Two hikers from Toronto are warm and safe after spending a cold, dark and wet night on Grouse Mountain.
Anthony Lam and Roya Rasoulian had departed from the Rice Lake area around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Their destination was unclear, but crews working Sunday determined they may have headed into the Hanes Valley, an eight- to 10-hour hike leading to the top of Grouse.
North Shore Rescue said the duo was eventually located near the Grouse end of the trail.
Lam, who described himself as an experienced hiker, said the pair had lost track of time, then were caught at the foot of a steep ascent as darkness fell and it began raining.
“We were at the trail where it was a pretty intermediate trail, so it was like, ‘Okay, we cannot proceed,’ so we just stayed put,” he said.
The two had extra socks, towels and a warm jacket to share, and stayed warm by cuddling together overnight.
“The rocks were very scary. I kept thinking we were going to fall down,” Rasoulian said, adding next time she’d “go earlier and finish the hike faster.”
North Shore Rescue search manager Allan McMordie had some stern words for the pair as they were interviewed post-rescue.
“Maybe do a little research on the trails, because there was no way you could have done that trail in the time you had,” he said.
“If you had done your research, you would have known you could not have done that starting at 12:30 or 1 p.m.”
North Vancouver RCMP Sgt. Peter DeVries said the pair’s friends called police when they failed to check in on Saturday.
“Our officers have been working other angles of the investigation to try to find out a little bit more information about where they were supposed to go and what time they arrived and if they did, in fact, come back and just didn’t contact friends,” DeVries said Sunday.
He added that the incident is a good reminder to always be cautious in the mountains.