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Wrote 105 Hikes in and around Southwestern British Columbia (Greystone 2018). The publisher acknowledges that it was the writers Mary and David Macaree who started the tradition of "Hikes in Southwestern British Columbia" in 1973 and that Stephen Hui is continuing in their footsteps.
An avid hiker of more than 25 years, Hui's writing and photography have appeared in the Georgia Straight, the Toronto Sun, Vancouver is Awesome and Wild Coast. He works for an environmental organization and is a director of the Wanderung Outdoor Recreation Society.
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105 Hikes in and Around Southwestern British Columbia by Stephen Hui; foreword by T'uy't'tanat Cease Wyss (Greystone $24.95)
Way back when, Mary Macaree and David Macaree co-wrote 103 Hikes in Southwestern B.C. (Mountaineers Books/B.C. Mountaineering Club), a classic regional title that has reputedly sold more than 120,000 copies since 1973. The couple's often whimsical and beguiling text accounted for much of the book's appeal. As members of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club since 1964, they also wrote 109 Walks in B.C.'s Lower Mainland (D&M 1980).
In 1972, there was a predecessor to the Macaree's book, Mountain Trail Guide for the South West Mainland Area of B.C., published by the Federation of Mountain Clubs of B.C. A version of the Macaree's book, titled 103 Hikes in Southwestern B.C.: Revised and Updated by Jack Bryceland, listing Mary and David Macaree as co-authors, appeared on the BC Top Ten Bestseller list in 2008.
In 2014, Greystone Books published 109 Walks in British Columbia's Lower Mainland, credited to the Macarees with Alice Purdey. Now Stephen Hui has carried on the Macaree's legacy in 105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia, an expanded follow-up version with an additional selection of trails on the islands and in Washington's North Cascades. 105 Hikes covers a wider area and wider range of abilities than its predecessor.
Lest we forget: David Macaree was an English professor at UBC and Mary Macaree was a librarian at UBC. Both were born in Scotland, in 1919 and 1922 respectively. During the Second World War he served with the Royal Marines from 1940 to 1946, first in the Mediterranean Sea, then the Indian Ocean and later with the Commandos in continental Europe. David married Mary Watson in 1949, and in 1955 they immigrated to Prince George, first teaching in northern British Columbia before moving to Vancouver. Mary went back to school, graduated from UBC and became head librarian at the MacMillan Library at UBC. David joined the UBC Department of English as a lecturer, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1965, and taught as an associate professor of English at UBC from 1970 to 1985. He died on Dec 9, 1998. In 2003, the David Macaree Award for Improved Dementia Care, worth $500, from the Alzheimer's Society, was created by Mary in honour of David, who had dementia. Mary died on July 31, 2008 due to complications from a stroke. 9781771642866
***
BOOKS
105 Hikes in and around Southwestern British Columbia (Greystone, 2018) $24.95 978-1-77164-286-6
Destination Hikes in and Around Southwestern British Columbia: Waterfalls, Mountain Peaks, Swimming Holes, and More (Greystone, 2021) $24.95 9781771642866
[BCBW 2021]
+++
Destination Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia: Waterfalls, Mountain Peaks, Swimming Holes, and More by Stephen Hui (Greystone $24.95)
Hiking and backpacking are the most popular outdoor activities in Canada, according to a 2016 Statistics Canada survey. Over the period of the study at least 7 out of 10 Canadians participated at least once in outdoor or wilderness activities including other pursuits like skiing, swimming and birdwatching.
There’s something about being in nature that humans find refreshing and nourishing and Canadians are fortunate to have so many natural areas to explore.
But not all are experts at exploring the outdoors. To remedy this, a plethora of guidebooks published over the past decades has helped people find their way to and within the back- country.
In B.C., one of the early trailblazers (no pun intended) was the Federation of Mountain Clubs of B.C. when it published Mountain Trail Guide for the South West Mainland Area of B.C. from 1966 – 1972. In the early 1970s, a couple who had been members of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club since 1964, Mary and David Macaree wrote 103 Hikes in Southwestern B.C. (Mountaineers Books/B.C. Mountaineering Club). It became a classic regional title, selling more than 120,000 copies since 1973 and going into several reprints. He was an English professor at UBC and she was a librarian at UBC. They also wrote 109 Walks in B.C.’s Lower Mainland (D&M, 1980) and in 2014, Greystone Books published an updated edition, 109 Walks in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, credited to the Macarees with Alice Purdey and John Halliday.
Other B.C. hiking guidebook authors include Jack Bryceland who published a new version of 103 Hikes in Southwestern British Columbia: Revised and Updated (Greystone, 2004/2008) listing Mary and David Macaree as co-authors, which reappeared on the B.C. Top Ten Bestseller list in August of 2008, the month that Mary Macaree died; and Dawn Hanna, who wrote Best Hikes and Walks of Southwestern British Columbia (Lone Pine, 2002/2006).
Born and raised in Vancouver, Stephen Hui follows in their footsteps. After the success of his first guidebook, 105 Hikes in and around Southwestern British Columbia (Greystone, 2018), Hui has released Destination Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia: Waterfalls, Mountain Peaks, Swimming Holes in which he writes of 55 more locales, not in his first book, each with its own unique draw.
“Wander through brilliant wildflower meadows and scramble up a craggy peak to a historical fire lookout,” writes Hui. “Paddle across a mighty river and discover a series of sublime waterfalls in a granitic canyon. Commune with old-growth giants and swim with rainbow trout in a refreshingly remote lake. Follow in the footsteps of Indigenous traders and gold prospectors, and bask in the alpenglow of high peaks and glaciers.”
These hikes provide special rewards in addition to the exhilaration of being in the fresh air amid wonderful scenery. Hui’s selected hikes include “exceptional places that visitors won’t want to miss and local favourites worth returning to again and again.”
Hui’s new selections “offer one or more of the following features: waterfalls, big trees, wildflowers, swimming, coastal views, mountain views, history, or geology,” he writes.
Furthermore, all are accessible as a day or weekend trip from Vancouver and include a range of difficulties from easy walk-ins, intermediate level hikes, and more difficult treks for those in top shape and who have the required equipment.
Hui has hiked every trail in his new guidebook and clearly has a passion for the backcountry. He decries that B.C.’s provincial parks are “starved of funding, short on rangers, and threatened by boundary amendments from time to time.” He takes pains to lobby for improvements, noting that places like Semaphore Lakes (near Pemberton), Eaton Lake (Hope) and Ghostpass Lake (E.C. Manning Park) should be permanently preserved as wild places. “For years, conservation and recreation organizations, including the Wilderness Committee, have sought the protection of the Silverdaisy ‘donut hole’ surrounded by E.C. Manning and Skagit Valley Provincial Parks,” he states, adding “those efforts resulted in a halt to logging [in the area] in 2019.”
Hui ends his introduction with a call to action for all trail users: “Like many a guidebook author before me, I hope that your enjoyment of the outdoors will propel you to speak out in support of our parks—present and future.” 9781771642866
BCBW 2021
+++
An avid hiker of more than 25 years, Hui's writing and photography have appeared in the Georgia Straight, the Toronto Sun, Vancouver is Awesome and Wild Coast. He works for an environmental organization and is a director of the Wanderung Outdoor Recreation Society.
***
105 Hikes in and Around Southwestern British Columbia by Stephen Hui; foreword by T'uy't'tanat Cease Wyss (Greystone $24.95)
Way back when, Mary Macaree and David Macaree co-wrote 103 Hikes in Southwestern B.C. (Mountaineers Books/B.C. Mountaineering Club), a classic regional title that has reputedly sold more than 120,000 copies since 1973. The couple's often whimsical and beguiling text accounted for much of the book's appeal. As members of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club since 1964, they also wrote 109 Walks in B.C.'s Lower Mainland (D&M 1980).
In 1972, there was a predecessor to the Macaree's book, Mountain Trail Guide for the South West Mainland Area of B.C., published by the Federation of Mountain Clubs of B.C. A version of the Macaree's book, titled 103 Hikes in Southwestern B.C.: Revised and Updated by Jack Bryceland, listing Mary and David Macaree as co-authors, appeared on the BC Top Ten Bestseller list in 2008.
In 2014, Greystone Books published 109 Walks in British Columbia's Lower Mainland, credited to the Macarees with Alice Purdey. Now Stephen Hui has carried on the Macaree's legacy in 105 Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia, an expanded follow-up version with an additional selection of trails on the islands and in Washington's North Cascades. 105 Hikes covers a wider area and wider range of abilities than its predecessor.
Lest we forget: David Macaree was an English professor at UBC and Mary Macaree was a librarian at UBC. Both were born in Scotland, in 1919 and 1922 respectively. During the Second World War he served with the Royal Marines from 1940 to 1946, first in the Mediterranean Sea, then the Indian Ocean and later with the Commandos in continental Europe. David married Mary Watson in 1949, and in 1955 they immigrated to Prince George, first teaching in northern British Columbia before moving to Vancouver. Mary went back to school, graduated from UBC and became head librarian at the MacMillan Library at UBC. David joined the UBC Department of English as a lecturer, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1965, and taught as an associate professor of English at UBC from 1970 to 1985. He died on Dec 9, 1998. In 2003, the David Macaree Award for Improved Dementia Care, worth $500, from the Alzheimer's Society, was created by Mary in honour of David, who had dementia. Mary died on July 31, 2008 due to complications from a stroke. 9781771642866
***
BOOKS
105 Hikes in and around Southwestern British Columbia (Greystone, 2018) $24.95 978-1-77164-286-6
Destination Hikes in and Around Southwestern British Columbia: Waterfalls, Mountain Peaks, Swimming Holes, and More (Greystone, 2021) $24.95 9781771642866
[BCBW 2021]
+++
Destination Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia: Waterfalls, Mountain Peaks, Swimming Holes, and More by Stephen Hui (Greystone $24.95)
Hiking and backpacking are the most popular outdoor activities in Canada, according to a 2016 Statistics Canada survey. Over the period of the study at least 7 out of 10 Canadians participated at least once in outdoor or wilderness activities including other pursuits like skiing, swimming and birdwatching.
There’s something about being in nature that humans find refreshing and nourishing and Canadians are fortunate to have so many natural areas to explore.
But not all are experts at exploring the outdoors. To remedy this, a plethora of guidebooks published over the past decades has helped people find their way to and within the back- country.
In B.C., one of the early trailblazers (no pun intended) was the Federation of Mountain Clubs of B.C. when it published Mountain Trail Guide for the South West Mainland Area of B.C. from 1966 – 1972. In the early 1970s, a couple who had been members of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club since 1964, Mary and David Macaree wrote 103 Hikes in Southwestern B.C. (Mountaineers Books/B.C. Mountaineering Club). It became a classic regional title, selling more than 120,000 copies since 1973 and going into several reprints. He was an English professor at UBC and she was a librarian at UBC. They also wrote 109 Walks in B.C.’s Lower Mainland (D&M, 1980) and in 2014, Greystone Books published an updated edition, 109 Walks in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, credited to the Macarees with Alice Purdey and John Halliday.
Other B.C. hiking guidebook authors include Jack Bryceland who published a new version of 103 Hikes in Southwestern British Columbia: Revised and Updated (Greystone, 2004/2008) listing Mary and David Macaree as co-authors, which reappeared on the B.C. Top Ten Bestseller list in August of 2008, the month that Mary Macaree died; and Dawn Hanna, who wrote Best Hikes and Walks of Southwestern British Columbia (Lone Pine, 2002/2006).
Born and raised in Vancouver, Stephen Hui follows in their footsteps. After the success of his first guidebook, 105 Hikes in and around Southwestern British Columbia (Greystone, 2018), Hui has released Destination Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia: Waterfalls, Mountain Peaks, Swimming Holes in which he writes of 55 more locales, not in his first book, each with its own unique draw.
“Wander through brilliant wildflower meadows and scramble up a craggy peak to a historical fire lookout,” writes Hui. “Paddle across a mighty river and discover a series of sublime waterfalls in a granitic canyon. Commune with old-growth giants and swim with rainbow trout in a refreshingly remote lake. Follow in the footsteps of Indigenous traders and gold prospectors, and bask in the alpenglow of high peaks and glaciers.”
These hikes provide special rewards in addition to the exhilaration of being in the fresh air amid wonderful scenery. Hui’s selected hikes include “exceptional places that visitors won’t want to miss and local favourites worth returning to again and again.”
Hui’s new selections “offer one or more of the following features: waterfalls, big trees, wildflowers, swimming, coastal views, mountain views, history, or geology,” he writes.
Furthermore, all are accessible as a day or weekend trip from Vancouver and include a range of difficulties from easy walk-ins, intermediate level hikes, and more difficult treks for those in top shape and who have the required equipment.
Hui has hiked every trail in his new guidebook and clearly has a passion for the backcountry. He decries that B.C.’s provincial parks are “starved of funding, short on rangers, and threatened by boundary amendments from time to time.” He takes pains to lobby for improvements, noting that places like Semaphore Lakes (near Pemberton), Eaton Lake (Hope) and Ghostpass Lake (E.C. Manning Park) should be permanently preserved as wild places. “For years, conservation and recreation organizations, including the Wilderness Committee, have sought the protection of the Silverdaisy ‘donut hole’ surrounded by E.C. Manning and Skagit Valley Provincial Parks,” he states, adding “those efforts resulted in a halt to logging [in the area] in 2019.”
Hui ends his introduction with a call to action for all trail users: “Like many a guidebook author before me, I hope that your enjoyment of the outdoors will propel you to speak out in support of our parks—present and future.” 9781771642866
BCBW 2021
+++
