“That would have been another problem, if all the vehicles were also stuck on the wrong side of a washout.”
Jordy Shepherd, a team member with Columbia Valley Search and Rescue, said that a mountain lake, called a tarn, had cut a channel and led to fast-flowing water, highlighted in red in this image. (Submitted to CBC by Jordy Shepherd)
As soon as rescuers realized that the hikers and campers were stranded, they set up a staging area and flew them out, after which they were taken to the trailhead to retrieve their vehicles.
Shepherd said the stranded guests ranged from 10 years old all the way to about 70 years of age.
“It took about seven hours total from when we were called to when we had everybody out,” she said. “And we also did another flight out to a campground that’s outside the park, in a further remote area.”
The rescuer said that a tarn — a mountain lake in the park, which has historically been popular for its rugged climbs and landscapes — had cut a channel and caused the flooding.