105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia by Stephen Hui is the resource I have relied on most for our adventures in 2018. I realised last week that I have now ticked off 30 of the 105 hikes listed in this book. So, it seems like this is a good moment for me to write a review about it. If you have a friend living in Vancouver (or anywhere in Southwestern British Columbia) this would be a fantastic Christmas prezzy.

Please note, I bought my copy of Hikes with my own money, and I’m not sponsored in any way. I’m just sharing my opinions because I have loved so many of these walks.

105 Hikes – what is involved:

You can probably work this out from the name; But the book lists hikes that are all easy(ish) to reach from Vancouver. All of the walks are possible to do as day hikes, although there are some of them (like the Gargoyles or Panorama Ridge) that would be easier as overnight hikes camping up in the alpine areas. Some of the hikes, like Joffre Lakes and the Chief are very famous. But some others, like Cool Creek Canyon or Mount Crumpit have very little information about them online, I don’t think I would have found them without this book.

You can easily get an idea about how hard the walk will be from the descriptions. The walking times are pretty accurate (we find they are about right for the tough walks, but we always take less time than it lists for the easy/intermediate hikes.)

Maps:

I love the maps. We have a couple of other hiking books that have terrible maps that miss of some paths and don’t show the topography. I have found the maps in the 105 hikes book to be useful and easy to understand.

Having said that, the maps are not designed to be used on their own. You need more detailed maps, especially for the longer walks where there is a huge amount of information crammed into half a page! Or, if you can’t get a paper map, at least bring an app on your phone to help show you the way. I use Maps Me, because it’s pretty good at showing mountain trails. However you should always be really careful if you’re relying on phone apps alone. You’ll need a battery charger (just in case your phone goes flat) and you need to be careful about choosing paths, as I keep news articles about SAR rescues where people have chosen mountain climbing routes when they think it’s a normal hiking path(!)

105 Hikes – Descriptions:

I really love reading about the hikes. I tend to take my copy of the book on the bus with me when it’s raining. Then I can read about each hike and plan my adventures for upcoming weekends. The descriptions can also be helpful when you’re actually hiking, but I tend to use them to plan, and stick to real maps when we’re out.

Learning about First Nations:

The description of each hike often includes information about the history of each area, including notes about which First Nations made their homes there (or if an area is sacred to people.) It’s really cool to learn about the original names for mountains and stories from Southwestern British Columbia. I really love this aspect of the book. Although I am afraid I have no idea how to pronounce most of them. It’s a slow learning curve.

Leave no Trace:

The book also includes tips on how to be a good hiker and how to respect the natural environment while you walk. Most of this is obvious (like, don’t drop litter or feed wild animals!) But there are less obvious tips too. Things like planning ahead, avoiding trails at their busiest times and not making too much noise. If you’d like to read more about the principles of leave no trace, you can read more here.

105 Hikes – Views:

We have been on a huge variety of walks so far. We’ve climbed several peaks, visited some stunning waterfalls, met pikas, bears and chipmunks and really had a blast. I’ll finish this post with a few photos from the 30 hikes we’ve explored so far. If you’d like to see more photos from our walks, you can find them listed here.

I have loved every single walk we’ve tried so far from the 105 hikes book. I hope this will encourage you to have a peek at it in bookstores; And then get outside in 2021.