PLACER COUNTY, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) – A group of 13 young hikers reported missing by the Royal Fire in Placer County were found safe Monday.

Sheriff’s deputies searching the fire area became concerned when they found the group’s cars around 8 p.m. Sunday.

A helicopter team spotted the hikers around 7 a.m. Monday.

They say one of the older teens, who knew the area, led the hikers in the opposite direction, away from the Royal Fire.

“As we got close, I thought about all the possibilities of what could happen. I would go under the waterfall and set up camp there,” said Michael Tait, one of the hikers.

Once they got to the command center, the kids couldn’t wait to cool off in Cascade Lake. Still, it was a nerve-wracking evening for the parents.

“They were already here. That was scary to see when they brought in the plane and the thermal sensors and flew it around in a loop and didn’t find it. It was like, ‘Okay, we have to go back the next day.’ Then it was like… stayed up all night worrying about my son and all the other boys, these boys have all grown up together, they’re all our children.”

Jack Kenna, parent