Two men who attempted fishing in Lynn Creek on the long weekend had to be shuttled to safety by rescues crews.
Park rangers first radioed for support from District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services around 6 p.m. Monday after learning of two men stranded just downriver of the Twin Falls Bridge.
“We arrived and when our team was assembled and made it down to the river, we soon discovered that both patients were stranded on a rock in the middle of the river,” said assistant fire chief Chad Laforet.
The fire and rescue crew deployed their inflatable raft for a swift-water rescue, which they used to ferry the subjects to terra firma one at a time.
The men had no individual injuries but both were slightly hypothermic, Laforet said. The whole operation took a little more than an hour.
The area is a well-known swimming hole but the men were visiting from South Korea and had little local knowledge about safety in the creek, Laforet said.
“Be prepared for the environment you’re getting into and let someone know where you’re going and what you’re doing,” he said. “They were not prepared at all for the conditions they were in.”
And, he added, despite the hot weather and dry conditions, Lynn Creek can still be a threat to those who aren’t strong swimmers.
“The river has come down but it’s definitely not safe at this time. The water level is still a bit too high,” he said. “That canyon can be very unforgiving.”
Crews have been making fairly regular visits to Lynn Canyon for rescues this summer, with two rope rescues carried out in the last three weeks, Laforet said. Quarry Rock and The Grouse Grind have also been hot spots for fire and rescue members out collecting people who bit off more than they could chew.
“It’s just picking up right now and it typically doesn’t get much slower for us,” he said.
Before the rescue was even complete, firefighters were called to assist an elderly man who had injured his ankle while hiking along the Capilano River.
North Shore Rescue volunteers have also been kept active with three rescues carried out in Lions Bay and Grouse Mountain since the long weekend.
