It is not unusual for hikers on the Juan de Fuca trail to sink up to their knees in mud, but a recent mud-related call was a first. Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue was called after a hiker on the trail sank down to his hips in mud and could not get out for a couple of hours. The hiker was extricated by others on the trail who happened to pass by before members were able to respond, said Victoria Clarke, co-ordinator and manager. Clarke said the incident is [unusual]; while the trail is routinely muddy, being physically stuck is not.
Written from the article text only. Where the scan is hard to read, the summary was taken from the page image rather than the OCR.
Details
Headline
“Hiker stuck in mud up to his hips for hours on Juan de Fuca trail” Not recorded in the catalogue — read from the clipping image. Check it against the clipping below before quoting it.
A small call, but it records something the rest of the archive does not: a subject freed by passing hikers before the team arrived. The same pattern — bystanders reaching the subject first — appears in the 2025 Sombrio surfer rescue and the 2025 whistle article. This page was recovered from inside the ProQuest bulk export already held in the archive, where it had been listed as referenced but not held.
The clipping
The full page. The article region could not be verified automatically, so the whole page is shown rather than risk a clipping that cuts off the article. the whole page is shown; the article region within it has not been isolated.
Read the original online
ProQuest — the scanned page in the Times Colonist digital archive ↗subscription or library card Recorded exactly as captured, including the Greater Victoria Public Library proxy address — it needs a GVPL card or a ProQuest subscription. Without one, search ProQuest for the document ID in the address. This link opens through the Greater Victoria Public Library and asks for a library card number before showing the page. Cards are free for Greater Victoria residents — sign up on the GVPL site; an online temporary card is enough for the digital databases. Outside Greater Victoria, ask your own library whether it offers the ProQuest Times Colonist archive. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.gvpl.ca/pdntimescolonist/newspapers/april-14-2024page-a3/docview/3044635520/sem-2?accountid=6051
These links leave this archive and point at the publisher. They may change or disappear — the scan held here is the archival copy.
This is a full newspaper page and carries unrelated stories as well as the article summarised here. The text is the OCR made from the ProQuest bulk export during the 2026 research phase, not a fresh pass. Recovered from page 34 of the bulk export.
Record id 2024-04-14-times-colonist-pa3-hiker-stuck-in-mud. Original file in the project archive: 02_articles/2026-07-16_proquest_bulk_export_50_articles_2012-2026.pdf (page 34).
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14 April 2024It is not unusual for hikers on the Juan de Fuca trail to sink up to their knees in mud, but a recent mud-rela
