Page 47 - DreamScapes Magazine | Spring/Summer 2022

INSIDER TIP
Decades after my grandmother’s forays, the ACC has constructed huts all over Alberta and B.C. Hikers and skiers can book these basic accommodations and pack in their own food and sleeping gear.
The next day, nearing 4 a.m., I tore open a Starbucks instant coffee pack and glared at the French press missing an essential part. Instant crystals would have to suffice. Thirty minutes later I was outside, fol- lowing my headlamp’s semi-clear track. Our bobbing lights wove through pines and glinted against the narrow stream. Black- ness blotted out everything more than a metre away.
By 5 a.m., blisters sent one trekker back to the hut. Three of us remained to follow our guide. Each step carried us higher along the rim of a gravelly ridge, remnants of glacier melt much like the spine of a curva- ceous beast. The valley’s base lay hidden beneath a blur of shadows.
Two hours later the glacier’s tongue appeared. Its pale glow seized the early rays of sun. Tucking away my headlamp, I eased into my harness and laced on crampons. Their talons gnawed at the ice while I cinched and double-knotted, hoping all was secure.
The Slog
Roped up and with ice axes in hand, we zigzagged up the glacier. Scattered rocks tar- nished the ice to our left. Watch the snow. Look for hidden crevasses. Higher, a bergschrund at the saddle of the pass taunteduswithitsslygrin.
It was 9 a.m. when we topped the glacier. Shifty scree took over where the glacier’s packed snow ended. Pointy struts of granite shepherded us higher. Up, scrunch, pivot and scramble.
Layers of blue, grey and white cascaded in all directions. Emerald Lake looked like a tiny turquoise dolphin trapped in the valley below. The once vague peak we had seen during our walk transformed into a colourful bed of rock. Rusty-coloured lichen mottled with black and white patches claimed stark grey stone. In other sections, slats reflected the sun, appearing almost iridescent. A mishmash of trian- gular ridges and peaks spread around us, dulled only to the west where forest fire smoke smeared their crisp edges.
I am certain my granny’s smiling face and firm grasp followed me along that familiar track once again, feeling the exhil- aration of Canada’s wilderness. It was a sense of freedom that I craved but it will be the sense of connectedness that will bring me back.
The Prize
Canada’s Rockies offer a chance to escape the crowds and bolster your mental and physical resilience. In today’s uncertain world, isn’t that something worth seeking? DS
TRAVEL PLANNER
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For more travel information about Yoho National Park pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/yoho Yamnuska Mountain Adventures offers programs across various skill levels in Alberta and British Columbia’s parks yamnuska.com/mountaineering/
Trek accommodations are often dorm-style huts, owned and operated by the ACC Pre- or post-tour accommodation in Canmore malcolmhotel.ca/
or basecampresorts.com/canmore
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 DREAMSCAPES 47
CHAD O’HARE PHOTOGRAPHY | KAHLI APRIL PHOTOGRAPHY | PARKS CANADA