Lost Backpackers Found in Sierra Nevada

Rommel and Marisol Pompa were due back at their home in Vista, Calif., on Monday after a four-day backpacking trip to the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in the southern Sierra Nevada. By yesterday, authorities were searching for the married couple on foot, on horseback, and from a helicopter scouting above. Park rangers say that, thanks to tips from hikers in the area, they found the couple pretty quickly yesterday, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The couple had intended to hike the 41.4-mile Rae Lakes Loop, but they somehow wandered off the trail. They were found in rugged terrain in the Rae Lakes region, with some scrapes and bruises but otherwise in good condition, and the four search-and-rescue teams were set to camp with the couple last night and then head back down the mountain this morning, reports Fox5 San Diego. (Meanwhile, bodies are still being pulled from thick layers of ash on Japan's recently erupted Mount Ontake volcano.)