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Hikers, walkers explore southwestern B.C.

105 Hikes
hikes
Take a hike with Stephen Hui in his new book, which includes eight hikes on the Sunshine Coast.

Take a hike with Stephen Hui in his latest book titled 105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia, published by Greystone Books. Using maps, photos and detailed descriptions of routes, Hui’s book is indispensable for the serious hiker who wants challenges and is prepared to hoof it across rough terrain. It’s also welcome for the serious walker who wants to find a trail that doesn’t demand scrambling up a huge elevation gain and doesn’t require backpacking a tent. 

Eight of the hikes described in the 105 are on the Sunshine Coast, both upper and lower Coast. A handy chart gives details such as the degree of difficulty, time spent, and whether the trail is kid-friendly. For example, the Triangle Lake hike at Sargeant Bay is listed as easy and taking three hours. It’s also described as a “lollipop” shape, meaning that hikers take a longish trail then walk a circle around the lake, returning on the same trail. 

Mount Daniel in Garden Bay is listed as only a two-hour hike, but is a steep climb with an elevation gain of 365 m (1,200 ft.). This page also includes Pender Hill in Garden Bay as a desirable route, shorter than Mt. Daniel, that also offers a great view from the summit. 

Many of the other hikes are accessible from the Sunshine Coast on an overnight trip: Whistler, Cheakamus River (near Squamish), Lions Bay and places east of Vancouver such as Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. Tucked in under the heading for North Vancouver is an accessible hike on Keats Island to Lookout Peak. It’s a four-hour hike (one-way) that includes a diversion to Salmon Rock, then upwards to the peak where hikers are rewarded with views of Gibsons and Barfleur Passage. Of course, to reach Keats you must travel on the passenger ferry from Langdale that docks at Keats Landing or Eastbourne. Hui encourages you to be sure to arrange your departure time according to the ferry schedule. 

There are no poor hikes in the book, he says. All are subjectively categorized as either worthwhile (one-star) or in degrees up to amazing (five-star). 

The book includes a foreword from T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss who tells about the many tribes of the Coast Salish nations whose lands and waters are crossed by hikers and paddlers. 

To learn more about the author and photographer of the book, listen to Coast Reporter Radio’s interview with Hui to be found at www.coastreporter.net/audio, episode 101.