Oh. My. Goodness. Talus Lodge is a treat for anyone who loves to hike in the midst of spectacular scenery but doesn't want to backpack. My husband and I are day-hikers and appreciate creature comforts (such as a real bed and good food prepared by someone else). At Talus Lodge, that was just the beginning.
The lodge is perched at 7600 ft. in a mountain cirque that is inaccessible by road. Guests, staff and supplies are brought in by helicopter (for guests, a spectacular flight from Canmore) twice a week. The lodge will sleep 10 guests comfortably, and during our visit there were only 5 of us: a couple from Victoria, a gentleman from Edmonton, and the two of us from Ohio. Chris Espinel is the owner/guide/miracle-worker, and a more knowledgeable and congenial host you could not find. (He also plays guitar and sings with a little encouragement -- try offering him a quarter.)
Backcountry lodges tend to be pretty basic, with paper-thin walls and lumpy beds. At Talus, the lodge building, opened only in 2004, is very well built, rooms are quiet, beds comfy, and the common areas inviting, warm, and light-filled. There's a heating stove on the main level, where the kitchen, living room, and dining areas are located, as well as one on the lower level where the mud room and most of the sleeping accommodations are found. There's also an electric generator that Chris turns on...Oh. My. Goodness. Talus Lodge is a treat for anyone who loves to hike in the midst of spectacular scenery but doesn't want to backpack. My husband and I are day-hikers and appreciate creature comforts (such as a real bed and good food prepared by someone else). At Talus Lodge, that was just the beginning.
The lodge is perched at 7600 ft. in a mountain cirque that is inaccessible by road. Guests, staff and supplies are brought in by helicopter (for guests, a spectacular flight from Canmore) twice a week. The lodge will sleep 10 guests comfortably, and during our visit there were only 5 of us: a couple from Victoria, a gentleman from Edmonton, and the two of us from Ohio. Chris Espinel is the owner/guide/miracle-worker, and a more knowledgeable and congenial host you could not find. (He also plays guitar and sings with a little encouragement -- try offering him a quarter.)
Backcountry lodges tend to be pretty basic, with paper-thin walls and lumpy beds. At Talus, the lodge building, opened only in 2004, is very well built, rooms are quiet, beds comfy, and the common areas inviting, warm, and light-filled. There's a heating stove on the main level, where the kitchen, living room, and dining areas are located, as well as one on the lower level where the mud room and most of the sleeping accommodations are found. There's also an electric generator that Chris turns on at dark and off at 10:00 or so.
Connected to the lodge building by an elevated wooden walkway is the bath house, which includes 2 pit toilets, a sauna, 2 sinks (cold water, of course), 2 gas burners for heating pots of water, and 2 shower stalls. After hikers are back for the day, Chris fires up the sauna stove and the water pots. For a shower, you mix hot and cold water in either a nozzle-equipped bag or a watering can, hoist it up in the shower stall with a pulley system, and luxuriate. It works just fine! There's also a more remote outhouse a short walk from the lodge, beside a grove of trees. Chris encourages the male guests to avail themselves of this grove for "tree-watering" during the day and to reserve the toilets in the bath house for the women-folk except at night or in foul weather.
There are no hiking trails, so do choose the "guided" option for your visit. Chris -- and, if the lodge is full, his assistant -- know the area, so they will take you to the most beautiful/interesting places you'd have trouble finding on your own. (Also, given that there are bears about, it's probably safer to hike in a group.) Chris seems to know almost everything about the scenery, plants, animals, birds, and abundant FOSSILS. Even in September there were flowers blooming in some places, and I can't wait to return another year in late July/early August to see the full wildflower display.
Food is FABULOUS: a big breakfast, a pack-your-own lunch, afternoon appetizers, and a grand dinner.
Keep in mind that your schedule before and after Talus should be a bit flexible. Low clouds or bad weather render the helicopter timetable . . . approximate. On our morning flight in, we had to set down at an intermediate heli-pad for an hour to wait for clouds to lift so that we could get through the last pass to Talus. Chris said that only once has he had to cancel a group's visit entirely, and that was in winter (after 2 days of delay, the trip was called off). He said that in summer, the worst it's been was once when the morning flight in/out couldn't take place until evening. So don't plan on getting to Calgary to catch a flight home right after your scheduled departure from Talus!
The one thing that was a bit surprising to us (as I mentioned, we're not backcountry mountain hut folks where this may be the norm), was that there are no curtains on any windows. So when you're in your bedroom or in the one of the showers with a window, you'll be on view if anyone cares to gaze. Since there's a sort of terrace that runs around the outside of the bedroom level, in warm weather (which ours was not) there might be other guests out there enjoying the view. Hopefully not of you. It also means that in midsummer, when the sun sets very late at that latitude, you may want to take eye-shades along to aid your sleep.
This is a really, really great place. The scenery is superlative. You will see nobody during your stay except other Lodge guests, because there's NOBODY ELSE AROUND. (What a change from Banff!) It's your own private Eden.More
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