Rescuers needed 17 hours to get hiker off trail. Injuries are life threatening.

A hiker has life-threatening injuries after falling Saturday in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the King County Sheriff’s office said Sunday morning via Twitter.

Sixty-five search and rescue responders — many of whom were volunteers — were needed to evacuate the man from the backcountry near Mason Lake. The rescue took 17 hours and fog prevented using a helicopter. The hiker was taken to Harborview Medical Center.

The man fell while hiking in a popular area north of Interstate 90 and west of Snoqualmie Pass. A Bellevue Fire Department medic hiked in to Mason Lake and kept the hiker alive while he was transported off the trail, according to a tweet from the Sheriff’s office.

During the rescue, the Sheriff’s department announced it was also responding to a call for help on nearby Granite Mountain, where two men were lost. There is still snow on the upper slopes of Granite Mountain, another popular summer trail along the I-90 corridor.

This story was originally published June 18, 2017 at 7:53 AM with the headline "Rescuers needed 17 hours to get hiker off trail. Injuries are life threatening.."