In the wild Bugaboos

IN THE BUGABOOS, British Columbia — My holiday in the Bugaboos almost ends as it begins. I am crouched, as instructed, for a helicopter to land and take us to the mile-high Bugaboo Lodge, when the air stirred by the whirling blades — call it chopper backwash — sweeps the glasses from my nose.

My only pair, that is, for on this short trip I stupidly have brought no spares. It happens so quickly that I don’t realize the glasses are gone with the wind until I am boarding the chopper. Hand signals, though, are sufficient to alert the ground crew to what has happened, and we soar away in a Bell 212 to Canadian Mountain Holidays’ Bugaboo Lodge.

Meanwhile, my lightweight glasses with a thin wire frame are somewhere among the waist-high weeds or on the edge of the gravel landing pad, the lens cracked, broken and maybe trampled.

We speed above evergreen trees and land near the mountaintop. Walking to the lodge, I overhear a static-garbled voice say something about glasses. Mine have been found and will arrive with the next chopper load of hikers.

What looks pleasant with blurred vision becomes spectacular with spectacles. Behind the lodge, the aptly named Hound’s Tooth peak juts above the Bugaboo Glacier surrounding it. This is another of those fabulous Canadian mountain vistas.

No time is wasted with Canadian Mountain Holidays in its heli-hiking program — in the winter it returns to its original purpose, heli-skiing. We fill out forms, are outfitted with shoes, waterproof garments, etc., what may be needed in case the weather changes and a sudden storm appears. The luggage has been trucked to the lodge on an old logging trail and awaits guests in their rooms. Some of the rooms show much wood and feel like a combination of cabin and motel, while others are more inspired.

It is lunchtime, and the kitchen performs very well. Meats, fresh fruits and vegetables are kept cool by a generator. We get a brief rest, and then it is time for the first departures for the heli-hiking adventure, which someone has dubbed “heli-strolling” for those who move uphill at a slower pace.

EARLY DEPARTURE

The first morning in Canada began with a quick breakfast at the venerable Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, which is popular with many travelers, especially with tour operators. The dimly lighted rooms do not have enough wattage for reading at night, but this may be because of a misplaced reliance on nostalgia.

Most of the heli-hikers arrived at the Calgary airport south of Banff — Calgary and Banff are in the province of Alberta, east of British Columbia — and many spent a night or two at Banff Springs Hotel or other accommodations in Banff. Some visited other destinations in Alberta, national parks and Lake Louise in particular.

After a brief bus ride to the office of Canadian Mountain Holidays to pick up more hikers and boxed breakfasts and juice, we headed into the Canadian Rockies, crossed the Continental Divide and went into the next range, the Columbia Mountains, which includes the Bugaboos, a subrange.

Helicopters brought departing heli-hikers down to board buses on the first leg of their journey home; we new arrivals were divided into groups for a succession of flights to Bugaboo Lodge.

ON THE TRAILS

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