Hiking in the Canadian Rockies
How this vacation makes a difference
Environment
The day hikes in this experience are both based out of the wilderness centre itself, which we start from and return to each day, and enter us into remote and secluded mountain locations far from any other person or hint of civilization. In these locations our chances of encountering wildlife are significantly enhanced and as a result we ensure our guides are very familiar with the common species in our area, are aware of the red- and blue-listed species on the British Columbia Conservation List, and aware of the behaviors of those animals we are most likely to meet. Some of the wildlife in our area includes wolves, bears, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, cougars, lynx, bobcats, moose, deer, elk, many species of rodents, many species of small mammals, and many species of birds - songbirds, burrowers, waterfowl, and large predators such as eagles, hawks, osprey, and owls. Participants are met with by the guide before the outings so everyone together can go over appropriate viewing procedures and safety procedures. If out-trips overlap with any particularly sensitive times of year, such as mating season, then these areas are avoided out of protection and respect for the animals and our group. Our commitment to environmental sustainability on this experience also occurs right at the wilderness centre itself. The wilderness centre is completely off-the-grid and running only solar and hydro power that we sustainably generate ourselves. Furthermore, our heritage cabin water pressure is not pumped with an electric pump, but builds through a gravity-fed pressure system. Also, your heritage cabin is heated by log stove, for which we have gathered wood by recycling the scraps left behind by loggers in the area - we do not cut any trees down for firewood. Your cabin itself is a recycled heritage cabin built in the early twentieth century in an adjacent Rocky Mountain Park. We preserved them from being razed in the early 1990s by their original owners, who wanted to destroy them and replace them with newer, posh, larger cabins. We relocated them to their present location at our Centre, and by preserving and refurbishing them with their original integrity and charm in mind, we have also preserved their heritage and story as part of early Rocky Mountain Park history for all to continue enjoying in an environmentally-sustainable way.
Community
This experience promotes social responsibility by offering local people good working conditions, a fair wage, and empowering them with training opportunities. Most of our guides - hiking guides, rafting guides, canoeing guides, climbing guides, and yoga instructors - are all local people we’ve contracted out from surrounding communities, and are paid the standard rate based on current industry practices. Our executive chef for this experience is also from the area and on top of a generous seasonal wage, gets his/her own cabin, all room and board paid for, days off when requested whenever possible, and the opportunity to join in on any of our programs and projects when available free of charge. We have also supplemented regular chef wages, and acknowledged work we’ve been very thankful for, with a bonus of flying the employee to a place of their choosing in the world for a vacation at the end of the season. If one of our employees or regular contracted guides has been with us for a while, or if some other trade with them has been discussed (which we are also very open to), we have also paid for training opportunities to upgrade or supplement their knowledge in an area relating to their job with us. Some of the training opportunities we’ve purchased for our staff and volunteers include: backpacking guide certification upgrade; yoga teacher training upgrade; wilderness first aid re-certification; and wilderness interpreter certification. We also frequently take-on volunteer workers - some of whom we may meet around the wilderness centre, or be joined by during the hikes in this experience - who get all room and board paid for, and frequent opportunities to join in on any of our intercultural sharing or outdoor programs free of charge, in exchange for helping out around the wilderness centre. We are also frequently asked to host and facilitate intercultural sharing work with youth groups, community organizations, and Aboriginal communities, often through non-profit work, and this we do gladly. These organizations and projects receive significant discounts from us, some of which this experience might help fund, and we have started up an affiliated non-profit organization called the Kotawî Foundation for Nature, Arts & Culture to help facilitate, design, and support similar projects at the wilderness centre and around Western Canada that focus on intercultural sharing experiences through empowering initiatives that are rooted in the arts and/or nature-based education.
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