Rescue Co-ordination Centre senior search and rescue officer John Dickson said a 69-year-old man and a 14-year-old youth were being ferried to a hut for treatment after one was hurt on the first day of a tramp into the Te Urewera National Park.
The pair had activated a personal locator beacon about 5pm and a search was mounted on foot late last night after low cloud and poor visibility prevented any hope of being rescued by air.
Ground crews and a rescue helicopter reached the pair at 6.15am today.
Mr Dickson said the pair were being winched to the nearby Makomako Hut before being transported to hospital for further treatment. He did not know which person was injured.
"Communications is very poor in the area, even using a satellite phone."
It appeared both had remained on the track where the injury happened but were well-equipped to spend a night in the open, he said.
Mr Dickson said the cloud had come down below 600m in the remote wilderness by yesterday evening as a weather front passed over the region.
The distressed trampers had already ascended well above the height during the day as they headed towards the Makomako Hut.
