NEW BOOKS OF INTEREST
British Columbia’s
MAGNIFICENT PARKS The First 100 Years
Hiking the Gulf Islands of British Columbia
Expanded Third Edition 2011 By Charles Kahn
Harbour Publishing Madeira Park, BC
www.harbourpublishing.com
ISBN 10: 1-55017-511-4 6 x 9, 328 pages, paperback, $24.95
This fully updated edition includes something for everyone. It contains new walks, hikes, beach accesses and
even paddling suggestions for kayakers. With its wealth of practical information about the islands, it is the ultimate user-friendly guide to exploring a hiker’s paradise on BC’s Enchanted Isles.
A separate chapter is dedicated to each island in the Strait of Georgia – including the often-overlooked Texada, Lasqueti and Thetis Islands plus Bowen Island at the entrance to Howe Sound – and
trail locations are illustrated with helpful maps. At-a-glance information is provided with a five-star rating system for each
hiking trail described, and includes a short description of the hike, its length, the time required to hike it, its degree of difficulty, how to access it and any cautions.
In addition to the paddling suggestions and launch sites provided for each island, the book contains up-to-date information on hiking trails in the area’s marine parks, including the spectacular Gulf Islands National Park Reserve–36 square kilometres of land and marine area scattered over 15 islands.
By James D. Anderson
Harbour Publishing Madeira Park, BC
www.harbourpublishing.com
ISBN 13: 1-55017-507-3 8 x 10, 264 pages, cloth, 200+ B&W and colour photographs $44.95
This is a highly authoritative look at the BC park system through the eyes of a career park administrator. Jim Anderson was one of a team of patient, dedicated visionaries
who built the BC Parks Branch and the vast park system it oversees against a backdrop of vacillating public and political support.
It is truly an epic story of which every British Columbian can be proud.
Filled with details about the history and
development of BC Parks since its creation in March 1911, British Columbia’s Magnificent Parks commemorates the
challenges of creating a network of parks and preserves during a time when the
province was a rugged outback and largely inaccessible area. The demand to protect the wilderness, provide havens for wildlife and retreats for vacationers was considered an unusual practice early on. Now with just under 1,000 provincial parks and protected areas, British Columbia is
renowned for having the most extensive park system in Canada.
This lavishly illustrated, highly authoritative book celebrates the brave start, growing pains, ongoing challenges and many triumphs of what has become one of the world’s most magnificent park systems.
44 RVT 143 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011
RV Snowbirding 101 By Marsha Spink
Tafford Publishing
marshaspink@hotmail.com www.Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-1-4251-7494-1 (sc) 6 x 9, 241 pages, paperback $19.50
For ten years Marsha, Paul, and Simba (dog) cruised the snowbird circuit from Los Angeles to Key West, in three different motorhomes, towing a Saturn, with numerous campground memberships – two years as full-timers, when their family considered them “homeless”.
In addition to the U.S. snowbird hotspots, they RV’d in Mexico, Alaska, and New Zealand, and lived in
Canada’s winter tropics—Parksville, BC.
This book is a compilation of 15 years experiencing, observing, reading, and Googling.
It discusses all aspects of
snowbirding in a recreational vehicle – the ideal “rig”, preparations, destinations, routes, parks, clubs, membership camping, lifestyles, pets, and challenges, plus gives many additional reference sources.
It is a budget-oriented guide for the Great Escape to where the sun spends the winter. With the high flying loonie the time is right!
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