(KTLA) — A mother and her child stranded deep in the dense Stanislaus National Forest in California late last week left a trail of handwritten notes that helped their rescuers find them, officials announced this week.

On July 11, the 49-year-old woman and her 9-year-old son traveled from the Sacramento area to Camp Wolfeboro for an overnight camping trip, officials with the Calavera County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

During their excursion, the woman was using a GPS unit that offered alternate routes to their destination, along with more common ones. When the GPS unit lost its signal, the mother and son were already well inside a "remote area" of the forest and were unable to find their way back out, the sheriff's office said.

Rescue efforts unfolded on July 12 after a person reported that the pair........

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