About one in a hundred hikers are evacuated off the WCT on Vancovuer Island in British Colombia. It’s difficult and dangerous.
But this is the strangest WCT evacuation story I’ve heard yet.
Disaster struck the group when they tried to cross a deep surge channel in the sandstone early in the day. …
Peterson’s father, Neil, a veteran hiker, had looked at the width of the surge channel and instructed the others to get their ropes out of their backpacks.
Taking off their packs probably saved their lives.
“The packs would have dragged you down immediately,” said Neil, 63.
As they pulled out their ropes, there was no sign anything was amiss. “There was no water in the area and it was close to low tide,” he said.
Seconds later they were thrashing around in the churning water, buffeted by huge pieces of driftwood.
Death by rogue wave. Death trying to cross a surge channel. Those are old stories on the West Coast.
The amazing part (one I still can’t picture) is that the hikers were left stranded in a “hole”. I assume in the surge channel and surrounded by washed-up logs.
One of their group had crossed the surge channel successfully. He — eventually — was able to call in the American Coast Guard helicopter. They all survived.
Photograph by : John McKay, Times Colonist
Watery trap was ‘like certain death’
(via Two-Heel Drive)
Safety & Staying Healthy – Are surge channels a problem? – i-NEEDtoKnow
I’d like to update this post with photos of where they were trapped.
West Coast Trail – besthike information page
besthike.com 
It is really tempting to jump across the surge channels, especially at low tide when it seems calm. I was really trying to picture where they were, hopefully I can get a ranger to indicate it to me when I go this summer, I’ll take a picture of the exact spot.
The Times Colonist article states that the hikers were “at the end of a surge channel near Owen Point, at the Port Renfrew end of the trail”.
Here’s a map link (Owen Point is near the East end of the Trail): http://www.i-needtoknow.com/wct/maps/interactive.html
Here’s a descriptive link: http://www.i-needtoknow.com/wct/routes/owen.html
About that hole: “The group huddled on logs above the water line, before scrambling into the 15-metre bowl, with sheer slippery sides, which had been hollowed out behind the driftwood.” Perhaps water comes in and drains out again depending on tides, because later in the story, it says “Back at the hole, things were not going well. Night was coming, the water was rising and the cold was penetrating the few dry clothes.” Matt, I’d love to see that picture!
I don’t recall a surge channel particularly close to Owen.
Must be one there, however.