A pair of hikers were rescued Monday on a Colorado fourteener after becoming stranded for six hours above treeline. 

Rescuers were contacted about 12:15 p.m. for two hikers who became lost while descending the 14,199-foot summit of Mount Yale, according to Chaffee County Search and Rescue North. The hikers ended up stranded at 13,500 feet in terrain that exceeded their ability. 

 A four-member rescue team was able to safely hike up and reach the stranded hikers. Crews used anchors to lower the hikers down to a more stable area.

Everyone involved hiked out together via the standard route and returned back to the trailhead shortly after 9 p.m.

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Mount Yale is one of the five Collegiate Peaks located in the central Sawatch Range near Buena Vista. The Denny Creek Trailhead, which is the standard route up to the summit gains 4,300 feet over a distance of nearly five miles.

“Calls like this are a good reminder that there are no ‘shortcuts’ and attention to route finding is still required even on more straightforward hikes,” Chaffee County Search and Rescue North wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.