Flying over the tops of mountains instead of hiking up them felt like cheating. I was riding in the rear seat of a helicopter, straining against my seatbelt to take in as much of the British Columbian landscape before it escaped my view.
Shortly after being asked to join Selkirk Tangiers Heli for a heli hiking experience, I booked into Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s Sutton Place Hotel, where we would be meeting the next day, and started organizing myself for the hike. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after living in Canada for a year, it’s to take lots of photos; no matter where you look, the land is going to blow your mind. I spent the night charging my DSLR’s batteries, clearing what I could from the SD card, and making sure my phone was charged for snapping quick pics to share on Instagram.
The next morning I arrived a little ahead of time; a rarity for me. Fly days are different, though. In the few times I’ve been on a heli trip, I’ve been trained to be all business by outfitters who emphasize that each moment the helicopter is kept waiting is costing them an arm and a leg. When they’re not saying it, their frantic movements are a reminder that the pilots are not to be kept waiting.
I was about to have a different experience.
The group prepped for the trip by discussing our route on a printout topo map, then reviewed a flight safety video which was set to a dubstep track. As we watched, a remark came from the back: “Safety has never been so cool.”
The crew waits at the landing zone for the last person to unload.
This lighthearted observation was indicative of the mood for the day, which was more easygoing than my past flying experiences. While safety and efficiency were not forgotten, we were given the luxury to marvel a bit at the giant bird of a helicopter as it swooped down on us. There was no rushing us through our experience.
The flight brought us a good ways in, taking us to an area that would have been a nine-hour trip by foot, and that at a good clip. We docked on a treeless ridge; the area was wide open, peaks stacked in layers of blue as far as I could see. In closer range, wherever I looked I found glaciers, waterfalls, and lakes.
Oh my.
As soon as the pilot veered the helicopter out of sight, I pulled out the camera and began snapping photos in succession.
Moss Campion sits in the foreground, competing with the beauty of Revelstoke’s alpine lakes and mountains in the background.
As we hiked, Jeff, our guide, supplied us with info to help us understand the area we were moving through. We learned about moss campion, the lavender-coloured plant that hugged the rocky soil, and the fact that it could reach well into 100 years old and beyond. We saw snow streaked with pale red and after being told a tall tale about the reason for the discouloration, Jeff grinned and quickly followed up with the explanation of it being “watermelon algae” creating the colour. He held up a handful for us to smell as we trekked past. Sure enough, it smelled as refreshing as a watermelon snow cone, tempting me to take a bite to take the edge off the warm day.
We stopped not long after for lunch and I instead of watermelon algae, I took a bite of my quinoa chicken wrap. It was a safer bet than the former option, and Selkirk Tangiers had loaded it with things to fill my stomach, which was now operating on near-empty.
Even with the cranberry-infused quinoa goodness, it was hard to concentrate on the food when our lunch spot was 360-degrees of stunning. I spent the first ten minutes of our break nearly filling my SD card, eating my wrap in seven bites, and then resuming my time with my camera, ignoring the bag which was still full of edibles.
Guylaine looks at the Ghost Peak region of Revelstoke’s backcountry during our lunch break.
I couldn’t keep my hands off my Canon. The one time I pushed the it back into my pack, I regretted it ten steps later, seeing an entirely new perspective of a feature of which I’d already shot twenty frames.
This British Columbian landscape never stopped showing off.
Many times the reward of hiking’s hard work isn’t gained until the end of the journey, but here in the Selkirk Range, gratification is nearly immediate: push yourself a few feet and gain a view. It’s like a game of cat and mouse except the cat is guaranteed to win — time and time again.
We summited on a small, flattened field and dropped our daypacks in the centre, dispersing to the corners in small huddles to peer over the edge. We could see from where we had come, and see how much more there was to explore.
Endless.
The Selkirk Mountains frame its alpine lake scenery for this panoramic shot.
We reconvened near the packs in the landing zone and waited for our giant bird to touch down. As it hovered over us, I grinned at one of the group members. “I could get used to these kinds of hikes.”
I pulled down the brim of my trucker cap against the oncoming helicopter’s gusts and prepared for the trip to become a memory.
Related links:
Hiking in Revelstoke
The post Heli-Hiking in Revelstoke’s Backcountry appeared first on Explore BC.
