105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern BC

Carrying on the tradition in the series, Stephen Hui’s 105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia highlights several of the many great hikes in the region. The trails included are meant as day-hikes from Vancouver and range in hiking time from 3 hours up 12 hours with a varying degree of difficult but leaning more towards the intermediate hiker and up.

The book includes many of the classics, such as Garibaldi Lake and the Stawamus Chief Mountain. There were a number of trails from previous editions that have not been well maintained and have been removed leading to several new additions, including Watersprite Lake, the Mount Currie Trail, and the Skywalk Trails. Three trails from the Victoria area have been added as well as a few from the Bellingham area and Anacortes and San Juan Islands in the United States.

Each trail contains details of the hike and a description where attention has been taken to include the First Nation names of many of the geographic areas and features. Thanks to Steve Chapman, the topographical trail maps are greatly improved over previous editions, including more local details and a consistent “north” to either the top or side of the page.

A couple of other notable guest contributions to the book are Coquitlam Search and Rescue’s own Michael Coyle’s Being Prepared, which talks about how to keep yourself safe in the outdoors, and Forest and the Femme’s, Jaime Adams’ Ethical Hiking, a piece on the principals of Leave No Trace. Both of these important topics were well written and nice additions to the book.

105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia is available at most local bookstores, outdoor stores and online. Keep an eye on Stephen’s site for several upcoming speaking events.

For a history on the 105 / 103 Hikes books, check out Happiest Outdoor’s blog post which talks about all of the editions beginning from the first published in 1973.