Three men from Old Crow trekked through unmarked mountain terrain and frigid temperatures this week on a 30-hour rescue mission for stranded hunters from Fort McPherson, N.W.T.

The two hunters had left from a cabin in the Richardson Mountains for Old Crow last Saturday, still 150 kilometres east of their destination. Old Crow residents reported them overdue to RCMP on Monday.

The three-person search party set out on snowmobiles at around noon that day, led by Lance Nagwan, game guardian with the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

"We took the (Porcupine) River up 80 kilometres. From there, you do a portage to cut off a section of the river through the hills there,” Nagwan told the Star this morning.

"We had to push the trail through snow and portage through the mountains.”

The party lost anything resembling a trail early Tuesday morning, at times sinking deep into the snow as they trudged around in the dark looking for a way through.

Eventually, the three men turned back for Old Crow, with temperatures well below -30 C with wind chill.

They were as close as five kilometres to the cabin that the two stranded hunters had returned to for shelter while awaiting help.

"We almost made it to them,” Nagwan said.

"But we got word by sat-phone that they'd been reached, and we were soaking wet, so we had to turn back.

"Lots of snow, lots of snow,” he said.

Nagwan's search party made it back to Old Crow at around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

He suspects the hunters' phone battery had died, and said residents in Old Crow were concerned, despite not knowing the missing men personally.

"It's not that common that someone goes missing without communication these days,” he noted.

Nagwan and his two counterparts brought a shovel, tent, stove, blankets, camping gear, satellite phone and GPS Spot tracker on their mission.

"We were rescue-capable.”

Asked what kind of food they packed, Nagwan replied: "The kind you eat.”

William Josie, the Vuntut Gwitchins' fish and wildlife co-ordinator, described the ground covered by both the search party and the hunters in the Richardson Mountains as "pretty rugged terrain.

"There was a fair amount of bare ground there ... a lot of ice, lot of rock, lot of mountain passes,” he said in an interview this morning.

The two stranded individuals, aged 55 and 56, were part of a 15-person hunting troupe on a quest for caribou, Josie noted.

"No reports on whether they got one,” he said.

Most of the group began the 65-kilometre trek back east to Fort McPherson from the cabin inside the Yukon border at Curtain Mountain — also known as Mount Millen — on Saturday, while the two missing men headed west toward Old Crow.

They had 150 kilometres to travel "as the arrow flies ... but if you go by mountain passes, the distances would be significantly longer,” Josie said.

Informal search parties set out from Old Crow and Fort McPherson on Sunday. When they proved unsuccessful, residents called the RCMP at around 10 a.m. Monday.

Police called in a search helicopter from Dawson City to support the snowmobile-borne searchers.

They found the two men at about 5 p.m. Monday — while Nagwan and company were still searching — at the cabin, about 54 hours after the hunters had set out by snow machine from that location. 

After experiencing "mechanical problems,” they were able to make their way back to the cabin to await assistance there, police said.

"They have since made arrangements to make their way back to Fort McPherson,” said RCMP spokesperson Staff Sgt. Brad Kaeding.

There is no word on whether they have arrived yet.

"Both men were in good condition and did not appear to be suffering ill-effects,” Kaeding said.

Their names have not being released.

"While the two men were experienced on the land and knowledgeable of the area, given the cold temperatures, rough terrain and winter conditions, a formal search effort was undertaken,” Kaeding added.

He wanted to remind anyone trekking outdoors to have a travel plan and arrival time that others know about.

Appropriate equipment like a satellite phone, GPS spot device and winter gear are essential, he said. 

"The RCMP also recognizes and appreciates the community efforts in searching for the two men.”