missing hikers found
A North Bay couple shocked rescuers when they walked out of the woods yesterday (Sunday) after spending a week lost in the backcountry of southern British Columbia.

61year-old Lynne Carmody and 59-year-old Rick Moynan were reported missing last Monday after they went for a walk in Cathedral Provincial Park and didn’t return in the evening as planned.

The good news first came on social media Sunday, including the tweet above from Randall St Germain saying the pair are safe.

The lodge they are staying at tweeted “Happy to report missing hikers found alive and OK. More details to come. Please direct all media inquires to the RCMP. Thank you!”

A huge search effort was mounted, but after a week there was still no sign of the two.

Fearing the worst, the couple’s family flew in, intending to say a final goodbye and were amazed when the pair walked out of the forest.

Search-and-rescue leader Paul Berry says crews were about to call off the search when the pair appeared out of the woods around 4 pm Sunday.

Berry says the couple is in surprisingly good condition besides being dehydrated, bruised and bug-bitten.

Nineteen volunteer search teams from across BC and more than 300 rescuers were involved in combing more than 200 square kilometres in search of the pair.

Meantime, the daughters of the two North Bay hikers say their parents survived on very little for the week they were missing.

Sara Moynan says her parents had with them two oranges, three cookies, nine Tic Tacs and two Werther’s candies, which they rationed, but were down to their last Tic Tac.

Lea Carmody says her parents had no idea how big the search was and thanked the 300-plus people who volunteered and helped out.

(The Canadian Press)