Advice for gaining hiking experience? Particularly as a (socially) anxious person?

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You could start by solo-hiking the more popular trails on the north shore like Lynn Canyon, the grind (before it closes) or Baden Powell. They’re all beginner friendly, busy enough during weekends so you won’t be alone, and have decent inclines to give you a good workout.

" I've heard the horror stories about beginner hikers getting left behind or the more experienced hikers in a group being exasperated with slower folks, etc... all that keeps making me shy away from opportunities, which is silly, I know. "

I don't t think that's silly; it's a safety thing. And you won't do something if you don't feel comfortable or unsafe.

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"And/or specific hiking groups that are friendly and suited to these circumstances? "

My group!

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In June (once I finally finished school), I started a hiking group on meetup. I know that you said groups cause you anxiety, but, I limit the number of people who go on the hikes to around 12 (usually we have had groups of 3 to 8), and so far everyone has been pretty nice and welcoming.

All our hikes are easy to intermediate (nothing too hard), and while I am getting better and faster, we still go at a slower pace, and if people are going ahead or some are behind, we always make sure everyone is safe and will wait for people.

In addition to hikes (so far only on weekends due to work), we plan at least one walk (around 2 hours) after work. There is one planned for tomorrow (if not pouring rain). Usually there are fewer people on the walks, so might be good to join those if anxious about meeting people.

If interested in joining my group, message me!

Starts with well-marked , frequently traveled trail with low elevation gains(below 200m). If you goes to those trails on a sunny weekend, you would not be alone, at all. Here is my beginner list:

1. Quarry Rock in Deep Cove
2. Bowen Outlook in Cypress
3. Dog Mountain in Seymour

Then you can move to more demanding but still well marked and frequently traveled intermediate trails (300m-500m elevation gain) like:

1. Eagle Bluff

2. Tunnel Bluff

3. Pump Peak

4. Joffrey Lake

5. Grouse Grind(its elevation gain is high but the trail itself is very well maintained.)

Once you are comfortable with those, you can try the longer but still easy to follow ones like:

1. Garibaldi Lake
2. Elfin Lake
3. Trails in Golden Ears except the peak
4. Manning Park but not Frosty Mountain
5. Brandywine Meadow

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Now you should get good experience, knowledge, equipment and physical strength. If you want more challenge, you can try more rugged and remote trails like:

1. Waterspike
2. Frosty Mountain
3. Mount Cheam, Elk, Thunder...
4. Panaroma Ridge/Black Tusk

Avoid the meetup.com groups - those are the ones who occasionally leave people behind.

Consider joining a more formal one like North Shore Hikers, BCMC, ACC, etc. - they have hikes that range from technical/extreme right up to ultra beginner. And generally it's a very welcoming environment.

For your general safety education/knowledge, Adventuresmart has some great resources https://www.adventuresmart.ca/the-three-ts/

As someone who was very unfit and largely sedentary until recently, I'll say you can easily work your way up to some nice views with super low risk. And if you're already walking for hours, some of beginner hikes should be within easy reach for you, fitness wise.

Off the top of my head, for low effort views look up Minnekhada Low Knoll and Bowen Island Lookout. These are not dangerous hikes and you can safely do them solo - there will usually be other people on the trail. The Bowen Island lookout hike has a set of uphill switchbacks that can feel a bit rough, but just take a lot of breaks and you'll get there (it's good training!).

Other suggestions: for waterfalls, try Cypress Falls (nice and easy walk/hike, the last bit to the falls viewpoint is steep, so just skip if it looks too scary, you can still see the falls), or Lower Gold Creek Falls in Golden Ears.

In terms of beginner-friendly groups, try Slow Hikers Vancouver and Beginner Hikes (British Columbia) on Facebook. I've not done any hikes with these groups myself, but they do explicitly say they will go at a comfortable pace for the slowest person.

Have fun!

Go urban hiking. Start hiking up the steep hill on ontario street to the top of Queen Elizabeth park.

It’s not the Grouse grind but that’s a good fitness gauge to do quarry rock or something similar.

While I would not recommend hiking into the back country solo, there’s lots of north shore parks like above blue ridge with decent hiking trails and cell reception etc.

Other options would be Burnaby mountain.

All Trails had an awesome app full of urban hiking trails that I love - and you can sort all trails by difficulty. Personally I love setting out with a place in mind (aka walking to Burnaby from where I live in East Van to get Korean BBQ) - usually my goals are food based! There’s also a cool app I love call “Fantasy Hike” that tracks your overall distance walked over a period of time to show your journal to a Lord of the Rings-esque Mount Fire.

A few other of my favourite east hikes are Confederation Park in Burnaby Heights, and Burnaby Lake, where you can feed wild birds out of your hand. Both feel like little slices of wild, despite being very accessible and easy to get to.

Also, something you might be interested in - I recently read a book called The Nature Fix, which is about how beneficial spending time in nature is for health. If you’re interested in learning more about it I would highly recommend it - I took the library audio book out and loved it. Another great book is In Praise of Paths by Torbjørn Ekelund, a man who lost his license as an adult due to a seizure disorder and found a lot of joy in walking around.

Hopefully those help - I love exploring the city and parks and find that walking and hiking significantly helps my mental health and confidence.

Seconding what others have said - Lynn Valley is great for getting started. Just around Rice Lake, or along the river, or even the Two-Canyon Loop. Fisherman's Trail is really nice but we saw a bear once when we got to the mid-valley viewpoint!

Quarry Rock is a quickie and quite popular, so unlikely to encounter a bear and lots of people around if you run into trouble (ie get injured). It's a nice little workout - lots of ips and downs nothing too difficult.

Lighthouse Park is great too. Lots of nice little trails.

Based on what you said about your fitness I would not suggest doing the Grind just yet.

You'll get all types at a Meetup - you might want to avoid those, since they tend to be attended by people that want to chat.

Step 1: Think about where you go

Have you tried searching All Trails and finding popular routes (in case you need to ask for help from a passerby)? A few filters that might help are:

• Route type : Loop or Out and Back
• Difficulty: Easy
• Length: <5km (generally people walk at 5km / hour)
• Try some of the other filters to see what suits you - stroller friendly or kid friendly may be a good option to consider!

Step 2: Getting a bit more fit every day

Going for walks regularly will get you fitter before you know it, and varying the types of trails will keep it interesting for you. Even going for walks around your neighbourhood (e.g. after dinner) will help you ease into the habit instead of thinking of "hikes" as a big scary leap forward.

Step 3: Have a plan for when sh*t hits the fan

Make sure that you leave plenty of time to do the trail before it gets dark. In case things go really wrong, never EVER hesitate to call for help. The Lower Mainland has amazing volunteers that work tirelessly in the various Search and Rescue teams.

Start by reading through the North Shore Search and Rescue education section. Start with a packing list to see what you should have (and know how to use) for some well put together guides.

Finally, if you're particularly anxious about a hike that you've chosen, make sure that you set up a checkin with someone. That person needs to be responsible enough to send someone searching if you don't come back in a reasonable time. That person just needs to know where you'll be, when you leave / should return, what paths you expect to take, and what you're wearing.

Most importantly, have fun!

Recommend Stephen Hui's hiking guide book: https://105hikes.com/book/

I'm very socially anxious too and would recommend some of the beginner trails on Whistler Blackcomb, I think they're open for another month for the summer. Solo hikers there aren't uncommon and the views are incredible.

Download all trails so you can download offline maps of the trails you're hiking if you're going alone

Look into the 10 essential items to carry with you

Always tell someone where you're going

Learn about bear safety

Consider getting a satellite communication device

Learn avalanche safety if you plan to do backcountry snowshoeing

I am going to disagree with some here and say don't hike alone especially as a beginner. Find a hiking buddy. Also, be prepared even on local day hikes with a backpack with water, extra food and and something warm. Merino wool works really well.

I think doing hours of solo walks in Pacific Spirit is great training! :) The only issue is that there isn't much elevation gain in Pacific Spirit unless you're going down to the beach and back (or that lil hill near SW Marine). But just getting out there and hitting the trails is so good. You're already most of the way there! I don't agree that you're not fit enough to do a "proper mountain hike".

Bring the 10 Essentials, and start with family friendly hikes that have lots of people, so you won't feel as worried. File a trip plan and leave it with friends so someone knows where you are. /u/Plane_Development_91's recs are great. I would actually say that there are some good hikes in Golden Ears that aren't bad elevation gain-wise at all but are a bit wilder than Pacific Spirit. I also think that there is a difference between "technical" hikes and hikes that are just a hard workout because of elevation gain/incline. Maybe a technical hike (something that involves scrambling or careful footwork) would be something you could work your way up to, but hikes that are a hard workout can just be done a bit slower, if you give yourself enough time to complete it.

Also, if you make it out to the Sunshine Coast, there are plenty of beautiful hikes that are also not insane elevation-wise!

As for the worry about exasperation, I totally get it. Even as someone that hikes a lot (but is pretty slow), I have a lot of anxiety about slowing people down. I hope you can find some good folks to hike with that you don't worry about slowing down. If you want, I can ping you next time I go to Golden Ears and we can do some of the hikes. :)

There's a Slow Hikers Vancouver group on FB if you're worried about joining a group as a beginner!

Join a proper hiking club, not Meetup or whatever random online group you come across. The kind where you have to sign a waiver (it's just a sign of a proper hiking group, that has rules, and organizers tend to want to keep everyone together). That being said, start off with the hikes that are on the schedule described as "easy", and save the more challenging ones till you can keep up. Everyone is just happier when everyone picks a hike suitable for their level, though there will always be a spread of different people of varying ability, and if they are getting "exasperated" then they are probably just assholes and wouldn't be tolerated in a real hiking club.

Here's a list of clubs that are members of the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC.

https://mountainclubs.org/membership/member-clubs/

Join the Varsity Outdoor Club! There's tons of trips every year that are beginner friendly by nature, and the leaders are super patient with everyone.

I've found that ACC/BCMC are quite snobby and rude to anyone not over 40 and highly experienced, but my time with the VOC has been excellent. And the best part is you can rent equipment for free from them!