Hiker rescued by helicopter after night on the mountain

A 43-year-old man spent almost 24 hours stuck on a mountain with his dog aftermaking a call to report himself as "lost" to police in Coquitlam, B.C.

Rescuers in a helicoptergot the pair out of a steep creek drainage area up to the east of Buntzen Lake just before 6:30 p.m. PT Tuesday.

Michael Coyle, speaking for Coquitlam Search and Rescue,said the man had set out on a Canada Day hike with his dog in the Eagle Ridge trails area at around 10:30 a.m on Monday morning.

The man called police just before 7 p.m. Monday night to report himself lost.

At the time, search and rescue members couldn't pinpoint the hiker's position using his smartphone's signal, but they exchanged some text messages with him. A helicopter crew couldn't spot him by sunset, and the man and his dog spent the night on the mountain.

Ten search and rescue team members were also out overnight, searching for the pair along the ridge's network of trails.

Searchers got another text message from the hiker at 8 a.m.Tuesday, but cellphone coverage was spotty in the area, and searchers thenlost contact with him for several hours.

Using a helicopter, crews located the man and his dog by air in a steep creek drainage area. The two were surrounded by cliffs, and rescuers used two helicopters to perform a long-line rescue of the pair.

At around 6:30 p.m. PT, Coquitlam Search and Rescue escorted the man to a waiting ambulance. Some of the man's friends were waiting by the rescue area, and they took the dog into their care.