A man was rescued Tuesday evening after going off a Golden Ears park trail.

Ridge-Meadows search and rescue team captain Rick Laing said he received a call at 1:45 p.m. Tuesday from RCMP about a 50-year-old Burnaby man lost on the mountain, apparently near Alder Flats. The man had gone to the park on Sunday to camp and climbed the trail alone.

"When we got the teams up there we made cell phone contact," Laing said.

"He couldn't describe exactly where he was and there were some language difficulties and cell phone issues."

Fifteen Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue team members set up a command post in the West Canyon Trail parking lot and called in eight members of the Coquitlam Search and Rescue.

They brought in a helicopter to fly teams to several locations they thought the man could be. Using cell phones, rescuers asked if he could see the chopper, but he was in a heavily forested area and could only hear it, Laing said.

"We were able to locate him four or five hours later," around 7:40 p.m.

The Burnaby man initially thought he had broken his leg on a two-metre jump, but Laing said he was able to walk.

Laing said the man had intended to stick to the trail, but got off course past the old shelter, where others have done the same.

However, he was not adequately prepared to be hiking alone, and lacked sufficient supplies, including a signalling device, Laing added. He also had not left a detailed trip plan with his wife.

Had cell phone contact not been made, there's a chance he might not have been found.

"Frankly, we're very surprised he was able to," make phone contact, Laing said.

After the man was found, Ridge Meadows RCMP brought him to the detachment and contacted his wife to fetch him.

"We all felt he was in no condition to drive back to Burnaby," Laing said.