Yes I am already looking forward to winter and we aren't even half way through our summer.  The  reason for my winter anticipation is the hot and dry weather we are having here at Vagabond Lodge.  We even had some previously unheard of 40C plus days.  And now we have a lot of smoke from wild fires in our province.  So far nothing really close by here but depending on which way the wind is blowing,  it can get ugly.  
The other reason we are looking forward to ski season there is a lot of optimism the border may be open to vaccinated travellers by September and that means our overseas guests can come back skiing this winter.  
We have already had some good bookings for the ski season from Europe but of course it all hinges on the opening of the borders.
Canada is doing a good job with vaccinations and our numbers have gone down dramatically in the past month.  
In Golden we went about a month without any new cases but recently we have seen 4 new ones which percentage wise is concerning.  
​People are travelling now and the means people coming here who are not vaccinated.   Sorry...some people just don't get it. FYI here at Vagabond Lodge we are only accepting fully vaccinated guests. That is for our safety, the safety of our other guests and our community.  End of story. 
Video is from this past winter to get you pumped.  I know I am. 

I managed to get back on the Kicking Horse River for a kayak trip for the first time this year.  Along with friend Patrick we had a great ride.
With some warmer weather the river was getting high with a lot of snow melt .  There was some debris in the water but nothing serious.  It is not a long trip; probably about 30 minutes total on the water but always a bit of a rush, especially the first section which can get some nice rapids.  
We end up on the Columbia River and then it is a leisurely float for the last 15 minutes or so.  A day later I checked out the river and it was really high and muddy with trees floating down.  We will wait for the water level to drop a bit before going again. 
I managed to get my second vaccine shot which was nice to get over with.  We are optimistic about the summer with the resort opening on June 25th for the summer season for mountain biking and sightseeing along with the grizzly bear refuge.
The BC government has put June 15th as a date for more reopening and giving the green light for travel around the province.  Right now we are restricted to staying within our health region.  The provincial covid numbers have been going down steadily.  By July they are planning to allow more travel within Canada.  No word on when the US border will be open but there is a strong push for vaccinated Americans to be allowed into Canada.  We shall see.  We are going to take reservations at Vagabond Lodge for only vaccinated guests as a safety measure for other guests, ourselves, staff and our community.  
We haven't seen our two neighbourhood grizzlies for a couple weeks and hopefully they have moved on but now we have some black bears including a mom and 3 young cubs wandering around. It is not too often when I go between Vagabond and Golden which is just a 10 minute drive when I don't see at least 1 bear.  We had some hot weather last week with temperatures close to 30C which means the grass and vegetation is nice and green.  The bears love it. 
You can book your stay direct through our booking engine on Vagabond Lodge for the best rate or give us a call at 250 344 2622 or email info@vagabondlodge.ca 

It doesn't get much better than a nice float down the Columbia River.  The Columbia River which is one of the major rivers in North America has its headwaters just about 2 hours south of Vagabond Lodge and the town of Golden.  It is always a great spot for a nice gentle float but this time of the year with the water levels going up, it is even better.  With more warm weather it will flood the entire wetlands to the south and create some nice size lakes too which you can paddle into and go for a swim on a warm day.
We haven't had a lot of warm weather yet but did manage a 20C day a few days ago and we took advantage of it. 
We put in just a few km south of Golden and it takes about 2 and a half hours to float down to our take-out spot at the airport in Golden.  We didn't paddle much and enjoyed the vitamin D as much as we could.  No bears but we did see some bald eagles and a deer on our trip. 
When things start to open up for travel and we hope soon, bring your kayak or we can find a rental for you and check it out.  You won't be sorry.  It is so relaxing and a great way for escape. 
Kicking Horse Resort is scheduled to open for the summer on June 25th for mountain biking, the gondola which accesses some great hiking as well as the grizzly bear refuge.   
Give us a call at 250 344 2622 or email info@vagabondlodge.ca

It's that time of the year here at Vagabond Lodge.  The bears are out of hibernation and looking for some good eats.  No..not what you think.  Along the roadside between Kicking Horse Resort and the town of Golden which is 10 km, it is starting to green up and you can see a bear or two or three, pretty well daily.  This year there are some grizzly bears around too which is not that usual.  There has been one hanging around just down the road from us and that is the video below.  The road is also a popular spot for biking and there  are a number of mountain biking trails in our area so a lot of traffic in cars and on bikes.  Most people are very respectful of the bears and leave them in peace and vice versa. And after a few weeks, once it starts to green up elsewhere the bears are not as evident and that will happen later in May.  But right now is the time to be super careful and leave them alone.  
Vagabond is waiting for the government to lift the travel restrictions in BC and hopefully that will happen after May 25th and the covid numbers are going down thank goodness.  There has been an outbreak here in Golden and has resulted in a community vaccination program.  Everyone 18 plus who lives in Golden can get a shot now.  Good that everyone is able to but bad that it is a result of an outbreak. 
Of note the resort is not planning to open until June 25th for mountain biking, sightseeing and hiking. We have been getting good response for the upcoming ski season especially with return guests who were not able to come and stay the last couple winters because of covid.  

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.  

I love spring skiing at Kicking Horse.  The main reason is...it is powder skiing.   Sure as you get closer to the bottom of the resort you can get a mixed bag, from hard packed, ice to soft stuff.  But with 4000 vertical it is unlikely you will get the same snow conditions from top to bottom this time of the year.  It is certainly well worth some hiking to find untracked powder.   We did get a week of warm sunny weather and that was ok if you are sitting in the sun on the deck with a beer.  But I am not a big fan of warm weather skiing.  It is just too hard on the old knees.  Give me soft powder any day and that is what we found again yesterday after a nice snowfall.  It got more challenging as we got close to the bottom but that was ok. 
The season is winding down with the resort extending their closing date until April 11th.