Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

© Roy LANGSTAFF | Alamy
the helicopter prepares to ferry a new group of heli-hikers
Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH), a tour company that pioneered heli-skiing
back in the 1960s, now runs summer hiking adventures as well. Forty of us are
headed for three days of hiking, based at the CMH Bugaboo Lodge on the edge
of Bugaboo Provincial Park, a vast wilderness covering 33,700 acres (13,600
hectares) named for the Bugaboo Spire, one of several glacier-carved granite
spikes that jut towards the sky.
For our first flight, a 10-minute hop from the helipad outside Kootenay National
Park, the red-and-white Bell 212 helicopter shuttles us in small groups, flying low
over the green hills. We land in a gravel field in front of the wood-and-stone lodge
building.
I can’t help but say ‘wow’ as I walk into the lodge and look through the windows
framing the view: the snow-topped Bugaboo Spire, more than 10,500ft (3200m)
tall, with a carpet of evergreens beneath it and several peaks nearby.
In the equipment room, we meet several of the guides who’ll be accompanying
us out on the trails. They chat with us while we try on boots, rain jackets and
daypacks (you can bring your own or borrow from the CMH supply), to assess our
hiking experience and comfort with different types of terrain. They weigh us – for