Vernon rescuers walk seven hours to find hikers lost in Monashee Provincial Park

Rescuers hiked for seven hours through the night before finding two hikers that had become lost in Monashee Provincial Park in the North Okanagan.

The two female hikers had got lost while hiking beyond Spectrum Lake, roughly 80 kilometres north east of Lumby, when they got caught in a storm above the snow line.

"They realized they were lost once they could no longer locate the trail markers and weren’t able to reach the camping area nearby at Peters Lake," Vernon Search and Rescue said in a Facebook post.

The rescue took place July 8 after the hikers activated their SOS beacon on their GPS.

The pair were soaked and exhausted and realized they were in danger.

Vernon Search and Rescue volunteers made their way to the trailhead, while rescuers on e-bikes and on foot headed up the mountain.

The rescuers started up the steep trail at 11 p.m. hiking throughout the night until they reached the exhausted hikers at roughly 6 a.m.

The women were uninjured but very cold and exhausted and a helicopter was used to take them back to the base of the mountain.

"The success of the rescue and the good ending to this story is a direct result of the hikers thinking ahead and preparing well, leaving a trip plan with family, and having a proper communication device that accurately showed their position to the rescue crews," Vernon Search and Rescue said in the post.

Vernon Search and Rescue said that while the hikers were well prepared with supplies and proper communications gear, the mountain conditions they experienced are unpredictable and dangerous in every season, even during the summer.

Vernon Search and Rescue want to remind the public to prepare properly for the outdoors and stay safe.

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