B.C. hikers summit every North Shore peak, put together ultimate guide for 'peak baggers'

Bill Maurer and David Crerar weren't originally planning to write a book they just wanted to climb every peak on the North Shore mountains.

But after hiking all 66mountains, the North Shore residents turned their outdoor adventuring into a guidebook that explores the relatively unknown histories of these mountain and the routes to summit them.

"The mountains are right here," Maurer said, explaining why he wanted to climb them all.

When Crerarfirst startedas part of a running club competition to "peak bag" summit as many mountains on a list as possible in a season he realized there were many peaks practically in his backyard that he hadn't heard of before.

From hiking to history

The Glorious Mountains of Vancouver's North Shore: A Peak Bagger's Guide was published this summer, highlighting all of them.

"We've really dived deep into the archives," Crerar told Stephen Quinn, the host of CBC's The Early Edition.

"We found all sorts of interesting hiking and history of the mountains going right back to the Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish to the frenzy of first ascents by European settlers atthe turn of the last century to zinc mining and gold mining to forestry."

The book targets everyone, Crerar said, from people who "don't get off their couch" who enjoy history to avid mountaineers looking for new trails.

Roughly 70 per cent of the hikes are for more experienced hikers, but there are some that are children-friendly. The hikes are ranked in terms of difficulty.

Crerar's high school son, Harry, has climbed most of the peaks with the duo and is one of the three co-authors.

"We knew it'd be a grand adventure, but I was pleasantly surprised ... by how the beautiful things are back there," said Crerar.

With files from The Early Edition.

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