Lucky there were no serious injuries. There doesn’t seem to be a paywall to see this short article. Excerpt below the link.
A teen hiking group trusted Google Maps on a B.C. alpine trail. It ended in a helicopter rescue.
The Howe Sound Crest Trail is one of British Columbia’s most iconic alpine trails, following a rugged ridgeline overlooking Howe Sound just north of Vancouver. Although the approximately 18-mile route with a 6,000-foot elevation gain can be completed by experienced trail runners in a day, search and rescue officials generally recommend hikers treat it as a two-day backpacking trip.
The teenagers, all 17 years old, believed Google Maps’ estimate that the route would take about five hours. The printed directions they were carrying, which were shared publicly by Lions Bay Search and Rescue, gave simple instructions for two legs of the trail, but didn’t account for the terrain or elevation.
“[Google Maps] is calculating the time that you’re walking a straight road on pavement,” Masiar said. “When you get into outdoor terrain, that no longer holds true.”