A family hiking with an infant was rescued after spending three days stranded in a steep canyon in a remote California forest, officials say.

The parents, along with their 10-year-old, a nine-month-old infant, and a dog were hiking in Tahoe National Forest in Northern California when they became stuck.

Sierra County Sheriff’s Office says the area, 225 miles northeast of San Francisco, is some of the steepest in the county, which backs onto the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Authorities say that the mother came down with heat exhaustion and could not hike out of the remote area to safety.

So, the father left the children behind with her to go and call for help and the sheriff’s office brought in a California Highway Patrol helicopter to help with the operation.

But the forest canopy was so thick that CHP could not find the mother and her children, so the father led the search and rescue team on foot to his family, 2,500ft down the canyon.

With darkness closing in, some of the rescue team then took the father and children back to their waiting car, while others stayed overnight with the mother,

The following day, when there was enough light a rescue helicopter came and winched the mother out of the forest and took her to a waiting medevac helicopter, the sheriff’s department said.

“Search and Rescue members escorted the husband, child, and infant up the rough terrain and back to their vehicle. Search and Rescue, Downieville Fire and Forest Service personnel remained with the wife overnight until there was enough daylight for the CHP helicopter to hoist her out of the canyon to an awaiting medevac helicopter,” said the sheriff’s department.

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