Vernon rescuers pull hikers from Monashee Provincial Park

A man believed to be in his 60s and his adult daughter were rescued by helicopter while hiking in Monashee Provincial Park east of Vernon yesterday, Aug. 9.

The man fell and sprained his ankle while hiking down the steep trail from Peter's Lake to Spectrum Lake in the provincial park roughly 100 kilometres east of Vernon.

Trevor Honigman with Vernon Search and Rescue said the man activated a Garmin inReach GPS tracker that sent out an SOS signal.

Via its headquarters in Texas, Garmin confirmed the SOS signal was genuine and the message made its way to search and rescue.

Penticton and District Search and Rescue were summoned and their helicopter located the hikers on the trail, roughly six kilometres from the trailhead.

Even in the steep terrain, the helicopter managed to land and pick up the father and daughter.

However, when the helicopter then went to touch down on the dirt road near the Spectrum Lake trailhead the amount of dust generated by its rotor prevented it from landing.

Luckily, the chopper touched down about one kilometre away and transferred the hikers to search and rescue members who assessed the hiker's injury.

The hiker was then driven to his vehicle so his daughter could then drive into town and seek medical attention.

After years of hiking in the backcountry, the pair had just bought the GPS tracker.

Honigman said without the tracker, the daughter would have had to have left her father on the trial, and hiked to the trailhead herself to get help. From there it could be a considerable drive before reaching cell service to call 911.

In July, search and rescue volunteers hiked for seven hours through the night before finding two hikers that had become lost hiking in the same area.

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

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