Two Silverton hikers used survival skills they learned on television to build a shelter after becoming lost Tuesday night in the woods east of Scotts Mills. Joshua Rogers, 18, and Steven Vaughn, 20, left Silverton at 5 p.m. for a hike near Camp Dakota on Crooked Finger Road.

When they failed to return, family members called the Marion County Sheriff’s Office early Wednesday to report them missing, officials said.

The hikers did not have camping gear, but they did have water and their cellphones. Family members were able to send them text messages, but the two hikers couldn’t provide details about their location. Deputy Dave Zahn organized a search effort but held off sending rescuers into the woods until daylight. A group of 25 members of the Marion County Search and Rescue Team 18 and Jeep Patrol responded to the area at daylight. Family members and friends assisted in the search, and the hikers’ 1991 Jeep was found on Abiqua Road, west of Crooked Finger Road.

At 7:45 a.m., Vaughn’s father heard his son calling for help but was unable to reach the hikers because of the dense terrain. Deputies and rescuers on foot and driving four-wheelers found the hikers at 11:45 a.m.

The two said they were hiking down to the Abiqua drainage when Rogers sprained his ankle. They were unable to climb back up the steep hill so they decided to walk downstream, hoping to find a way out or someone to help them. Around midnight, they built a shelter using skills they learned from watching survival shows on TV, officials said. Both men refused medical treatment and returned home with their families.