San Jose Family Rescued In Big Basin State Park After Night In Hollowed Out Tree

BIG BASIN REDWOODS STATE PARK - It was a dark and stormy night. So starts many bad novels.

But a San Jose family found no solace in reading together last Saturday night.

Instead, they huddled together inside a hollowed out tree at Big Basin Redwoods State Park overnight, enduring the cold and rain, after they found themselves lost.

According to a Facebook posting, the San Jose family got lost after a day in Big Basin when it got dark and began to rain.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's office says they were notified about the missing family on Sunday, and after a search of the area, the family was found, cold and wet.

The San Jose residents told deputies they had stayed overnight in a hollow tree they found in the park.

In a photograph released of the occasion, the family shares a cup of hot chocolate with officers before returning to San Jose.

-images via Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office