
Alaska mountain rescue —
Geophysicist John Paskievitch was stranded for two days on Alaska's Mount Mageik volcano with helicopter pilot Sam Egli and Taryn Lopez, a post-doctoral researcher. The team had flown to the volcano to retrieve instruments on the volcano ahead of the brutal Alaska winter.

Alaska mountain rescue —
Paskievitch, Lopez and Egli are all smiles after they were picked up Friday by the Alaska Air Guard Rescue team and return to King Salmon. The three stayed in sleeping bags inside the helicopter except to answer nature's calls and shoot a flare at the request of the rescuers

Alaska mountain rescue —
The team got this photo of Mount Mageik as they were landing on Wednesday.

Alaska mountain rescue —
The team's iced-over helicopter. "There were blue skies when we landed," Lopez said, but within a half-hour he told the researchers he was concerned about ice on the rotors.

Alaska mountain rescue —
The Alaska Air Guard Rescue team arrives to scoop up the stranded team on Friday.