CEDAR CITY -- The Kearns couple rescued Wednesday after being stranded for 12 days in southern Utah have been released from the hospital, according to their family.

Thomas and Tamitha Garner were found Wednesday afternoon by an Iron County road crew in a snow-covered area near the Utah-Nevada state line.

Appearing in wheel chairs at a news conference at the hospital Wednesday night, the couple told a tale of how their truck became stuck in deep snow. They conserved gas, talked to each other, played games on an iPod and prayed for rescue. But after 10 days in freezing temperatures and with supplies dwindling to one granola bar and two frozen bottles of water, the Garners decided to hike out Monday with their dog.

They fashioned snowshoes from seat covers bound with bungee cords and started back tracking along the road they had come in on, sinking 8 to 9 inches into the snow. They relied on matches and a lighter and deodorant to start fires for warmth and turned to dog food for nutrition. To keep hope alive, they thought of family.

"The cold was brutal," said Tamitha Garner.

On Wednesday, three days after they began walking and 12 days since they became stuck, the Kearns couple were found walking on Modena Canyon Road just south of the community of Hamlin Valley. A road worker, who had been plowing snow, drove them to Modena, about 60 miles west of Cedar City on State Road 56. There, they were met by the ambulance.

The couple arrived at Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City shortly after 5 p.m.

Tamitha Garner was removed from an ambulance on a stretcher covered with a blanket. Thomas Garner came out next and was placed in a wheelchair.

When asked how he was doing, Garner said, "Great!" in a strong, husky voice. And he said "Hi, Mom," to the waiting reporters and their cameras.

The couple were taken into the emergency room where they were treated for dehydration and frostbite.

Rescuers also took their dog, Medusa, out of the ambulance.

The frisky basenji mutt was hooked up to a leash and turned over to an animal-control officer.

"They were stranded, but they managed to stay with their vehicle," Iron County Sheriff Mark Gower said.

The couple's truck was stuck in snow in a canyon in Beaver County on Jan. 26, Gower said. The couple stayed in their 1999 Dodge Dakota pickup for nine days and began walking out on Monday. They had hiked about 10 miles in freezing and below-freezing temperatures, sometimes through hip-deep snow.

Darrell Wilson, the emergency room doctor who attended to the couple, said they were dehydrated, suffered frostbite on toes and fingers, but that would suffer no long-term damage.

"Their condition was stable. I was surprised after the trial they had gone through," Wilson said. "They were in good spirits."

Tamitha Garner said that her heart went out to Tina Davenport, the wife of Leroy Davenport, who died apparently after exerting himself on a search for the couple.

Gerald Garner, Thomas' father said he will attend today's funeral for Davenport.

"I don't know what I can say to the family," he said. "We appreciate all he did."

The couple vanished during a weekend road trip in Utah's Dixie to photograph wild horses. They left Jan. 24 and had been last spotted Jan. 26.

Hours before being located, Thomas Garner's father, Gerald, told how family and friends were hoping for a miracle that the couple would be found safe.

"I've put it in God's hands. He's the one in charge of the miracles," Gerald Garner said from his Taylorsville home.

About four hours later, Charles "Chuck" Hulet, one of three members of an Iron County road crew, spotted the couple walking as Hulet cleared snow from the roadway with a grader.

Hulet - together with Jordan Smith and Kacy Adams who were trailing in a pickup - spent the day clearing 6- and 7-foot snowdrifts near Hamlin Valley.

Before calling it a day, Hulet decided to check on a ranch four miles north into Beaver County, Hulet said.

"I just got a feeling about checking on the people at the ranch," he said. "If I had turned around at the county line, I would never have found them."

The Garners and their dog, Medusa, were walking in the roadway when Hulet stopped. After he stepped down from the grader, Hulet said, Tamitha Garner grabbed and hugged him.

"I immediately knew who they were," Hulet said. "I told them that everybody in the country had been looking for them. It felt pretty good finding them." Smith, who is also an EMT, then drove the couple to a waiting ambulance in Modena.

Because the roadway is so remote and rarely used during winter months, neither Beaver or Iron counties plow the roadway, said Neil Forsyth, Iron County Road supervisor.

"Just yesterday, we decided to do it and get it done. [The Garners] are pretty lucky we decided to go ahead and plow the road," Forsyth said.

Thomas and Tamitha Garner better enjoy the hugs and kisses in Utah's Dixie. Because the first thing they'll get when they return to the Salt Lake Valley is a piece of their sister-in-law's mind.

Ange Garner, of Herriman, has suffered heartache and frustration as she has scoured southern Utah's backcountry for the lost couple. Had they simply left travel plans for their weekend road trip, she said, the search likely would have ended a week ago.

"I don't know if they'll want to come to dinner at my house," she said, "because there's going to be a paddle and everyone gets to whack them."

But Garner can't help but celebrate the pair's safe return.

While Garner won't stop Thomas and Tamitha from venturing into Utah's rugged wilderness again, she said their departure will come with a stern warning.

"If they don't leave us an itinerary and get lost," she said, "they are screwed. I'm not doing this again."

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* RUSS RIZZO contributed to this report.