Two French trampers spent a night in mountains near Arrowtown, only finding their way back to civilisation early yesterday.
And they are not the only ones to have been lost on the track.
The women, aged 22 and 23, realised they were lost on the Big Hill walking track about 5pm on Tuesday.
By 11pm they managed to get cellphone reception and call a friend in Queenstown, who contacted police. They walked back to Arrowtown at 4am yesterday. If the pair had not walked out, a search party would have been launched at sunrise.
The Department of Conservation does not manage the track but warns high levels of back-country skills and experience are required to complete the route.
Doc ranger Chris Hankin said, ''There are few markers on the track, but that is owing to its classification as a back-country route.''
Doc brochures say all back-country routes require complete self-sufficiency.
