Oakland dad rescued with 2 kids: 'We are so grateful’

Nick Vlahos and two of his young children were rescued after being stranded in a remote part of Sierra County during a camping trip this week. Nick Vlahos and two of his young children were rescued after being stranded in a remote part of Sierra County during a camping trip this week. Photo: Courtesy / Marianne Vlahos Photo: Courtesy / Marianne Vlahos Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Oakland dad rescued with 2 kids: 'We are so grateful’ 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

An Oakland man, rescued with his two children after being missing for two days in a rugged section of Northern California, described his frantic efforts to attract attention after his pickup truck became stuck on a camping trip, officials said.

Nicholas Vlahos, his 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter were located by rescue crews Thursday night and were airlifted to a staging area near Camptonville, in Yuba County about 100 miles northeast of Sacramento, a dispatcher from the Downieville Fire Department said.

Vlahos, 41, told KGO-TV that his pickup truck had gotten stuck and that he had spent the next 50 hours trying to get rescuers’ attention.

“We are so grateful to everyone who looked for us, and I’m so sorry that I caused any worry,” Vlahos said.

He said he could hear and see the rescuers before they finally spotted him, but “they couldn’t see us.”

“We had fires going, I had pink blankets up in trees and yellow straps all over and we left bottles by the river,” Vlahos said. “We did everything we could.”

His daughter, Mila, told the news station, “It was really scary.” Asked by her uncle, “But was it fun?” She replied, “Kinda.”

“I think I’m still in shock,” Marianne Vlahos, Nicholas Vlahos’ wife, said shortly after she got word of her family’s rescue. “Today was like living in a nightmare. We were preparing for the worst.”

Nearly 60 people had scoured a remote wilderness area for Nicholas Vlahos and the children after they didn’t return home from their weekend camping trip. Marianne Vlahos thanked those who spent two days searching for her family.

“And the kids got to ride in a helicopter,” she added. “So I’m sure they are over the moon.”

Nicholas Vlahos, who lives in Oakland’s Millsmont neighborhood, co-owns two 1920s-style barber shops in Alameda County that provide old-style haircuts and straight-razor shaves. His business partner, Bradley Roberts, described him as an experienced outdoorsman who frequently goes off-roading.

Vlahos had last been heard from on Sunday, posting pictures on Instagram of his family along the Yuba River. He and the two children had last been seen in western Sierra County driving from their campsite in their 2015 black Toyota Tundra pickup truck, officials said.

Search crews learned from a family member that Vlahos planned to take a drive through a remote and rugged portion of Sierra and Plumas counties on the trip home, said Sgt. Michelle Anderson with the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office.

Searchers, including members of the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, began the hunt for the family Tuesday, with crews searching the widespread wilderness area by helicopter and on the ground as cold weather moved in.

Kale Williams, Evan Sernoffsky and Hamed Aleaziz are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, haleaziz@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @sfkale @evansernoffsky @haleaziz