My husband, Konrad, and I spent the last 5 nights of July 2023 at Shadow Lake Lodge. The experience was outstanding in every way. The mountain setting is stunning. Several hikes are readily accessible using Shadow Lake Lodge as a base. The facilities at the Lodge – the individual guest cabins, the dining cabin, the living room cabin, and the toilet facilities - are all top-notch. But the standout feature of Shadow Lake Lodge is the cordial environment that the Lodge staff intentionally creates and strives to maintain. Sociability between staff and guests, and among guests, is actively encouraged. The attention the staff pays to this effort is impressive. Counterintuitively, the day at Shadow Lake Lodge begins with a candle lit dinner. The Lodge Manager (Mitch our first evening, Alex the next four) rings a triangle (or has a guest, likely a young one, do it) at 6:30 P.M. to call everyone to the dining cabin. Depending on the total number of guests, Alex assigns people to one of up to three tables. Table assignments are for dinner that evening and breakfast the next morning. The second evening, we were assigned to a different table to sit with a different group of people. (The most guests present on any night we were there was 27; the fewest, 16.) The evolving seating arrangements worked great. We met several fascinating, and highly agreeable people. Many guests were locals; some from as close as Banff. One family of five was from Portland. There was a couple from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. One couple from Cambridge, Massachusetts, another from Vermont. People had all sorts of interesting things to say, stories to share. There were several teachers; two professors of astronomy (one studying the origin of planets; the other, the origin of black holes); a psychotherapist; a pathologist of some sort; a former general counsel of a nonprofit trade association; a neurologist, who studies and treats black holes of the mind; a grandmother who rows competitively and plays bridge 6 times a week; and a couple who publishes maps of the Canadian Rockies, GemTrek Maps, including the very useful ones given to guests and showing hikes local to Shadow Lake Lodge. As guests settled at their tables, Nick, the Chef, came out of the kitchen, introduced himself, and explained all he’d prepared for that evening’s feast. Nick has a real feel for his work. He brought a lot of thought and skill to his selection and preparation of our food. The food was delicious, nourishing, and served in ample portions. Each course was plated really nicely. Dinners began with a breadbasket with one thick slice of sourdough (which was slightly different every night) for each guest. The bread went quickly. More was available on request. A first course was served. I didn’t keep notes; but I recall there were a couple different configurations of salad, all good. One evening the first course was pork belly. (Konrad and I are dairy eating pescatarians; a fact we made known to the Lodge when we made our reservations. Nick accommodated us throughout, offering outstanding fish and vegetarian alternatives for every meaty dish he made for the other guests.) The main courses for the 5 dinners for everyone (but not us) served during our stay included salmon, wild mushroom risotto, medallion of beef, medallion of pork, and rack of lamb. (One guest requested, and was given, a second portion of lamb chops.) Konrad and I had salmon (twice, but differently), tuna, the wild mushroom risotto, and marinated sauteed tofu. The mains were filled out with fresh vegetables; potatoes, rice, and so on. There was a different, delicious dessert every night. An especially good chocolate cake based on Nick’s grandmother’s recipe, stands out; and a marvelous, monumental meringue concoction was served another evening. Most people ate every morsel on their plates. Of course, most people were hungry hikers. No matter. The food was great. People bonded over these exquisite meals expertly served. The many overlapping conversations created a wondrous din in the dining cabin. Bonding over food continued at breakfast. The triangle is wrung for breakfast at 8:30 A.M. Guests return to the dining cabin and sit at the same tables – though not necessarily in the same seats - as they did for dinner the evening before. Breakfast has two parts: a buffet of yogurt, mixed fruit, and granola, with one or two fresh baked pastries, juice, and tea, and coffee. A hot breakfast is served after. These involved one or another configuration of eggs and potatoes and roasted vegetables, and bacon or sausage, or other meat. Some of these were fairly straight forward preparations, others involved multiple steps and greater skill to pull off so well. Toward the end of breakfast, but before guests wander off to prepare to hike, Alex makes a presentation. Alex is an articulate, informed guy, a great presence with polished speaking skills. He connects well with people. Alex provides current trail information, such as reports of newly downed trees, or newly muddied parts of paths; information about animal sightings and sightings of evidence of animal presence; and encouragement to treat wildlife respectfully, cautiously, and from a proper distance. Alex also gives the weather forecast. Sunny and mild or not, Alex always suggests that people take raingear on their hikes in recognition that challenging weather pops up unexpectedly in the mountains. One particularly cool and windy morning, Alex suggested that guests who planned to hike to Little Copper take extra warm gear because they could face significant exposure on the treeless summit. There is a daily breakfast ritual of riddle solving. This gets guests enthused. Alex posts three riddles on a white board in the dining cabin late the day before. Because no one (other than Alex) has an Internet connection, no one can google for answers. The guests’ interactions around this guessing game was great fun. One morning, three young siblings guessed all three riddles. They each got a Shadow Lake Lodge sticker as a prize. They were giddily joyful in their victories. Finally, Alex asks guests to sign out on a list by the door, saying where they will be hiking and when they expect to return. He said that after 6:00 PM a search party would be sent for anyone who had not returned; and the sign out sheet would let them know where to start looking. Just as guests prepare to leave after breakfast, brown paper bags are set out on a table by the kitchen door. Each bag bears the name of a guest cabin. The bags contain each cabin’s pre-ordered packed lunch for the day. (Lunch orders are taken during dinner the night before.) There is a choice of meat or vegetarian sandwich. The sandwiches were different in their particulars every day. The sandwich buns especially stood out – they were freshly baked each morning and were different every day. There was also one small bag of trail mix per hiker and one or two protein bars. These snacks and lunches were perfect for the trail. By 9:30 AM, most guests had gone on their hikes for the day. Those who are checking out, do so by 10:00, and start their hike back to the trailhead and the road. Tea is served in the dining cabin from 3:00 P.M. to 5:00 PM. There was tea, of course. Several kinds. A couple different cheeses, crackers, sliced smoked salmon, charcuteri, and one or two fresh baked items. Beer and wine were also available. These purchases were billed to your cabin. Guests came and went during tea, some sitting and talking, others snacking and leaving more quickly. Most everyone showed some sign of being hiked out for the day. And yet, by dinner, everyone seemed revived and eager to begin again. I specifically want to call out Olivia, the Pastry Chef. Her output was amazing: breakfast pastries; the buns for our daily packed lunch sandwiches; pastries presented at afternoon tea; and something to do (together with Nick) on desserts for dinner. She was never formally introduced to the guests. I sought her out in the kitchen my last day there to thank her directly for her great work. In addition, three staff members, Niko, Crystal, and Nadia worked the dining room as servers. They interacted with guests with remarkable ease and grace. They were unfailingly friendly; utterly professional. As to the rest: Our cabin was impeccably clean, and large enough for our needs. There were two queen size beds with a small table between. The bed we shared was very comfortable. The blankets were right for the season. A gas heater set low took what edge there was off the cold in the early morning. The towels we were given were good. We used the other bed as a staging area for the stuff we brought. Along the wall opposite the beds was a narrow four drawer bureau with a mirror above. In an alcove at the far end of the room was a table with a mirror above it, a light above that, and a wash basin and pitcher for fetching potable water for barest of washing. (There is a designated rock pile for disposing of this grey water.) There is a small round table with two chairs in the corner by the window. The window looks south across a large swampy meadow to high mountains in the near distance. There are two chairs with a table between them on the porch. Guests are requested to take their shoes and boots off before entering their cabins or any of the other buildings except the bathroom. Our cabin suited us just fine. The bathroom facilities were surprisingly good. There is a bathroom cabin divided into a men’s and a women’s side. These are password protected. The men’s bathroom consisted of a single urinal and a small, separate toilet room with a composting toilet with a good fan. There were two side by side sinks with built in touch screen lighting and defogging (for winter). There was a one-person shower room set off by a curtain. The hot water was on demand, so it was never not hot. The bathroom was very clean all the time. I never had to wait to use any part of it I wanted. As to the hiking: We hiked in and out on Redearth Creek Trail. It took us four and a half hours going in and three hours out. Going in, the trail is relentlessly uphill, though mostly gradually so. It gets steeper for a bit after the bike lockup. On our way in, we passed Finn, a staff member, on his way out for his days off. We passed Finn again on our way out, and his way back to work. His sweet demeanor was consistent with that of his colleagues at the Lodge. On our hike out we also saw the supply helicopters going forth and back to Shadow Lake Lodge, bringing in fresh food, supplies, and clean bed linens and towels; and taking out garbage and the many recyclables the Lodge and its guests produce. Our first day hike was to Haiduk Lake. The second day we went to the Waterfall and Amphitheater. The third we hiked to the top of Little Copper; and on the fourth we hiked to Ball Pass. The hikes varied in difficulty and duration, but all were eminently doable. They were all great hikes. The Amphitheater especially stands out as a remarkable geological formation. It consists of a vast curving enormously high wall of layer upon layer of colored sedimentary rock, supporting glaciers further above. The run-off zone below all this magnificence, where we were standing, looking up, is strewn with boulders, rocks, and pebbles, formed millions of years apart, fallen from the cliffs above and lying side by side today. There is an ice cave at the base of the mountain. A strong cold breeze blows out from it. The weather throughout our stay at Shadow Lake Lodge was picture perfect; smoke from nearby wildfires was nowhere in evidence. In conclusion, Shadow Lake Lodge is a must go destination. It is well worth the effort and the price. It is an outstanding adventure. The Lodge infrastructure is well built and well maintained. It’s a comfortable place to stay. But the staff makes all the difference in the guest experience. The folks who worked the five nights we were there – Mitch, Alex, Nick, Olivia, Niko, Crystal, and Nadia – helped craft our vacation adventure into a wonderful set of memories. I have two suggestions for improvement at Shadow Lake Lodge: The coffee is regrettably weak. Please make it much stronger. Also, please separately introduce the entire staff every night at dinner; and allow them to bask in the well-deserved, enthusiastic appreciation guests no doubt will show them.…