Jacinto, 10,833 San Gorgonio Peak, 11,503 Mount Baden-Powell, 9,406 Ontario Peak, 8,696 Sitton Peak, 3,272 Mount Pinos, 8,847 Strawberry Peak, 6,164 Santiago Peak (Saddleback) 5,689<doc-sep>A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Here's what reported grand jury in Trump case may look like NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 'Never seen levels like this': Union president on airline passenger misconduct Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East (CNN) — Two hikers who were missing for nearly five days used a water-purifying straw to survive and were rescued after search teams discovered and followed two sets of footprints in a California canyon, according to the local sheriff’s office. Eric Desplinter, 33, and Gabrielle Wallace, 31, got lost while hiking near Mount Baldy in San Bernardino County, California, last Saturday. “We just lost the trail,” Desplinter said after being rescued Wednesday night, according to CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS. “And had a little bit of a slip going to the peak of Cucamonga Peak. We decided we wouldn’t go back up the ice and snow, so we tried to descend through a valley.” “But that valley was more treacherous than we thought,” he added. To survive over the next several days, Desplinter said he and Wallace tried their best to keep warm, rationed their food and drank water through a LifeStraw – a straw-like tube that purifies water. They’re used by hikers and have also been used for humanitarian purposes, providing clean water to people who might not have access to it otherwise. The pair had gone hiking with a group but ended up getting separated, Wallace’s mother told KCAL/KCBS. According to a statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, search and rescue teams from multiple agencies in the surrounding area had spent days combing an area of approximately 30 square miles, or 19,000 acres. FOOTAGE: Air Rescue Crew 307 (Pilot Corporal Jon Anderson, Crew Chiefs Sgt Dan Futscher & Deputy Greg Ditfurth, and... Posted by San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department on Thursday, April 11, 2019 Desplinter and Wallace were finally found after a search team discovered two sets of footprints in Cucamonga Canyon and followed them. The team provided the location to the command post, and a helicopter flew over the area. From the air the crew was able to spot a campfire and saw two people believed and later confirmed to be Desplinter and Wallace, the sheriff’s office said. According to dramatic footage from the sheriff’s office, they were hoisted out of the canyon one at a time in the dark of night as the helicopters blades spun about 10 feet away from nearby trees and rocks. “Thank you to all the volunteers who were helping look for us,” Desplinter said. “We are very grateful to be found tonight.”<doc-sep>
#BREAKING: Both missing hikers, who got lost on Mt. Baldy for FIVE days, have been reunited with family. Eric Desplinter says they rationed food to survive. @ABC7 https://t.co/GNbSgeeZ1r pic.twitter.com/4jgEd6t4DV — Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) April 11, 2019 #breaking both hikers missing near Mt Baldy have been found alive; rescue operation currently underway — Rob McMillan (@abc7robmcmillan) April 11, 2019 Missing hikers are being flown to Mt. Baldy fire station for further evaluation, and will be reunited with family and loved ones there. — Rob McMillan (@abc7robmcmillan) April 11, 2019 MOUNT BALDY, Calif. (KABC) -- Following an intensive search, rescue crews have found a pair of hikers alive who had been missing on Mount Baldy since Saturday.Eric Desplinter, 33, of Chino Hills and Gabrielle Wallace, 31, of Rancho Cucamonga had gone missing Saturday afternoon as they were heading toward Cucamonga Peak.They were finally located Wednesday evening and a rescue operation was launched to get them off the mountain. The pair was flown to the Mount Baldy fire station for medical evaluation and to be reunited with family members.Appearing healthy, Desplinter spoke to reporters overnight and shared his gratitude toward his rescuers. "We're very grateful to be found tonight. I'm ready to get to bed and get some rest," he said.When asked how the pair survived, Desplinter said they rationed food. "We rationed our food, drank water through a life straw, kept as warm as possible. "He added that he and Wallace lost the trail, had a slip while going to Cucamonga Peak and decided to descend through a valley that was more treacherous than they had anticipated.The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said the rescue began when a search team in Cucamonga Canyon found two sets of footprints and began following them. The search team alerted the command post and provided coordinates for a helicopter to fly over the area. The aviation crew then spotted a camp fire and the two missing people.Desplinter and Wallace had set out earlier Saturday with a group of four people, but two of them turned back halfway through out of concerns about the danger of the trail.Desplinter and Wallace decided to continue on toward Cucamonga Peak. When they didn't return that evening, a search effort was launched. They had been described as experienced hikers carrying equipment such as spiked shoes and ice axes, so authorities had remained hopeful about their survival on the mountain even as there was no sign of them.Dozens of members of search-and-rescue crews had been combing 19,000 acres of the mountainous area by ground and air since they were reported missing.