The focus of Norm Watt's Off the Beaten Path (Harbour 2010; 2014) is the hiking trails throughout the forests of North and West Vancouver. It consists of 31 hikes, including 21 from my summer 2008 and 2009 columns in the North Shore News, and another 10 new ones not previously published in the newspaper. As its "Off the Beaten Path"; title implies, this book is unique in that for the most part, these are lesser-known but interesting trails that people may not have seen before in other hiking books. Many of them feature sites of local historical interest, such as early 1900s logging, homesteading or sporting activities, which are not often found in other hiking books. The level of detail, including thorough trail descriptions and approximate walking times throughout the hikes, brought numerous reader compliments from the hiking columns, and also makes this book distinctive. With a total of 31 North Shore hikes, this is the most comprehensive collection of North Shore hiking trails to be found in any hiking book. Watt provided a revised edition in 2014 with added destinations.

Date of Birth: November 2, 1944

Place of Birth: Vancouver, BC

Citizenship: Canadian

Education:

B.Sc. (UBC), 1967

MBA (UBC), 1969

Work history:

"I joined IBM Canada upon graduation from UBC, and worked for that company in Vancouver and Toronto. Most of my career was in Information Technology Consulting and Project Management here in Vancouver, with employers such as Scott Paper, Sierra Systems Consultants, Ernst & Young and ICBC.

"I retired in 2006; since then have done some travel, some part time volunteer work at the Harvest Project in North Vancouver, a lot of hiking, as well as working on the newspaper columns and this hiking book."

Publishing History: A weekly hiking column in the North Shore News during summer 2008 (in the newspaper) and summer 2009 (on their website). A second book, dealing with my experiences on a summer job in the Arctic in 1964, is underway.

BOOKS:

Off the Beaten Path (Harbour Publishing 2010; 2014).

[BCBW 2014]