After spending three extra nights in the backcountry, three Calgary women were rescued by Kananaskis Public Safety specialists in Height of the Rockies Provincial Park after taking a wrong turn on the Turbine Canyon hike.
The women, aged 33 to 40 were due to return on Saturday, Aug. 13, but failed to show. They were reported overdue on Sunday and public safety performed a helicopter search of the area to no avail.
By Monday, Kananaskis Public Safety and a search and rescue team from British Columbia began to search on foot, battling rain and wicked weather that hampered helicopter flights and limited the search. Several public safety specialists had to spend the night at a backcountry cabin.
While safety crews searched for the missing women on Turbine Canyon and Three Isle Lake trails, the hikers were making their way down the Palliser River after making a wrong turn on a poorly marked section of trail at the Three Isle Lake intersection.
“They were about 10 kilometres off-course,” said Kananaskis public safety specialist Jeremy Mackenzie. “They made a wrong turn on a section of the trail that isn’t the easiest to follow and spent three nights out.”
Realizing something was wrong, the women began rationing their food and fuel, sticking together for two unplanned nights.
“They were well prepared and stayed warm and dry,” Mackenzie said.
This was key on Monday night, when the temperature dropped close to freezing.
“They kept a calm head and had enough sense to stay warm and dry. They had a map and compass, but had difficulty with it, so a GPS may have been a good idea to bring.”
By Tuesday morning, the women were found on the Palliser River by helicopter, hungry and dehydrated, but in good spirits.
Mackenzie said the hikers did well, but had difficulty lighting a fire, which could have helped rescue efforts.
The Three Isle Lake hike is usually a 30-km hike and the group originally planned to hike for three nights.
It was a busy weekend for backcountry rescues, as overdue hikers and climbers were also reported on Mount Sir Douglas, Tombstone and Mount Roy. All performed self rescues and were back within a day of their due date.
