Two missing hikers said they weren't concerned for their safety when they were found by Squamish Search and Rescue after friends said they were missing Monday (July 10).
The Stawamus Chief Provincial Park was crawling with search and rescue teams and abuzz with helicopters Tuesday (July 11) when RCMP received a call regarding the two missing hikers.
Robert Dudonis, 47, of White Rock and Leonard Nelson, 35, of Vancouver left for a hiking trip up a Squamish trailhead of the Indian Arm Friday (July 7). When the hikers failed to return by 9 p.m. Monday, friends called the RCMP for help. Upon hearing that their son was missing, one of the men's parents immediately travelled to Squamish from Courtney, B.C. to lend their support.
On Tuesday morning, RCMP from Squamish and Coquitlam and Squamish Search and Rescue converged to search for the men in the dense bush and network of trails along the Indian Arm. Based on an itinerary and maps the men had given friends before leaving, rescuers believed they were on their way to a hot spring 2,000 vertical feet down from the hike's trailhead.
By 11 a.m. Tuesday, the men's two vehicles were spotted along the MacMillan Bloedel Forest Service Road immediately north of the Chief. The rescuers then concentrated their search in and around the Pinecone Lake area.
By early evening, Search and Rescue workers found the men on a deactivated logging road near Boise Lake.
"They became lost and disorientated," said Squamish RCMP Cpl. Dave Ritchie. "They believed they were going into one area and they were hiking into another area and then it took them extra days to get to higher peaks to get orientated again. They were spending their overdue time trying to get themselves unlost."
The men said low clouds pinned them in and they were figuring out where they were, but weren't too concerned.
Before leaving town, the parents sent out a warm thank you to rescuers in this issue of the Chief
