Submitted photoAn Airlink helicopter helps Deschutes County Search and Rescue help a stranded climber off South Sister early Sunday morning.

A hiker with hypothermia was rescued on South Sister early Sunday morning after spending Saturday night on the mountain.

James Esposito, 36, of Portland, was rescued by Deschutes County Search and Rescue on Sunday after Esposito called emergency dispatchers Saturday afternoon and said he was hiking alone down from the summit and had gone off the trail, according to a release from Search and Rescue. According to the news release, Esposito said he had little food or water with him, only light clothing and had 20 percent battery on his phone.

Using Esposito’s GPS coordinates from his phone call, two Search and Rescue team members headed to the location with six more heading up later while Esposito waited at his location and agreed to send text messages of his status every 30 minutes to conserve his phone battery.

Brian Sebastian, 30, of Redmond, was hiking up to the summit around 2:30 p.m. on the northwest route when Esposito flagged him down from the west slope of the mountain and told Sebastian to call Search and Rescue, who had not heard from Esposito since he agreed to text status updates.

The first set of Search and Rescue members reached the summit around 7 p.m. but could not locate or make voice contact with Esposito before dark. They spent the night on the summit. Search and Rescue tried to send a military helicopter to rescue Esposito, but realized it would not be an option until morning.

An AirLink helicopter transported two more Search and Rescue members to the summit around 5:30 Sunday morning to continue searching for Esposito at his last known location. A mountain rescue Search and Rescue unit saw and made voice contact with him on a ridge higher up and northeast. Search and Rescue used ropes and a harness to raise Esposito to the summit of South Sister, where AirLink retrieved and transported him to St. Charles Bend.