North Shore Rescue saves lost hikers from a cold night on Mount Seymour

Two women are safe after being rescued on Mount Seymour Saturday night.

The pair took a wrong turn and got separated from their hiking group on their way back from hiking the second pump peak at Mount Seymour.

Other members of the group tried to find them, but ended up heading back due to thick fog that had rolled in.

They called for help from North Shore Rescue upon returning to the parking lot, who dispatched search teams immediately.

Thick fog made search difficult

NSR team member Jeff Yarnold said it was foggy on the mountain with poor visibility, making it challenging for search teams to find them.

"It's tough on our guys, calls heading out to Elsay Lake," said Yarnold.

"It's just a challenging area for us to access, and these calls quite easily turn into all-nighters."

Luckily, search teams guessed the pair's location and quickly dispatched a team to find them.

They found the women sitting on a rock on the trail to the lake. Despite being cold and hungry, they were in good shape and able to hike back down.

Hikers unprepared for weather

Search Manager Peter Haigh said the women were not dressed appropriately for the weather and were not prepared to spend a night in the backcountry.

"They didn't have any of the 10 essentials," he said.

"Very very dense fog … wet, clammy ... and no, they were not well prepared."

"They would not have done very well overnight on that rock."

NSR crews hiked the pair back down to the Mount Seymour parking lot around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, where the rest of their group was waiting to take them back home.