Bodacious: adj. excellent, admirable, or attractive.
Origin: boldacious. Blend of bold and audacious.
“I’m off to the Bugaboos.” Just saying it, feels bodacious; though I am neither bold nor audacious by nature. What I am, unfortunately, is heavier than I’d like (thanks to a love affair with chocolate), and I can rationalize my way out of a morning run faster than you can say Mocha Grande. So why am I traveling solo to the Canadian Rockies for a Bodacious Girlfriend Getaway heli-hiking and yoga vacation? Why not?
The simple purity and intense beauty of the West has long been a place where dream seekers can indulge such brazen fantasies unfettered by the hard facts of reality. Turning intimidating concepts into inspiring life-enhancing adventures, in fact, is what Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH), has been doing since 1965 when they first started ferrying skiers by helicopter into the remote mountains of British Columbia.
“Welcome to my office,” says Lyle Grisedale, a professional CMH hiking guide and designated ‘bodacious bro’ on our women-only getaway. A courteous bon vivant with enough Irish devilment in him to fit right in with the girls, Grisedale is equal parts superhero, spiritual guru, and mountain goat. Beyond his outstretched arm, tower the wild and jagged peaks of the Bugaboos—a granite mountain range in the Purcell Mountains of eastern British Columbia. A stunning land-sea of serrated ridges, turquoise lakes, lush meadows, and blue-tinged glaciers surround us.
Only a few hours earlier, I’d scrambled aboard a twin-engine Bell 212, fourteen-passenger helicopter at the CMH helipad (near Radium Hot Springs) after a scenic two-hour drive from Banff. The ten-minute flight to the Bugaboo Lodge, one of eleven self-sufficient, eco-sensitive lodges run by CMH, provided a thrilling, IMAX view of snow-capped peaks, evergreen forests, glistening snowfields, and wildflower-filled valleys sandwiched between rocky ridges. By comparison, it would have taken two full days of hard walking to cover the same distance.
There are ten of us Bodacious Babes (a title kindly bestowed upon our group by the rest of the forty-four Bugaboo Lodge guests). The babes, I discover at a pre-hike group dinner in Banff, are ALREADY excellent, admirable, or attractive. I find this particularly daunting because, well, I was hoping to BECOME bodacious. And those yoga bodies. Come on. How bout a little slack here. I feel like an imposter, and am ready to call the home office to trade-in my babe status for a non-bodacious dance card. But the babes will have no part of it.
“It’s amazing. You clear your mind while rejuvenating body and soul. Maybe it’s the fresh mountain air. Or the skinny dipping,” says Glenda, a model-beautiful family physician from Calgary returning for her second Bodacious getaway.
“Angie is the best there is,” says Ellen Slaughter, the passion and inspiration behind the CMH girlfriend getaways, of the lovely yogi and bodacious co-host, Angie Smith.
“If I can do it, you can,” quips Shira, a world-savvy NYC urbanite. “I mean, my idea of a hike is walking from Midtown to the Lower East Side.”
I knew I wanted a hiking vacation that would kick my butt. And I knew that come the end of a kick-ass day, I wanted comfort: hot tub; steam room and sauna; healthy gourmet meals; massage; and yes, when my legs won’t take me one step further and my lungs are screaming for oxygen, a helicopter ride home. So sue me.
In fact, it is the tantalizing blend of High Country wilderness, post-adventure pampering, friendly professional guides and the ease of access that helicopter-assisted hiking offers that is the real magic of the CMH experience—keeping dreams and sweat intact.
It can take a fortune to outfit a hiking expedition, not to mention trunk-sized luggage to carry the gear required for backcountry hiking, but thankfully, CMH provides most of the specialized equipment necessary. Upon arrival, each guest is outfitted with technical, waterproof, leather hiking boots, day pack, water bottle, walking stick/ski pole, insulated, hooded jacket (wind and rain resistant), rain pants, and mountaineering gear (for the truly gutsy) to be returned at the end of the trip.
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