Going Hiking? Check a Backpack Out from the Library

Natasha Ewing slides the straps of the bright red backpack over her shoulders and extends two hiking poles. Despite the bright sunshine, she dons a headlamp.

Standing on the lawn of the Smithers Public Library, Ewing appears ready to strike out into the surrounding mountains. But she’s really just striking a pose. Her journey is of a different nature — a road trip along Highway 16 through northern B.C. to deliver hiking kits to libraries across the northwest on behalf of BC Parks.

“As a community liaison officer, I’m really trying to connect the dots between community members and BC Parks, and get people excited to be outside and reconnect with nature,” Ewing says.

Connecting those dots means travelling west from her home in Prince George to Houston, Smithers, Hazelton and Terrace, north to Stewart and south to Kitimat, dropping the shiny new packs that come equipped with basic equipment for a day on the trails: hiking poles, compass, first aid kit and other emergency gear.

The hiking kits also come with a packing list, trip planning guide and even a book: Trails to Timberline, the essential hiking guide for the region.

Hikers will need to provide things like food, water, appropriate clothing and bear spray for their adventures.

The program is a unique partnership between BC Parks and the province’s Northwest Library Federation.

Inspired by Richmond Public Library’s Hiking ExplorePACKS, which began last year, it first launched in the north late last summer in Prince George.

When Ewing shared the initiative with her colleagues while at a meeting in Smithers earlier this year, they loved the idea. Plans got underway to expand the program into the northwest.

“Honestly, this program is very much for me,” says Smithers Public Library program and event co-ordinator Melissa Sawatsky, who is there to meet Ewing and receive the new kits.

“I’d still go with people who know the trails,” she adds. “This would just give me that push or that initiative to make the leap and then if it became something that I loved, I would start investing in it.”

It’s the latest addition to Smithers’ Library of Things, a collection of diverse and practical items on loan. Terrace Public Library has one of the region’s most extensive examples; it includes a sewing machine, food dehydrator and a glockenspiel — and, now, two backpacks equipped for a day exploring.

“There are a lot of things that you might only use once or twice a year and being able to borrow them from the library rather than purchasing them gives everybody the opportunity to try them out,” says Terrace library director Fiona Bruce.

The hiking kits are geared toward a wide range of people — new Canadians, visitors to the area and anyone curious about experiencing the outdoors for the first time. They can be borrowed using a BC OneCard, which allows library card-carrying residents from across the province to check out items, or by locals for visiting guests.

BC Parks donated the backpacks to participating libraries, funding the program through BC Parks licence plate sales, Ewing says. The program may soon be expanding from the northwest to the southeast, she adds.

“Kootenays reached out and they’re keen,” Ewing says. “So that will be the next region that starts to dive into hiking kits with us.”