The Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue Team aided two stranded teenagers stuck on a mountain ridge above the Alisal Guest Ranch last week, marking their second successful rescue this month.

According to a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office press release, the teens left their vehicles around 3 p.m. on Wednesday to hike to a rocky outcropping visible from Alisal Road and look for caves. The teens reportedly became disoriented after several hours of hiking through difficult terrain and brush and were unable to navigate their way down.

The hikers contacted one of their fathers via cell phone and alerted him as to their position, which he reported to the SBCSO Emergency Dispatch Center.

Search and rescue personnel used GPS triangulation and communicated over cell phones to determine the teens’ location and extract them with a four-person rescue team. The team fought their way uphill for approximately 90 minutes — guided with the help of an SBC fire helicopter — through brush so dense it occasionally forced them onto their hands and knees.

SAR volunteers found the adolescents in good health and equipped them with jackets, helmets and lights before trekking back down the ridgeline. A second group of SAR personnel followed the first team’s initial path to widen it for the boys’ rescue.

The SAR teams reached their vehicles around midnight and transported the weary mountaineers home. The SBCSAR provides tips and information for hikers to plan appropriately for wilderness trips at www.sbcsar.org.