Great Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast by Robert C. Belyk is a wonderful book highlighting many of the most interesting shipwrecks along the Pacific Coast. The book is divided into 10 chapters, each about one remarkable shipwreck. The Valencia appears in the sixth chapter titled: "Valencia: Appointment with Death". Belyk has great, descriptive titles for each chapter, such as "Yankee Blade: Wreck of a Gold Ship".
West Coast Trail Shipwrecks
Alaskan at 4k Soquel at 5k Sarah at 7k Becherdass-Ambiadass at 8k Michigan at 12k Uzbekistan at 13.8k Varsity at 17.6k Valencia at 18.3k Janet Cowan at 19k Robert Lewers at 20k Woodside at 20.2k Uncle John at 26.2k Vesta at 29k Raita at 33k Skagit at 34.2k Santa Rita at 37k Dare at 39k Lizzie Marshall at 47k Puritan at 48.5k Wempe Brothers at 49.4k Duchess of Argyle at 58k John Marshall at 62.3k William Tell at 64.2 Revere at 69k Cyrus at 75k
West Coast Trail Campsites
Pachena Bay Campground Michigan Creek at 12k Darling River at 14k Orange Juice Creek at 15k Tsocowis Creek at 16.5k Klanawa River at 23k Tsusiat Falls at 25k Cribs Creek at 42k Carmanah Creek at 46k Bonilla Creek at 48k Walbran Creek at 53k Cullite Cove at 58k Camper Bay at 62k Thrasher Cove at 70k Pacheedaht Campground
Another chapter is called, "Brother Jonathan: In the Teeth of the Dragon". Every chapter is a fantastic, exciting account of the brutal events of these historic shipwrecks. Other ships covered in the book are the Pacific, City of Rio de Janeiro, Classam, Columbia, Francis H. Leggett, Princess Sophia and San Juan. The chapter on the Valencia starts off with a paragraph that perfectly outlines the horrors to come in the following pages. It starts "In the history of marine disasters on the Pacific Coast," the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote in 1906, "the wreck of the steamer Valencia on Walla Walla reef on the night of January 21[sic] offers no parallel." While the ship actually struck the rocks a few minutes before midnight on Monday, January 22, the extent of the tragedy was no exaggeration. More people died when other Pacific Coast steamers went, but they sank relatively quickly and the passengers and crew did not endure terrible days and nights of suffering. The end of the Valencia was a theater of horror. Before dozens of dazed onlookers, disaster seemed to happen in slow motion. This is how the chapter starts and every page is gripping and beautifully written. Definitely a shipwreck book worth getting. Though the Valencia is the only West Coast Trail shipwreck, the other shipwrecks are incredibly interesting. Great Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast can be found on Amazon.ca here...
SS Valencia: The Ghost Ship that Haunts the Graveyard of the Pacific
This is a documentary of the Valencia from the Youtube channel Big Old Boats. The events are narrated over photos and videos similar to what the Valencia faced. Though the photos and videos are mostly quite different, they still give a sense of how things actually were. For example, the coastline videos appear to be the Oregon coast, not the west coast of Vancouver Island. An excellent video and retelling of this incredible story. One criticism of the video appears to be the result of basing it entirely on the book The The Final Voyage of the Valencia and getting the Daykin, Logan, Martin shore party details wrong as the book did. The poorly chosen video clip shows three people casually walking a flat trail in the summertime with walking sticks. That clip supposedly portrays Daykin, Logan and Martin starting their first 15 hour leg of their trek through the brutal rainforest, mostly in the dark, in freezing rain, through deep mud, up and down steep ravines on the same trail that currently doesn't allow hikers in the winter because it is far too dangerous and difficult.
More Books About West Coast Trail Shipwrecks
West Coast Trail Shipwreck Books
West Coast Trail A to Z
The West Coast Trail by Day
Explore BC Hiking Destinations!
The West Coast Trail
Victoria Hiking Trails
Clayoquot Hiking Trails
Whistler Hiking Trails
Squamish Hiking Trails
Vancouver Hiking Trails