128 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 1 JANUARY 2021
Anton Piller Preservation Orders in Canada: A Practical Guide (Toronto: Irwin
Law, 2017). He was assisted via research and frequent companionship on
the trails by his son and the second author, Harry Crerar (now author of his
own book, Family Walks and Hikes on Greater Vancouver’s North Shore (Rocky
Mountain Books, 2020)). The third author, Bill Maurer, provided the maps
and peak bagging tips: how to maximize the number of peaks attained in a
given daytrip from a single starting point.
Those who have used more traditional hiking books—I grew up with the
Macarees’ 103 Hikes—will find the essentials here: how to get to the start of
the trail; a turn-by-turn description of the route (Mt. Strachan via Christmas
Gully: “If you hit a second bridge in the meadows, you’ve gone too far”); topographical
maps; distances; and approximate trip times. Most peaks have a
photo taken from the trail en route or at the top, to give you a sense of what
you are in for. With this information alone—and of course the “Ten Essentials”,
along with a companion—you can set off on a peak-bagging expedition
of your own, great or small.
But this book also includes much more, of both immediate interest to the
trail-bound adventurer as well as broader interest to those who are content
to admire our peaks from a comfortable armchair.
For the former, the authors provide “Bang for Buck” ratings, on a fivepoint
scale. When you can steal away only one day from work and family
in July, you might as well pick a 5/5 over a 1/5. Views from the top along
with other rewards are calibrated for effort and degree of bushwhacking
that may be required (and be warned: the authors are not averse to a wee
bit of bushwhacking, so if the description says “bushy”, take heed). Likewise,
each peak description includes Cautions, ranging from Hollyburn
(“None”) to Crown N1 (“Remote! No trail! Steep! Exposure! Dangerous!”).
Good to know.
For readers of a less energetic persuasion, including those who might not
choose to aim for Crown N1 but who remain interested in the area, the
authors provide a wealth of research that is unlikely to be found elsewhere.
This includes the history of the name of each peak (our region is rather well
endowed with British admiralty and royalty), first ascents (typically by
members of the B.C. Mountaineering Club or “BCMC”), stories of rescues
and tragedies on the slopes, locations of old-growth trees, plane wrecks and
cached bottles of whisky, and other interesting tidbits. At 500 pages of
rather small type, there is a lot to learn.
There are many and varied appendices. The most immediately useful
provides a list of difficulty ratings and estimated times for all of the peaks,
from shortest/easiest to longest/hardest, so you can identify one that fits