Two hikers who got lost Tuesday in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area spent a cold night in the forest before being rescued about noon Wednesday.
The two men, ages 22 and 23, started out Tuesday on the Pawnee Trail and switched to the South St. Vrain Trail, according to a Boulder County sheriff’s news release. Then they went off trail and got lost.
The day hikers had only climbing equipment with them and were not prepared for an overnight stay.
Overnight temperatures in the area dropped into the lower 40s, according to the National Weather Service.
About 8 a.m. Wednesday, the Boulder County Regional Dispatch Center received a 911 cellphone call from the lost hikers. Members of the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, the Indian Peaks Fire Protection District and American Land and Leisure, which manages Brainard Lake, joined deputies and responded to a GPS location the hikers gave to the dispatch center.
About 12:30 p.m. Wednesday the hikers were found. They were cold but not injured. The hikers were about a mile north of Brainard Lake.
