We thought the view of the mountains lit by the evening sun was amazing when we got to the Clubhouse on Sunday afternoon. That’s before seeing the mountains flooded in light on Monday morning. Sublime! We now fully understand why the lodge was built on this spot…
It’s under clear blue skies that we checked our equipment, comfortably installed on the Clubhouse’s patio. For many of the youth, they will have to reluctantly leave behind certain articles of clothing. In day to day life these clothes might be good looking but in our case they would only weight down their backpack needlessly…
Once this operation is done, we hop on the bus to Minnewanka Lake for a 3.5 kilometers hike so we can warm-up before the departure to the backcountry Tuesday morning. It’s on the shores of its turquoise waters surrounded by peaks almost 3000 meters high that we stop for lunch. The view is enchanting, the breeze is captivating, the cookies are huge and laughter abounds.
We hop on the bus again for a short 10 minutes’ drive, this time to the town of Banff. This stop gives the youth a chance to do an excursion in town, but mostly to stop by the Lululemon store…
Back to the Clubhouse, it’s free time for the youth and meeting time for the group leaders. We meet with Jeff, Tamara and Claude from Assiniboine Lodge with whom we’ll team up starting tomorrow. When we leave the meeting, we can’t find the participants. Did they play a trick on us?…
Far from it! They’re all together in a single room, sitting on the beds, the chairs, the floor and the window sill. They’re talking, laughing, teasing each other and having fun.
This beautiful sight brings a big smile on my face. We can feel them bounding together. We see them fraternizing and slowly laying the foundations that will enable them to go from a group to a team.
Tomorrow the big adventure begins. Support and cohesion will be in order.