One Year Away

Joseph

Whiskey Jacks are the very unshy birds that are all over the place here.  It is also the name of the hostel that we stayed at right after our adventures on horseback.  We made a silly decision to reserve the hostel knowing full well it is a wilderness hostel with few amenities.  By the time we emerged from the woods after 3 days we were ready for some luxuries and did not look forward to spending the night at one of the most rustic properties in the area, but it was too late to cancel the reservation.

Whiskey Jacks is near the top of a hill overlooking Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park, BC.  To get there you need to drive up some serious mountain roads and negotiate a few switchbacks.  Once you get there you are greeted by a not so friendly sign.   Beyond that, standing on the front porch was a mountain man who clearly had found his calling in life, managing a remote hostel and not having to deal with many people.  He walked a bit unsteadily and didn’t seem to be in the best health – but more on that later.  He checked us in and then disappeared into the private area of the building. 

There were two other couples there that night.  One, a German couple now living in Kingston, had already been there for a few days.  They advised us on what hikes we could do in the area that wouldn’t be too difficult, as Penny’s knee was still sore.  The other was an older man and woman visiting from Quebec city.  We shared a dorm room with them and I got to practice my french a bit.  The Quebecers were both asleep by 9 PM.

The hostel had no electricity, no phone line, no cell coverage and sleeping was in two nine people dorm rooms.  Why would anyone go there?  Well, the view out the front window can’t be beat.  Also, it’s in the center of several hiking trails.  At least it had hot water and a propane stove.  We cooked a meal of pasta, cracked open a bottle of wine and talked to the Germans.  By 9.30 PM we were in bed, there was nothing else to do. 

The next morning I woke up and looked out the window to see the hostel manager outside on a satellite phone.  We found out that he had collapsed earlier in the morning and was having chest pain.  He had used the sat phone to call an ambulance and then we waited anxiously for 45 minutes until it arrived.  The Quebecers, being about his age, kept him company for most of the time.  Just before he was loaded into the ambulance the manager asked me to lock the hostel up when we left.  We asked about him at the hostel in Banff and he was still in the hospital last they had heard. 

We did a couple of short hikes to the falls and around nearby Emerald Lake before calling it a day and heading back to Banff for our last night in Alberta.