About

Hey there! This blog was created to keep track of my adventures in the South Coast Mountains of British Columbia, with the following goals:

Who am I?

I'm John Gill, a keen hiker, mountaineer, climber, skier, paddler, general mountain goer. I've lived in the Coast Mountains since 2014 and have dedicated most of my free time to learning wilderness skills and exploring as much as I can. I spent a few seasons guiding in the Sea to Sky on hiking and canoe trips, but now work in Software. I've made this blog to:
Over the past 10 years, I've also been on numerous treks and expeditions to Nepal. In the spring of 2022 I climbed Kanchenjunga (world's 3rd highest peak).



Popular posts from this blog

Discovery Islands by Canoe

Image
Circumnavigating Maurelle Island  in British Columbia  by Canoeing over 6 days / 55km. Including Surge Narrows, Octopus Islands, The Hole in the Wall and North Rendezvous Island with my wife Claire, daughter Alexandra and our dog Zoa. Every summer for the past few years, we've done a big canoe trip where we paddle into the BC wilderness for a week or more. No Netflix, no social media, no distractions, just each other, a canoe and nature. We call these trips "Wayaways".  This year, I had been eyeing the Sayward Forest circuit, but the hot summer had left the rivers too dry to make that work in late August with a little one. So I turned my attention to the ocean and found myself drawn to the channels and islands north of Quadra Island. This is part of Discovery Islands, an area we'd never explored before.  These trips require a lot of planning and research. The BC Marine Trails website is a great resource for finding camp spots and I saw lots of options suggesting a l...
Read more

Broughton Archipelago by Canoe: Planning

Image
Planning for a 9 day canoe trip around Broughton Archipelago Marine Provincial Park in British Columbia with my wife, Claire (7 months pregnant) and our dog, Zoa Broughton Archipelago Marine Provincial Park  covers a large area off the North end of Vancouver Island, where a number of channels and inlets open out into Queen Charlotte Strait. The park consists of hundreds of islands forming a complex labyrinth of channels and passages - all with their own characteristics and currents as the tides come in/out. Pair that with Pacific Ocean weather, some big crossings and a remote wilderness setting and you've got a recipe for a big adventure! I first noticed Broughton Archipelago a couple of years ago after a 7 day trip around Desolation Sound. I was looking for places we could do similar remote canoe trips and Broughton Archipelago found it's way to the top of the list very quickly. With a baby on the way and big adventures about to take a back seat, this seemed like our last opp...
Read more

Broughton Archipelago by Canoe

Image
Canoeing for 8 days / 111km around Broughton Archipelago Marine Provincial Park in British Columbia with my wife, Claire (7.5 months pregnant) and our dog, Zoa Click here to read about the planning of this trip. Over the past few years I've become more and more drawn to the ocean. I used to be kind of put off - it's deep, dark and full of weird creatures big enough to swallow you whole. But I'm growing to really enjoy the unique challenges and opportunities that ocean trips provide. Opportunities like camping on tiny islands, watching humpback whales swim past in the glow of the sunset.  Challenges like navigating on a compass bearing through thick fog while accounting for currents and using a marine radio to communicate with nearby boats to ensure they're aware of our presence. I learned a lot on this trip, which was super rewarding, but by far the best part was watching Claire be a total bad-ass at 7 and a half months pregnant. We moved camp (130kg at the start) every...
Read more