Adventuring in British Columbia

David E. Kemp is head of the Drama Department at Queen’s University.

British Columbia may be Canada’s most beautiful and topographically
varied province. For anyone with a taste for outdoor activities, it is
hard to imagine visiting B.C. without bringing along a copy of this
book.

The opening chapter gives an admirably concise overview of the
province’s geology, climate, and history, along with details of the
flora and fauna (including a section on mosquitoes and other pests).
There follows a survey of B.C.’s parks and campsites, and coverage of
a whole range of outdoor activities—with notes on the kind of
equipment to take, maps of suggested routes, and helpful hints about
hiking, rafting, Nordic skiing, bicycling, sailing, climbing, diving,
and fishing. In case you get carried away, there are also salutary
sections on hypothermia, frostbite, and how to make sure drinking water
is safe. As someone who believes that a car makes walking a pleasure and
that roughing it means staying in lodgings without air conditioning or
room service, I found this opening chapter fascinating. Although
primarily intended for the novice “woodsperson,” it offers practical
and useful information of value to both the beginner and expert.

The book’s 10 chapters divide B.C. into its major geographic areas.
Within each section there is specific information on local activities,
parks, tourist associations, and adventure travel operators, along with
details of travel by train, bus, logging road, and ferry and suggestions
about where to stay (with a focus on mountain lodgings, alpine huts,
cabins, and campgrounds).

If you want to know the best restaurants in Vancouver and the number of
the Playhouse box office, this is not the book for you. But if you dream
of outdoor adventure, wildlife photography, and cooking over a campfire,
don’t go to B.C. without this remarkably useful and fact-filled book.