You can hear them before you see them the whop whop of the helicopter rotors, the anticipation builds as the wind from the blades pushes against you and you lean into it. The adventure began on a helipad near Golden, British Columbia, everyone is gathered in groups; transferred up to the Bobbie Burns Lodge. The helicopter rises into the air and you are surrounded by a wall of noise, overwhelmed by the landscape; snow peaked mountains, seemingly endless forests interspersed with Alpine meadows and high mountain streams, glacier lakes of a blue so turquoise it seems unreal. This is adventure was organized through Canadian Mountain holidays, an outdoor adventure company that focuses on Heli-sking in the winter and hiking in the summer months. The Bobbie Burns are a beautiful sub-range of the Columbias.
The lodges are beautifully situated in isolated valleys, offering all the amenities such as Jacuzzis, sauna, steam rooms, gourmet meals, rooms with incredible views, a full bar, massages but what makes the experience so wonderful is the amazingly friendly, knowledgeable, helpful staff. Our group spent a week hiking and staying in two lodges the Bobbie Burns and the Bugaboos each wonderful in its own right. For both lodges our schedule was the same we woke up early for stretching class and after an amazing and varied buffet breakfast we fixed our own bag lunches with sandwiches, dried fruit, chocolate, carrot and celery sticks, fresh fruit, and sometimes little extras like sardines or mixed nuts. We would then head out in groups sometimes as a family and other times according to desired difficulty to board the helicopter and be ferried to a remote location to start our hiking.
The scenery was spectacular and the difficulty ranged from easy to rather challenging. We would spend the entire day hiking, having lunch n a remote spot usually with an incredible view. In the afternoon we would be flown back to the lodge where there were snacks, cheese plates, nachos, or other such goodies awaiting. Before dinner there was time to relax in the sauna or get a massage or simply sit by the fire with a good book. The dinner was a gourmet affair, followed by a marvelous dessert. After dinner we played board games or just chatted until we fell into bed exhausted but happy.
One of both Amy and Turgay’s favorite days out was the day that along with Hillary, Josh and Katie they did the Via Ferrata, a series of suspension bridges, permanent climbing lines and a very long repel from near the summit of Mount Nimbus.
This type of climbing is based on the system used to transport troops over the Dolomites during the First World War. It is a very safe system as you are always hooked to a cable but it is an extremely exposed climb and can be very challenging to pretty terrifying at times, but the feeling at the end although you are battered and bruised is total exhilaration.
Our final day hiking in the Bobbie Burns was spent near the Columbia Glacier; it is amazing to witness the awesome power of ice. We also flew down to take a look at a river that flows from beneath a glacier forming a beautiful ice cave. After a quick snack we all went down to the valley to do the adventure trail where we all tried our hand a zip lining,
ate wild strawberries and took a beautiful hike through the woods along a river.
The day we moved to the Bugaboo lodge was another memorable hike as a whole family on Grizzly ridge. It was absolutely freezing, windy with snow falling horizontally; not prepared for the cold or the wind and everyone had to scramble to get themselves and the kids ready and keep Aiden from blowing off the mountain. Our Guide Jasper was wonderful getting us out of the wind and finding places for us to play games and keep warm until the helicopter could come and get us. Our family, being who they are did the Hokey Pokey and turned themselves about.
Later that same afternoon those of us who had continued hiking were lucky enough to spot a mother bear and her two cubs though they quickly (and thankfully) ran away from us.
The Bugaboo Lodge is as beautiful as well situated as the other lodges but has the added bonus of a climbing wall in its stairwell that reaches from the ground floor to the third floor ceiling. All of the kids gave it a try and most everyone made it to the top. Amy and Hillary formed an addiction of sorts to it and tried all the routes, finally succeeding to climb them all even the most difficult though the effort was great. Everyone goodbye at the lodge after breakfast on our final morning and took the final helicopter ride down to the helipad. Amy, Turgay, Josh and Merrilee all piled into Merrilee’s car for the drive back to Bellingham which they managed to do in the same day.
We want to thank all of the staff at both lodges and CMH for everything; with special thanks to Bruce and Karl for not losing any of us on the Via Ferrata and to Jasper, Paul and Mary Beth for being such sports and putting up with our whole family and a special thank you to Mikey for showing us his Blue Steel. Also a thank you to all the office staff at CMH you may be behind the scenes but the work you put into to organizing all of us was very much appreciated.
We want to thank Amy's Tante for giving us our Family Ties T-shirts, they are wonderful momentos of the trip.
Our biggest thank you goes out to Merrilee (AKA Mom) for bringing all of us along with you on this wonderful adventure and of course to the late great Freddy Kullman for starting what looks to be a family tradition 10 years ago with the families first Heli-Hiking adventure.
