This time it was on the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. Allan Angeles, while hiking alone along the JDF Marine Trail, lost the trail in heavy rain near Sombrio Beach.I just slipped, fell off a cliff and landed on a couple of rocks. Luckily I landed on my backpack, which cushioned me and most likely saved me.Angeles thinks me may have passed out for an hour or so. Upon waking, he managed to climb the cliff and make camp for the night. The next day, he tried to make it back to Sombrio, but after hiking about 1.5km he was still unable to find the trail. He then went out on another cliff and started waving his tarp to flag down a fishing boat.
Luckily, two American fishermen were able to pick Angeles up and ferry him to Jordan River. From there, he was taken by ambulance to Victoria General Hospital. Angeles was diagnosed with a fractured pelvis, effectively ending this year's hiking season for him.
Once again, I wish I could have some more details on this one. Hiking 1.5 km and not being able to find the trail is quite astounding on a coastal trail. On the other hand, the particular section between Chin and Sombrio goes inland a considerable way, and in heavy rain it would be very difficult to navigate off-trail.
I'm glad we have another relatively happy ending, and I'll spare the lectures this time!
2 comments:
Wish I read this six years ago.
My memory is blurry about the incident now.
I made bad decisions that day and was lucky for the results being what they were.
I gave myself a good lecture that day, and so did everyone that knows me.
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