UKC

Hello everyone,

I'm wanting to put together some hikes for my husband for a gift. I'd like to plan 1-2 a month for the year (weather permitting), but I'm not from BC and I don't know what hikes/locations would be good for us. I'd like to gradually get to bigger/longer/harder hikes as the year progresses.

He's fairly active and fit, I sit at a desk for 8 hours but I do yoga in the morning and go to the gym every (work)day and do at least 30 min of cardio. We have a vehicle and can go almost anywhere, but would like to keep the driving down to under a couple hours. We've done one by Capilano Falls, and that was nice - we packed in a lunch and ate it by the river (and packed it out, don't worry).

Another area I need help with is gear: we don't have a lot for "hiking gear" so anything you could advise me in that direction as well would be appreciated - specifically at what point would certain things be advantageous to purchase, as in what hikes do you recommend having certain gear for (we did Capilano with just running shoes, a few layers, and a small backpack for food & water)? Do you recommend a specific brand/store? Any other tips/suggestions you wish you new when you were starting out?

What’s ‘BC’ ?

I'm guessing she means British Columbia, in Canada. UKC would seem like an odd place to ask that question but the variety of expertise here never ceases to amaze me so who knows.

I'm not quite sure how she expects people to recommend destinations within a couple hours drive without actually specifying a starting point.

Have you been in touch with the BC Mountaineering Club?

https://bcmc.ca/

You are more likely to get a helpful response from a BC Club than from a forum whose contributors re mainly from the UK. Canadian outdoor conditions are so different from in the UK, and whilst we have contributors from most of the World the pool of overseas knowledge will be limited over here.

Good luck, the effort of finding good hikes will be well worth it.  I was recently in the Banff area and was amazed at the hiking maps by https://www.gemtrek.com/product-category/hiking-maps/ for the Rocky Mountains.  They are mainly for Alberta but some cover bits of BC.  Whilst being good maps, the great thing is they have lots of hikes written up on the back of the maps.  A really beautiful area and well worth traveling to.

Otherwise google "british columbia best hikes" and lots will come up.

For gear, just find your nearest outdoor store and talk to them.  https://www.mec.ca/en/ I believe is the big store chain in Canada so probably a good starting point and likely to be one near you.