Rescued group drank swamp water as it spent 25 hours lost in Okanagan

A group of lakegoers who ended up lost in thick forest for 25 hours over the long weekendwas found safe in the Kelowna area on Sunday afternoon, aftera night drinking water from a swamp beforescrambling uphill for cell service.

Central Okanagan Search and Rescue said three people and their dog were found after searchers, driving through the new-growth forest on ATVs, heard them "screaming" for help. Anotherwaveof rescuers had missed them minutes earlier, unable to hear themshouting through the dense brush.

"They seemed to be quite exuberant," search manager Duane Tresnich said of the rescuees, who are between 19 and 23 years old.

"They were all very happy that they were found."

First 18 hours lost

The group, two men and one woman, set out for a drive around PostillLake on Saturday. They had their 10-month-old puppy in the backseat with the window rolled down.

They got lost and stuck in a ditch on aforestry road. The dog spotted a deer, leapt out the open window, bounded into the forest and disappeared.

The group abandoned their car to chase after the dog. A wrong turn, dead end andfailed shortcut later, they were lost and out of service with no supplies.

It would be 18 hours before they would be able tocall for help.

"They spentthe night sleeping in a swamp. Then, in the morning, they got up quite high on one of the hills and managed to get cell service," Tresnich saidTuesday.

"One of the men managed to call their mom."

Tresnich said rescuers started with the group's car and a ping on the cellphone tonarrow down a search area. Crews found them in a dense, swampy area about six hours later.

"They're pretty much covered in bug bites," said Tresnich. "And they did drink the water in the swamp as a survival thing. You need water. However,it may be affecting them over the next couple of days."

The area around Postill Lake is crowded with three-metre high trees and a mess of logs felled by wind not aplace to be lost without a plan, Tresnich said.

"It's a great obstacle course if you're in the army. A really good training ground," the search managersaid.

"There's always a 10 essentials to takewhen you go on a trip. Even if you do a little backpacking or a car trip, have some of those in your car. That way,if something like this ever happens, you could have some supplies. And never walk away from your car," he added.