In addition to completing "Dawn Hanna's Best Hikes in SW BC" in 2007 and "103 Hikes (5th edition)" in 2015, I now have completed the 5th Edition of "105 Walks in British Columbia's Lower Mainland"!
Ok, maybe somewhat less of an accomplishment, sure, but for 10+ years on rainy days and through injury recovery I've been chewing at the edges of this one and and happy report I've now seen them all.
This book, like when I finished 103 hikes, was quite outdated, and there are newer editions but the reason I like to "bag" books cover to cover is to introduce the "random factor". Especially with this book, what it did was allow me to explore parts of Surrey or the Sunshine Coast, for example, I might never have been inclined to check out. I now feel more in touch with my home (the Lower Mainland) as a result.
Many of these walks could not be more flat,.. hardly worthy of walking your dog. Others,.. full on hikes with elevation gain. They were nothing if not inconsistent.
My final walk was South Elphinstone Heritage Trails which turned out to be logistically painful unless I wanted to pay for my car on the ferry to Langdale, both ways, only for a 3 hour hike. In this case I rode over solo, climbed the hill from the ferry by bike, locked up and switched to my hiking boots. FINITO (actually it was a pretty tough trail for an out of shape guy recovering from an injury).
Looking back, I think of all the trips and people I did them with (many of these I did solo) and sure they were not all super exciting adventures,.. but the whole experience was what mattered. Owls, history, and just something to do after work instead of TV. It was good enough for me to seriously consider walking the gaps between the 5th edition, and the lists in editions 6 and 7.
I'll release a list of "worth doing" sometime soon (and the "these were crap" list also).
The hikes:
| UBC Gardens |
| Pacific Spirit Park |
| Chancellor Woods |
| Point Grey |
| Jericho Park/ Spanish Banks |
| English Bay |
| False Creek |
| Stanley Park |
| Renfrew Triangle |
| Champlain Heights |
| Burnaby Heights/ Trans Trail |
| Capitol Hill |
| Burnaby Mountain |
| Burnaby Mountainside Trails |
| SFU/Stoney Creek |
| Burnaby Lake |
| Brunette River |
| Deer Lake |
| Molson Way (Central) |
| Molson Way (South) |
| Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park |
| Mundy park |
| Shoreline Trail |
| Sasamat Lake/ Woodhaven Swamp |
| Belcarra Regional Park |
| Buntzen Lake |
| Colony Farm Regional Park |
| Ridge Park Loop |
| POCO Trail |
| Woodland Walks (Lower Burke Ridge) |
| Minnekhada Regional Park |
| Whytecliff |
| Seaview/Baden Powell |
| TransCanda Trail/ Nelson Creek |
| Point Atkinson |
| Cypress Falls Park |
| Black Mountain Loop |
| Cypress Bowl |
| Baden-Powell Trail (Hollybrun Ridge) |
| Lower Hollyburn |
| Brothers Creek Trails |
| Hollyburn Heritage Trails |
| Ballantree |
| Capilano Canyon |
| Bowser Trail |
| Baden Powell Trail Grouse Mountain |
| Mosquito Creek |
| Upper Lonsdale Trails |
| Lynn Headwaters Loop |
| Rice Lake |
| Two-canyon Loop |
| Hastings/Lynn Loop |
| Historic Mushroom Loop I |
| Historic Mushroom Loop II |
| Goldie Lake |
| Dog Mountain |
| Mytery Lake and Peak |
| Baden Powell Trail |
| Indian Arm Park |
| Lulu Island Dyke |
| Richmond South Dyke Trail |
| Richmond Nature Trail |
| Deas Island |
| Brunswick Point |
| Boundary Bay Regional Park |
| Crescent Beach |
| South Surrey Urban Forests |
| Tynehead Regional Park |
| Derby Reach Regional Park |
| Campbell Valley |
| Aldergrove Lake Regional Park |
| Matsqui Trail |
| Seven Sisters Trail |
| Teapot Hill |
| Coquihalla Historic Trails |
| Chatham Reach |
| Alouette River Dykes |
| Pitt Wildlife Management Areas |
| UBC Malcolm Knapp Research Forest |
| Mike Lake |
| Alouette Nature loop |
| Gold Creek Trails |
| Kanaka Creek |
| Rolley Lake and Falls |
| Hayward Lake |
| Hoover Lake Forest Trail |
| Mission Trail |
| Weaver Lake |
| Campbell Lake Trail |
| Sasquatch Provincial Park |
| Killarney Lake |
| Porteau Bluffs |
| Shannon Falls |
| Squamish Estuary |
| Four Lakes Trail |
| DeBeck Hill |
| Evans Lake Forest |
| Brohm Lake Interp Forest |
| Brohm Lake |
| Brandywine/Calcheak |
| Crater Rim Loop |
| Cheakamus Lake |
| Shadow Lake Interpretive Forest |
| Soames Hill Regional Park |
| K2 |
| South Elphinstone Heritage Trails |
| Triangle Lake |
| Mount Daniel |
| Skookumchuck Narrows |
On to complete DWYT, and Car-free BC...
Looking back, I think of all the trips and people I did them with (many of these I did solo) and sure they were not all super exciting adventures,.. but the whole experience was what mattered. Owls, history, and just something to do after work instead of TV. It was good enough for me to seriously consider walking the gaps between the 5th edition, and the lists in editions 6 and 7.
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