Members of Cowichan Search & Rescue are searching on Heather Mountain for a missing 55 year-old woman.
CSR president Jamie Tudway-Cains, said the woman was hiking on Heather Mountain, a 1,250-metre summit west of Lake Cowichan, on Wednesday afternoon when she became separated from the group and became lost when they were descending from the snow-capped top of the mountain.
He said the woman, whose name has yet to be released, was keeping in touch with her friends by text and said she would return to the summit and try to reconnect with the trail down the mountain.
Tudway-Cains said that’s the last the group heard from her and it’s assumed that her cell phone lost charge.
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“Searchers have been out all night and reached the summit this morning,” he said.
“We have 15 CSA members working in teams on the mountain in the search and new people are coming in all the time. An airplane is also being called in to help with the search. Members of other search and rescue units may be called soon as well. We’ll see how the day goes.”
Tudway-Cains said he isn’t aware if the woman had any food and water or was properly attired to spend a night on the mountain and cope with the rain in the area today.
“All we know right now is that she had a small gear bag with her, but we don’t know what it contained,” he said.
