It may feel like summer in the city, but it’s still winter in the mountains.

It’s a message North Shore Rescue puts out every spring, as warmer weather at sea-level leads to a surge in hikers unprepared for the conditions at higher elevations.

This scenario repeated itself Saturday night. A young woman got separated from the rest of her hiking group on Dog Mountain and got lost trying to make her way down from the summit.

“She was not prepared for winter conditions,” NSR team leader Mike Danks told CTV News. “She was wearing runners, she had no extra clothing, no food, and no water.”

The woman called 911 and crews were able to locate her quite quickly, Danks said, but she was so tired and cold that she was cramping as the team led her down the mountain. Rescuers had to carry her part of the way, he said.

In a post on its website, North Shore Rescue describes the lack of preparation seen in many rescues this time of year as partially a product of the “social media effect.”

People see posts on Instagram and other sites that show the natural beauty of the North Shore mountains, without showing any of the dangers associated with getting to such a beautiful spot, and they end up thinking getting there will be easier to get to than it actually is.

This phenomenon leads people to think of “heading into the mountains” as something as simple and as common as heading to the gym, the post says.

The reality, Danks said, is very different.

“People are wearing their runners in town,” he said. “Up in the mountains, there's still snow, and it’s starting to rot out from below. So, it’s becoming hollow, so you can take a couple of steps and you can fall right through that snow, and that can be a serious leg injury."

Despite the increasing frequency with which they are being called into action - NSR is on pace to respond to a record number of calls in 2018 - members of North Shore Rescue reject calls to charge people for the cost of rescuing them.

“We’re completely against charging for rescue because what it does is just delays people calling us,” Danks said. “They get further into danger and then it puts our rescuers further into risk.”

Instead, NSR takes a proactive approach, repeatedly reminding members of the public to always check conditions before heading out and to bring the necessary equipment with them when they go into the mountains.