An Oregon man who had become ill while hiking the Appalachian Trail in the Hurricane Gap section of the Cherokee National Forest was rescued Saturday morning by emergency workers from Tennessee and North Carolina.

Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad member Kevin Ayers said on Saturday that Ross John Sieja, 62, reportedly had become ill while on a two- or three-day hike and had taken refuge at the Spring Mountain Shelter.

Sieja, who told rescuers he weighed 362 pounds, had been found by other hikers who used a cell phone to call for help, according to Ayers, who said it was unclear exactly how long Sieja had been in the Appalachian Trail shelter.

Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad Capt. Jon Waddell was contacted by Greene County 911 about 8:15 a.m. Saturday, and a rescue effort was launched, Ayers said.

At the same time, Ayers said, Madison County, N.C., fire and rescue personnel also had been contacted and also responded to the request for help, he said.

"We left our headquarters on Saturday morning with seven personnel, four all-terrain vehicles, our command trailer and our search and rescue trailer," Ayers said. "We met Jon (Waddell) at the Lower Paint Creek Campground and set up a command post there."

Ayers said Waddell and two other Rescue Squad volunteers staffed the command post while six other volunteers drove up Hurricane Gap Road until they met Madison County Fire and Rescue personnel who had arrived earlier.

"They had already sent personnel and a paramedic to the patient and were in the process of bringing him out of the shelter," Ayers said.

He noted that two Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad volunteers helped Madison County personnel load Sieja into a six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle.

At that point, Ayers said, Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad Personnel traveled ahead of the Madison County all-terrain vehicle that was carrying the ill hiker, clearing logs and cutting brush from the trail.

"They (Madison County) brought him back down off the mountain onto Hurricane Gap Road about 12:45 p.m.," Ayers said. "He said he didn't want to go to the hospital and was just tired. They (Madison County) took him to Hot Springs, N.C."

Ayers noted that Hot Springs was hosting its annual "Trailfest" celebration on Saturday.

Ayers said Rescue Squad personnel had an unususal backup plan in case the terrain had proven too difficult for all-terrain vehicles to reach the shelter on Saturday.

"We had the assistance of Roy Darnell, a White Sands community resident, and his mule," Ayers said.

"If ATVs could not have gotten in (to the shelter), we were going to try to put him (the ill hiker) on the mule and let him ride back out of there," Ayers said. "He was a good, calm mule."

Ayers said Darnell, who is the brother of a Greene County-Greeneville Emergency Medical Services employee, and his mule are "available to the Rescue Squad whenever we need him."

Also taking part in the Saturday morning rescue effort were the Greene County Sheriff's Department, the Greene County Chapter of the American Red Cross, as well as North Carolina rescue personnel.