Stranded snowmobilers rescued from the backcountry of Fremont County

Six snowmobilers are safe Thursday night after spending Wednesday night stuck in the backcountry of Fremont County.

Fremont County Search and Rescue says just before 2:00 a.m. Thursday it was contacted by Fremont County Sheriff’s Dispatch for six stranded snowmobilers stuck and low on fuel in Thirsty Creek, east of Mack’s Inn, in Island Park.

Three adults and three older teens had dropped down into the drainage and were trying to find their way out. The steep, uneven, rocky, terrain strewn with brush, saplings, and trees was too much for the group to handle.

A deputy and one member of search and rescue were the first to show up and were told by the snowmobilers they had a fire and were okay to spend the night.

At 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning the search and rescue commander decided to regroup and have a small team start a daybreak and work their way up from the bottom of Thirsty Creek. Just after 8:00 a.m. the team was on their way but came to a spot where they were unable to safely go any farther.

Search and rescue regrouped again and decided to ride in from the top of the drainage.

After a tough ride down the canyon, crews reached the snowmobiles around 11:40 a.m. The next challenge getting everyone to the other side of a spring 30 feet wide and 10 inches deep.

Search and rescue reports everyone was back at base camp just before 12:40 p.m. They were tired but other than that everyone was in good condition.