Missing Hikers

Two young girls got separated from their family in Washington.

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Two young girls are missing from a family hike after they got separated from their dad and brother in Clark County.

The father called 9-1-1 Sunday night. He said he had gone hiking with his three children but got lost and then got separated from his seven- and 10-year-old daughters.

Sgt. Steve Shea said the family had been hiking on Mt. Tarbell, which he described as "very remote."

More: See map of trailheead

The Clark County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team found the dad and his 15-year-old son around 2 a.m., after he led them in using his cell phone. The search continued all night for the girls.

Update: the girls have been found alive and hopefully well.

The girls were found about four miles south of the Tarbell Trailhead next to Coyote Creek, north of Battleground.

A Volcano Rescue Team spotted the girls at about 10:22 a.m., not far from where the father and his 15-year-old son were found earlier Monday. Getting the girls out from the remote area may take several hours, officials said.

Their names were not released immediately.

Update 2: Something seems not quite right. I can see letting children out of sight on a trail, but not off a trail.

On previous hikes, according to Shea, the father had taken his girls off trail to explore wilderness areas.

"I'm not sure if that had anything to do with this," he said. "It was more, 'Let's go exploring.' It's my understanding that he would go with them."

It appears, he said, that the girls went to Coyote Creek to try to follow the stream out of the forest.

Sheriff's Commander Mike Nolan said rescuers are in the process of clearing a new trail because the girls were found more than a mile from the closest Washington Department of Natural Resources road.

I am not a parent but 7 and 9or 10 is too young to be exploring alone in that type of wilderness.