SAR team rescues 2 hikers on Juan de Fuca trail during peak season

Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue, with support from the Alberni Valley Rescue Squad, rescued a hiker near Sombrio Beach on the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail on Friday Aug. 16, 2024. Per the B.C. Search and Rescue Association, the trail ranks third in the province for SAR call volume, and coordinator Victoria Clarke said the team is extra busy over summer as the trail is challenging and easily underestimated given how accessible it is from Victoria. A helicopter team landed near the trail for the hiker, who had an upper-limb injury, and flew him to Jordan River to be handed to BC Emergency Health Services. Clarke noted the team also responded to another call in the same area the previous Sunday, Aug. 11, and that in May 2024, Black Press reported 17 volunteers from Juan de Fuca and Metchosin carried a stretcher on a four-hour trek to rescue a hiker. Clarke advised hikers to research the muddy, uneven, slippery trail beforehand and come prepared with footwear, poles and weather gear.