Bow Hut

Bow Hut is an Alpine Club of Canada Hut which is starts by Bow Lake at the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge parking lot. The hut has to be booked through ACC, and is one of the best hiking experiences of my life.

The hike starts alongside Bow Lake, then follows the trail signs for Bow Glacier Falls. The hut is beyond that point, taking you through a lot of fascinating terrain and geology. It's been 4 years since this hike, so it won't be the most detailed trail description, but the experience deserves to be documented in some way.

The hike is about 8km in, and 400m of elevation gain, taking 4-6 hours to hike in according to ACC's site. The hike starts relatively easy going along the lake, then you start gaining elevation. One really cool feature of the hike is crossing a chockstone bridge (aka a very big rock). This is definitely the scariest part of the hike, but it is mostly just really fun.

Bow Glacier Falls itself is also quite nice, but on my trip, we ventured straight to the hut, and stopped at the falls on the way out.

After this point, the trail does get more difficult, gaining elevation and crossing boulder fields. As you approach the hut and the glaciers, it felt like totally different terrain than anywhere else I had explored up to that point.

There is a steep push to the hut, but then we reached our home for the night. Up close and personal with glaciers. We didn't explore on the actual glaciers since our group lacked the equipment and knowledge to do so safely, but just being that close was incredible.

This was one of the hikes where I actually had more fun because of the group I was with. I often struggle with feeling anxious and inadequate when hiking with others, but this was just a really fun group of people to explore with.

So after arriving to the hut and refueling with snack and coffee, we set out to scramble around a bit. The Onion is a relatively popular scramble, with some people doing this as a day trip. The geology is fascinating, the views are incredible, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. 

I am not a great scrambler, and I actually don't usually enjoy a scramble as much as I feel like I should, but this one was worth it. I don't remember it being too difficult, but please consult official sources before making that decision for yourself.

This also remains the location of the single best mountain picture I have even taken.

Hut life offers some real advantages. Getting water straight from the glacier (please still boil/ filter/ purify. Nobody wants giadria to ruin their trip.) I always wake up pretty early on these trips, so I did a water run and had my morning coffee with minimal human interaction, and felt like I was literally on top of the word.

Watching the sun rise in the mountains, scrambling around the area for the best photo spots, breathing that fresh mountain air. All the things I loved the most about my time in the mountains, with none of the negatives making their way in. This was an absolute high point, one I will never be able to repeat in quite the same way. That said, I definitely want to go back, possibly solo, or with the right people. This is a beautiful spot. In non-covid years, the hut runs at $40/ night for non-members. 

I realize this is not the best actual description of the hike itself, but in this case, it was the magical experience that mattered more than the hike itself. For one brief moment in time, I felt that magic.