The Unforgiving Coast is an excellent book which has separate chapters for some of the most tragic shipwrecks in the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to British Columbia. Though only one West Coast Trail shipwreck is found in this book, the Valencia, it is well worth reading as the author brings the story together in a very readable way. One good and bad aspect of the Valencia disaster is the great amount of public attention it garnered in the months and even years after.
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
The good, of course is that we have a great amount of eye witness detail and testimony of the events. The problem about having too many sources is that it is a tremendous task to pull them all together into a coherent story. Grover does this very well in the Unforgiving Coast, however there are some lapses where the timeline goes all to hell. For example, he outlines the events of the Phil Daykin/David Logan shore party as they travel to the top of the cliff above the wreck. Shortly after they arrive the Valencia is dealt its final blow and a huge wave washes the remaining survivors clinging to the rigging into the ocean. The survivors would have quickly drowned or have been pulled out to sea to die moments later of hypothermia. In the actual coarse events the rescue ships that were in the vicinity several hundred metres offshore, unable to get close enough to attempt a rescue had left the area some time before this final wave killed the remaining survivors. In the book, however, the timeline is mixed up in that Grover describes how the Daykin/Logan party left the scene and then, “meanwhile, ships from Victoria were moving toward the scene to offer assistance”. He then gives a decent summary of the various aborted attempts at rescue from the sea which is a bit confusing as the narrative shot back in time several hours, but uses the word “meanwhile”. Instead of “meanwhile”, he should have stated, ‘in the previous 15 hours, several ships arrived in the area to attempt a rescue’. One excellent aspect of the Unforgiving Coast is the almost unique explanation for the lack of success of the Daykin/Logan shore party.
Roby Daykin Explains Klanawa Crossing
Grover uses accounts from people close to the events during those chaotic hours. He uses an interview done in 1936 by the Victoria Daily Colonist of Roby Daykin, younger brother of Phil Daykin. The Roby Daykin account appears to explain some previously inexplicable events of the shore party as the travelled to the wreck site. Particularly the delay at crossing the Klanawa River which, Roby Daykin recalled was due to the man across the river demanding $10 per person to cross. Unable to pay, they were forced to spend the night and in the daylight of the next morning they had to search the forest to find a small canoe to cross and commandeer the large canoe.
Klanawa River on the West Coast Trail
Klanawa River is shown here at its calmest in the summer. In the middle of winter at night when the Daykin/Logan party arrived here it would have looked quite different as a rushing torrent of water and no cable car crossing that we see today. This picture also shows how thick the rainforest is along the shore that they had to crawl through to find the broken canoe they were able to use to cross.
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