Missing hikers return safely

PORTLAND – A group of 19 hearing-impaired young people walked out of the woods Tuesday after search and rescue workers spent a night in the Cascade Range looking for them, authorities said.

The high school juniors and seniors were on a five-day survival training trip and were reported overdue Monday night, touching off the search, the Linn County Sheriff’s Department said.

“They apparently missed a junction on the trail and became disoriented,” said Undersheriff Will McAnulty.

Deputies said the group was with the Maryland-based National Association of the Deaf and included young people from across the United States.

The Sheriff’s Department said there were three adults with the party, one a nurse, and “everyone is deaf and can only sign.”

The department said all members of the party were in good health Tuesday morning.