There is not much that gets you closer to nature than donning a pair of snowshoes and and travelling in snow thigh deep in some places. I was able to make this very connection with nature this past weekend at Baker Creek Resort near Lake Louise in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. A guided experience was organized by the resort as part of the Banff/Lake Louise Snow Days, which included not only the snowshoe experience by also a very extravagant meal prepared from some of the best chefs in the area.
We started on the door steps of the Chalet with a brief history of the development of snowshoes and the people in early history who used them and for what purpose. After putting on our snowshoes, we trekked to the backside of the chalet in which we were greeted with miles and miles of fresh and untouched powdered snow. Despite the frigid weather, it was not difficult to stay warm as we made our way through snow, sometimes thigh deep. We stopped several times to view fresh tracks left by wildlife and to admire the plant life in the area. Baker Creek serves as a transition point between the pine trees found at lower elevations and the spruce trees found in the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains.
After approximately one hour, we headed back to the chalet but not without stopping in a wide open area to boil pure Canadian maple syrup, pour it onto the fresh snow, and twirl it onto a popsicle stick to make a wonderfully delicious treat, which we then washed down with a cup of hot chocolate. Once we were back at the chalet, we all gathered around a camp-fire and heard from a local park warden his experiences working in avalanche country all while sipping on a glass of wine. Once inside the chalet, we were treated to an exquisite three-course dining experience similar to what you would experience in a large city.
This was simply an amazing experience. I have included some photographs of the excursion.
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| Snow Covered Spruce Tree |
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| Spruce Tree Donning its Colors |
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| Dense Forest of Spruce and Pine |
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| A Thick Wall of Spruce and Pine |
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| Snowshoeing Towards |
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| Ten of us trudging through deep snow |
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| The Baker Lake Chalet |
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