A Nanaimo Search and Rescue team plucked two lost hikers off Mount Benson on Boxing Day.
Searchers were called out at about 6:30 p.m. after two hikers of a party of five adults – three men and two women – lost their way when darkness fell while hiking above Witchcraft Lake.
“A family group of five went out for a walk on Mount Benson and got turned around in the dark,” said Kevin McNeill, Nanaimo Search and Rescue spokesman. “Two of them were able to make their way out to Witchcraft Lake.”
McNeill said the other three people were found on logging road NL-27, which crosses the face of the mountain above the Westwood Ridges, at about 7 p.m.
One woman was taken to hospital to be treated for a minor leg injury.
