Part 10: Campsites Along the WCT
Night #5: Thrasher Cove

On Day-5, the the Boys had the aching realization that tomorrow they would be hiking off the WCT and returning to civilization at Victoria. However, there was one little detail on the trek that emerged as an immediate concern: If the Boys were to hike the shore line around Owen Point, they must cross its huge and notorious surge channel - at dead, low tide; timing for this crossing was critical!

Surge Channels can be deadly. They are canals cut into low tide rock flats that can be either narrow enough to hop over, or wide enough to require climbing into, crossing and up the other side. Surge Channels run perpendicular to the shore line. When climbing into a surge channel to traverse it, the waves rush in and out with the tide. At "higher" tides, one could be knocked down or unable to climb up its slippery rock sides to safety. When taking the shore trail around Owen Point, its surge channel can be climbed into and cross if low tide is below 3 feet.

OK. Here goes. Although quite anxious about the notorious and mythical rumors about the surge channel at Owen Point, The Boys did take the beach access route and tackled the seascape obstacle. They first hiked over a lunar-like, slippery rock shelf only visible at low tide. Then, with the precision of a Navy Seal team, arrived at the surge channel right on schedule. Crossing was a challenge as the Boys pushed the low tide table envelope and traversed it before it was bone dry. The most difficult part of the crossing was climbing into the channel, finding good footing, and then having one's backpack lowered down to the hiker in the channel. Once across, they hiked a 2-miles bolder field with rocks that would require hand over hand maneuvers to press on.

As one might expect... our G-WeB photographer (who accompaniedthe Boys) developed some low camera battery concerns. Just as they approached the boulder field, his low charge light came on after 5 days (and two rechargeable batteries). From that point forward, our pictures became rather scarce. Anywho... here's how it looked...