Three brothers who got lost while hiking North Vancouver trails overnight Sunday, Sept. 1 have been located, according to North Shore Rescue.
The trio, from West Vancouver and in their late 20s and early 30s, had to be rescued after attempting a technical, 21-kilometre hike to Coliseum Mountain unprepared and far too late in the day, said search manager Paul Markey.
The hike, a backcountry trail west of Mount Seymour, is considered difficult and can take nine hours to complete.
“They were about a third of the way up the Coliseum peak trail, and they were told by park rangers that it was getting late and there would be no way they would be able to make the peak and return back to the car before darkness,” he said.
“But the brothers decided to carry on anyway.”
Setting off at 1 p.m., the three brothers arrived at the peak at 7 p.m. before making their descent around half an hour later. As night fell, the group took a wrong turn on their descent, arriving at Paton Peak in complete darkness at 9 p.m.
“They called 911 at that point, and then the police called us,” he said.
“We knew exactly where they were on the trail, so I told them to stay put for the night. Just hunker down. I knew the weather was good and it was going to be a warm night, so that wasn’t a problem,” said Markey.
“They were healthy and strong, uninjured. So I knew they could spend the night exactly where they were.”
North Shore Rescue was called at first light Monday morning when the three hikers, with dwindling phone battery, couldn’t source the trail to descend Paton Peak.
“We took a decision with the RCMP to go and help rescue the guys and get them safely back down the mountain,” said Markey, adding that rescue teams were divided into one driving up the Seymour Demonstration Forest service roads, another stationed at the Bone Creek search and rescue station nearby and a third, flown up to the summit of Paton Peak.
The three descended unharmed, but with the area around Paton Peak “treacherous” when off the trail, events could have unfolded very differently, said Markey.
The incident should serve as a reminder to other hikers to be prepared when taking to the local trails, said Markey, especially as the weather makes its gradual shift to autumnal conditions and the days become shorter.
“The issue was that they just started way too late in the day,” he said, adding how the group had no headlights, no survival equipment, no battery backup for their phones and had ignored the advice of park rangers.
“People can learn from this misadventure.”
Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
