Jenna Rowsell and the dog she walks, Frodo, are back home safe after getting lost in Golden Ears Provincial Park overnight.
Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue officials, as well as a crew from Coquitlam SAR, were deployed just after 9:00 am Monday morning after a woman reported that Rowsell never returned with her dog.
The notice, with pictures, was widely shared on Facebook.
Ridge Meadows SAR’s Richard Laing said they spent the night in the park near Alder Flats with a group of five or six campers, and Rowsell wasn’t even aware that anyone was out looking for her.
“What added to the difficulty was just not knowing what her intentions were,” Laing said.
“It was difficult to get a read on what her skill levels were, her mental preparation, and all those things make it really difficult to track someone.
“I think she was extremely embarrassed people were out looking for her.”
Alder Flats was the first location the helicopter deployed in the search headed to, and she was found just a few hours into the search.
Laing knows she tried to do the loop and “bit more off than she could chew,” but doesn’t know whether she took the east canyon or west canyon to get up there.
Laing said the fact that it was a long weekend with increased foot traffic in the park didn’t add much to the difficulty of finding the pair.
Neither Rowsell or Frodo suffered any injuries.