The sunny weather lured lots of people out to hike and camp this long weekend, and that translated into a busy few days for a short-handed North Shore Rescue.
Crews were restocking one of their emergency equipment caches near Indian Arm when the first call came in: a backpacker who was three days overdue and thought to be in the wooded, mountainous area northeast of Pitt Lake.
"A three-member helicopter flight rescue team flew over and participated in the initial search for this individual," said Tim Jones, spokesman for North Shore Rescue.
The Talon helicopter made several passes, but there was no sign of the missing man. With darkness falling and fuel low, the team had to withdraw. But unbeknownst to the rescue team, the hiker had seen the helicopter and realized people were looking for him. The following morning he made his way into the open and built a fire. Rescuers located him at 9 a.m., largely unhurt but delayed by an injured knee.
The same day, 15 members of North Shore Rescue spent hours helping the RCMP search for a missing woman in Lynn Canyon, who later turned up unharmed. That evening, NSR crews were also combing West Vancouver for a 74-year-old man with Alzheimer's. The search continued through the night, before Vancouver General Hospital notified them that the man had been picked up in Vancouver.
"This was a very busy night for the rescue team," Jones said. The calls kept coming as the sun rose Saturday. A 40-year-old woman broke her ankle on Mount Seymour's Suicide Bluff trail.
"This required a helicopter long-line rescue to get her off the trail system," Jones said. "She was flown to our Bone Creek SAR station and transferred to the B.C. Ambulance Service."
Late Sunday night, North Shore Rescue was alerted to another lost hiker. The man was in telephone contact with friends but didn't know where he was.
"The thought was that he was on Seymour, but in fact on his way back he had mistakenly gone east instead of west to the parking lot. So he ended up doing a complete 180 and was heading north on the Elsay Lake trail," said Jones.
"Fortunately, in the darkness he ran into six campers on the trail. They had been trying to get to Elsay Lake but it was too arduous for them, so they decided to camp for the night."
Rescuers exchanged text messages with the man, who said he was unhurt and safe for the night. Searchers kept in touch with him right through the night but chose not to attempt to reach him given the darkness and the nearby scree slopes.
"We don't want a guy breaking his ankle for someone that doesn't really need to be rescued."
Jones said the incident highlights a rarely discussed but time-
consuming type of operation, which can tie up NSR personnel for hours. Meanwhile the team was also monitoring another potential problem in the Lynn headwaters.
"A very, very busy weekend," Jones said, adding that the shortening days mean a smaller window when his teams can use their helicopter. The aircraft is currently grounded at 8: 15 p.m., but that will keep getter earlier as the fall wears on.
Jones said carrying a flashlight and calling for professional help as soon as trouble starts is the best way to help rescue crews.
