Worst Hikes in 103 Hikes 5th Edition

Far be it from me to be pushy about where someone else wants to go,.. but if you read this and choose to still go on one of these 10 hikes,.. all I can say is "you've been warned".

Because I hiked the 5th edition many years after it was published, I probably deserved a few crap hikes,.. trails don't last forever, especially in Southwestern BC where the access is often provisioned by some resource industry like logging or mining.

Logistics for sure influenced my experiences on these hikes, as did trail condition,.. but some,.. just suck without those considerations.  Thankfully almost all of these were removed for the next editions!

Do not do these hikes:

1 - ELAHO CANYON

The West Coast Wilderness Committee does great work.  They bring attention to areas at risk, and save pristine stands of forest.  Sometimes they do this by building a trail for access.  The problem is after an area is saved, their job is done and the trail is never maintained again.  The Elaho Canyon is one such trial and the bridge is out so you cannot complete it end to end.  Even if you could, there are no views and the access road is very, very, long.  In early Wanderung, this trail was the destination for the callout that won the first "Worst Callout" award.  The organizer knew the road started in Squamish so labelled it a "Squamish hike" the fact is it starts North of Pemberton!

2 - BUG LAKE

The name probably gives you a hint. It took me 2 attempts to bag this piece of crap.  Both soaking rain and bugs.  The road is washed out so I did some damage to my car and the 2nd time we
smartened up and brought mountain bikes to cover some of the distance.   Imagine the Grind with instead of stairs,.. a mud slope straight up.  At the top, granted, it started showing promise,.. at the turn around point!  Very overgrown, very hard to find the trail.  Oh ya, and we helped a crashed driver get back on the road only afterwards realizing he was probably drunk and we probably endangered Brackendale citizens for miles around.

3 - BOISE TRAIL

Another WCWC fiasco. So overgrown I got stuck unable to move forward or back at one point and it took us an hour to move 200m.  Slide alder requires an extra several km of hiking, and only a sweet little truck got us there and had to shuttle people.   I see nothing redeeming about this trail, consider it decommissioned.  My shins are still scarred months later!


4 - HECTOR FERGUSON

I don't know who this Hector Ferguson guy is, but I bet he is an asshole. His trail sucks and serves no purpose, and oddly, still in the 6th edition!  We biked part of it to save time but this one asks you to do a dangerous river crossing and the camp spot at the top,.. a mud pool. No views, long trail, why go?  I was crossing a log bridge that snapped and I was fully submerged for several seconds in 3 foot water with my pack pulling me under,.. fun times!

5 - HOPE PASS AND NICOMEN LAKE

Sure, if Nicomen lake back to the highway are the tail end of your trip through the Heather Trail,.. I can see doing it.  The lake is nice, but my god this trial is endless,.. sheer monotony for 50km.

6 - SUNSET TRAIL

This is all forest, not real payoff except that I suppose you could spare yourself the hike down by just hiking to Cypress Bowl and hitching a ride.  In fact,.. do that.


7 - MT. AMADIS

Very long, very lame. 2 attempt to finish this and nothing redeeming about it, yet somehow still in the 6th edition. Oh wait,.. 1 good thing: views of the places you should have spent your 11 hours hiking in the Baker or Chillwack areas.

8 - DENNETT LAKE

For me, this was the worst bugs I'd ever seen to this day... we ran eating lunch so they could't eat it first.  Mud, mud, and more mud - horrible drainage.  Just not sure why this remains in the 6th edition except maybe convenience being so close to Coquitlam?

9 - SKAGIT RIVER TRAIL

History has never been so boring.  Yes, Hudson's Bay company stories permeate the very trees of this trail, but you can read about that at home.  Flat and all the highlights can be reached within a few km of HWY #3,.. so just do that end and check of the Rhodos and big trees,.. the hours to the other end you will never get back!

10 - GATE MOUNTAIN

This one and the others near it on the Fraser Canyon are unique,.. uniquely pointless!  Its a long way
to drive for a bit of exercise.  One kicker experience is one of my hiking partners (my ex) found a tick burrowing into her flesh near her waistband!  We had to go to Chilliwack hospital :(