ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Rescue crews spent eight hours Monday night trying to reach two hikers stranded in the Sandia Mountains.

According to Albuquerque Fire Rescue, the rescue began just after 6 p.m. Monday and ended just after 2 a.m. Tuesday.

AFR received a call around 8:25 p.m. Monday about a mountain rescue call on the La Luz Trail. Four crews from AFR responded and assisted Bernalillo County Fire Rescue.

An investigation found two hikers started up the trail, reached the summit but reported feeling the effects of the altitude as they descended. A friend reported the hiker’s last known location before their cell phone batteries died.

Bernalillo County deputies and firefighters began hiking down from the peak to find the hikers. AFR crews came from the other direction, hiking from the bottom up. A search and rescue crew also searched the side trails in case the hikers went off the main path.

Eventually, the county crews found the hikers. One hiker couldn’t walk out on their own and had to be wheeled out. County crews met up with AFR crews and brought the hikers to safety – and then to the hospital.

There is no word on their condition.