A Sycamore woman on her way to go snow-boarding in Wisconsin ended up snowbound for two days on a rural highway in Ogle County.

Michelle Skelnik, 26, and her companion Jamie Trakas, Genoa, were rescued by snowmobilers after they spent more than 15 hours in their car, stranded on Ill. 72 during the Feb. 2-3 blizzard.

They spent the next day as guests of one of their rescuers, while snow plows and heavy equipment punched a path through the 7-8 foot drifts of snow that shut down the highway until Thursday afternoon.

"What an experience," Skelnik said Feb. 4. "I can't describe the feeling I had when we saw the snowmobile lights and heard them. I don't think I've ever been so grateful in my life."

Skelnik and Trakas were rescued by snowmoibler Jeff Craig, who was working with the Stillman Valley snowmobile club to find and rescue stranded motorists on the east side of the county.

On the west side of the county, Ryan Nelson, 32, and other members of the Polo Snow Rangers mounted up to perform the same service.

Both clubs were among several in Ogle County working with the sheriff's department to help with rescues.

Nelson said the sheriff's department notified snowmobilers of the locations of where motorists were stranded.

Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn praised the snowmobilers' efforts.

"They were a godsend to us, but it was so bad we even had snowmobiles getting stuck," Harn said.

Nelson agreed that the conditions were tough, even on a snowmobile.

"We rode under the power lines so that we could tell where we were," he said. "There were spots that it was eight to 10 feet deep out here."

Nelson rescued five people, three men, a woman, and a two-year-old boy, who were stranded in a vehicle on Union Road north of Polo.

He took them to his home on Canada Road, where he and his wife, Robyn, fed them and put them up for the night.

Other club members rescued people stuck in other locations, he said.

At one point the fierceness of the storm prevented further rescues.

"We got a call for a man, a pregnant woman, and a child near Woosung. We tried to get there but we had to turn around," Nelson said. "We couldn't see. It was snowing hard and the wind was blowing it sideways. It took us 20 minutes to go a quarter of a mile."

Skelnik said she and Tralcas had been headed for Devil's Head, Wis., in Tralcas' Honda Fit in the late afternoon Feb. 1, never imagining the storm would be as severe as it was.

Although the weather and road conditions were steadily deteriorating between Fairdale and Monroe Center around 5 p.m., they believed everything would be fine once they reached Interstate 39, just three miles to the west.

"We were on Route 72 moving slowly and we couldn't see. We got stuck once, but two guys — Corey and Howard — in cars behind us pushed us out," she said. "We thought that once we made it to 39 we would be okay."

A short time later, Skelnik said, they found themselves stuck again, right on the highway.

"There were so many drifts in the road and we kept getting stuck. Everyone was getting stuck," she said.

Howard, who lives in the area, came back to their car and assured them the snowplow would soon be there to get them back on their way.

"Howard was on the phone with his wife and she told him the plow trucks would be there soon," Skelnik said. "But they never came."

They had no way of knowing that even the snowplows were stuck in the blowing, drifting snow.

After a few hours, Howard's pick-up truck got low on fuel, and he took refuge in the car with Skelnik and Tralcas.

"I never did learn Howard's last name, but we all got pretty well acquainted," Skelnik said with a laugh.

Just before leaving home, Skelnik had made up a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the trip — they turned out to be a possible lifesaver for Howard.

"Howard is diabetic and takes insulin three times a day, so the sandwiches helped," she said.

As the night wore on, they watched the snow get deeper and deeper around their car.

"The wind was really howling," she said. "And we saw lightning."

However, she said she was never frightened.

"I believe in God and I had a peace about me. I prayed and I  believe He took care of us," she said.

Finally, sometime after 9 the next morning, they were discovered by Craig, who took them to his home about a quarter mile away.

"His wife Sarah had hot cocoa and cookies ready for us," Skelnik said. "They had seven of us of at their house."

Craig, 36, said he is a member of the Genoa snowmobile club but volunteered to help Stillman Valley club members during the storm.

He was in a group of eight snowmobilers who were out searching together.

"We took some people to the Monroe Center Fire Department. Some who lived close by we took home, and others we took to our homes," Craig said.

On Tuesday night, the conditions were so poor he said that they could see only one of the four or five cars stuck not far from his home.

The couple in that car refused help, saying they would wait for the snow plow, but later trudged the quarter-mile to Craig's house, arriving cold and wet.

"It was bad. We could hardly see where we were going. Even the snowmobiles got stuck," Craig said.

After the snow and wind subsided Wednesday morning, Craig said he was able to see the other cars, including the one Skelnik, Tralcas, and Howard were in.

"We rescued them between 9 and noon on Wednesday," Craig said. After warming everyone up at his house, Craig took Howard to his own home and the others to places where family members could come and get them.

All except Skelnik and Trakas — Ill. 72 remained impassable on into DeKalb County.

"Melissa and Jamie spent Wednesday and Wednesday night at our house. The road was closed until about 2 Thursday afternoon when the state got it open and got the cars dug out."

The cars were stuck in at least four feet of snow, he said.

Skelnik said Trakas' car was no worse for wear.  "It was okay and started right away," she said.