Some times a man is a dog’s best friend, as happened Sunday night along the Swan Falls Trail at Buntzen Lake, near Coquitlam.
Mike Niedzielski, from Maple Ridge, was at about the 1,200-metre elevation when Hunter, his big Bernese mountain dog became injured. He tried to carry his dog out but Niedzielski had also injured his back, leading to an early Monday morning helicopter rescue off the moutain.
“He did everything right. He was well-equipped. He left a trip plan with his wife. He managed to get out coordinates which was where he almost was, and he stayed put,” explained Coquitlam Search and Rescue search manager Bob Heatherington.
Heatherington pointed out that it was dangerous, steep terrain and if Niedzielski had tried to hike out, he would have gone into more dangerous terrain for him and rescuers.”He was in a safe area there. He was stable, the dog was stable. We did best practices. This is a good area to get him out of there.
“To get down from there, you’re looking at three to four hours. It’s not an easy hike up or down. And coming down is probably more treacherous,” Heatherington added.
Niedzielski had slipped and knocked his dog into a ravine where he injured his leg or paw. He said he tried for 45 minutes lifting his dog over rocks and logs in steep terrain in order to reach a junction of two trails on the mountain. “It just got worse as we climbed. It’s not a problem if everybody’s healthy.
“I just couldn’t help him anymore.”
He initially planned on spending the night on the mountain and see how Hunter was in the morning and hated to be the one to call search and rescue.
“It really wasn’t my call though,” said Niedzielski. He called his wife who then called the Buntzen Lake warden, which then started the search process.
He realized if kept moving he would have got into more dangerous, inaccessible terrain, adding that he didn’t want to get into an inaccessible area and make it harder for everybody.
“Luckily, where I stayed it was very accessible for a helicopter. And there’s not a whole lot of places like that.” The location allowed the helicopter to land and pick up Niedzielski and Hunter first thing on Monday morning.
Heatherington said that a rescue team of four started up the mountain after 9 p.m. that night and established voice contact just before 1 a.m. They brought in food and equipment to help get through what was a cold night on the mountain.
“The trail that they did, it was pretty tough and to do that at 9:30 p.m. at night. I like hiking but I’m not in their physical shape. These guys are incredible. I really do appreciate what they did,” Niedzielski said.
Rescuers told him he did what most people don’t do, which is stay put after calling for help.
“It was quite the adventure.”
Niedzielski said Hunter is doing OK but was a bit tired after the ordeal.
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