Well this is interesting and no one is very sure on how this will unfold.  The BC government is restricting travel supposedly throughout the province until May 25 in an effort to curb the spread of covid. We are only allowed to travel within our own health zones. The police may even give tickets to people who are travelling from one area to another without a valid reason.  And for people coming from Alberta they are putting up signs to tell travellers to not come.  Duh!  Sorry good luck on that one. But with the resort closed until at least June and with our highway under construction east (towards Alberta) and an hour an half detour in place until June 1, I don't think there will be a lot of traffic coming this way, except for the transport trucks which are coming through Golden at a crazy speed and number.   Hopefully though these restrictions will have an impact and our numbers will go down.  
Enough of my rant, with some exceptionally sunny and warm days in the past week we decided to go for our first kayak trip of the season.  After some scouting out, we decided to try and go upstream on the Columbia River at Golden Airport and it worked.  The water level is still low with a slow currant and we had some fun paddling upstream for about an hour and then turning around and then floated back downstream.  What a beautiful day.  It was the earliest we had ever gone kayaking and certainly the first time we have ever paddled upstream.  Normally there is no way we could do that. We ware hoping the message gets through to people to dream now and travel later. Vagabond Lodge is closed until about June 1 and hopefully after that date we can enjoy the summer with our awesome guests. 

Another winter season came to a close here at Vagabond Lodge at Kicking Horse Resort.  It was an amazing way to finish off the winter for skiing though if nothing else.  It was winter powder to the final turn.  
The resort did a good job of making everyone as safe as possible.  I was concerned over the past few weeks with an influx of new visitors to the resort with the closing of Whistler and most of the other resorts in the province.  So far our area has managed to get through this past year, without any big covid outbreaks.  So far.  
We have some projects here at Vagabond to keep us certainly busy for the next couple months.  The resort usually opens for the summer about the middle of May and we are still waiting word on the official dates because that is when we will open again.  With Canadians having to stay close to home this summer, I suspect it will be a busy time here at the resort with some great golf,  mountain biking, hiking, rafting available in our backyard. 
Here is a video from the final weekend of skiing here at Kicking Horse.  Now time to think warmer weather  and kayaking. 

We are in the final days of the winter season here at Kicking Horse resort.  The resort closes on April 11.  I know this is a repeat of what I have said over the winter but I was surprised how busy it was over the Easter weekend with all the governments telling people to stay home.  One of the staff at the resort on Sunday had a sign at the entrance of the gondola and was keeping track of where people were from when she was scanning their pass.  The biggest number was from Vancouver/Whistler.  Even a bigger number than Alberta.  Whistler has an outbreak of the covid variant and shut down last week for the season.  So I assume the epic pass holders who get some free skiing at Kicking Horse drove 8 hours or so to ski here.  Not great and disappointed people would do that.  Hopefully there will not be an outbreak here in Golden considering we have very few cases.  But the BC government does not post numbers in specific areas unless they are actually from Golden so we may never know.  
Having said that,  the conditions are still amazing.  We had some new snow a few days ago, and I managed to make a couple runs with friend Ken outside the resort and it was our definition of spring skiing.  If I don't get another run this season I will not be that sad.  It was a great way to finish off what has been a great year for skiing but ...
We have had some great requests from regular guests who are hoping to get back here next season which gives a person a lot of optimism.  We can't wait to welcome guests from around the world back.  
Vaccination for me happens probably in the next week.   Remember to get vaccinated, wear a mask and stay home and be part of the solution. 
Enjoy the video and dream of next year.  

And so another season comes to an end at Vagabond Lodge.  Our final guests this winter left yesterday, although the resort is staying open for another week, closing on April 11.  We have basically only been taking regular guests this winter which we felt very safe doing.   They were great to have.  We have been fortunate in our area not to have many covid cases and the resort has done a good job of working with the staff and customers to make sure everyone is following the protocol.  We will enjoy hopefully the last week of skiing and then get things organized for hopefully a great summer.  Friend Patrick and I have been doing our almost daily excursion.  It is certainly a great way to social distance and we love the challenge.  The video is from a few days ago. 
If you are planning to come through our area in the next few months, be aware of road closures on the transcanada highway #1.  It is a multi year project to twin and straighten out about 4km of road to the east of Golden.  Starting April 12 until June 1 the highway will be closed with all traffic rerouted through Kootenay National Park and back through Golden.  In May it will be open on weekends.  It's a long term pain for long term gain with road closures expected throughout the next few years supposedly only in the off-season.  Once it will be completed it will be awesome.  
We are getting some nice inquiries and reservations from around the world for next ski season.  Great to see the optimism.