Two mushroom pickers have been found safe after spending an unplanned night in thick bush near Black Lake on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.
The couple and their dog had left Bamfield at noon on Sunday to go looking for mushrooms in the vicinity of Black Lake Main, near the trailhead for the West Coast Trail, but had not returned by 6:30 p.m. Friends and searchers from Bamfield initially looked for the couple before calling Port Alberni RCMP around 10 p.m. Sunday, Cpl. Jen Allan said.
The couple was finally located around 5 p.m., deep in the timbers near Black Lake, according to Alberni Valley Rescue Squad search manager Dave Poulsen. They had not been prepared to spend the night outside, he said.
Poulsen added approximately 25 volunteers from the Alberni Valley, Tofino and Parksville ground search and rescue squads were involved in the search, as well as 25 more volunteers from the Bamfield community.