Rejuvenate Your Mind and Body at Mountain Trek Fitness Retreat & Health Spa

I can’t pinpoint what it was exactly that made me do it. Was I overwhelmed by work? Burned out from the kids? Were my hormones out of balance, and eating too much processed food to compensate? Probably, yes — all of it. I just remember realizing, “I need a restart button.” I needed a place to escape my daily routine, rebuild, refocus, and rediscover who I had become. However, I didn’t want a week of wine and lounging; I needed to clean my body, sweat, strengthen, and most importantly, I needed sleep — so much sleep.

All of this led me to the breathtaking Kootenay Mountains in British Columbia – a remote, pristine range of the Canadian Rockies, surrounding a 100-mile freshwater lake. This journey took me to a one-of-a-kind luxury fitness retreat called Mountain Trek Fitness Retreat & Health Spa – which is, to be crystal clear, not a spa, but dare I say, a compassionate backcountry boot camp.

Daily Routine at Mountain Trek

Guiding about 12 to 16 clients per weeklong program, Mountain Trek differentiates itself by immersing guests in the wilderness that surrounds it. Every day, participants spend three hours or more hiking mountain trails while learning the importance of breath control, pacing, and feeling empowered in their own skin.

Mornings begin at 6 a.m. with a gentle knock on the bedroom door. Initially, it was challenging to rise without coffee (considering there is no caffeine or alcohol and a digital detox is encouraged at Mountain Trek), but by day three, I found myself up with the sun, watching deer and a flock of wild turkeys quietly cross the lodge’s lawn. Subsequently, I would proceed downstairs for sunrise yoga, followed by a delicious breakfast crafted by chefs specializing in local, organic, power foods.

After learning how to care for our feet, addressing hot spots or problem areas, we set off on the trails. Broken into four groups based on ability and pace preference, we explored five different trailheads over five days of hiking. We learned the unique principles of Alpine Fitness Trekking, a method developed by Lead Guide and Program Director, Kirkland Shave, in 2000. This technique incorporates the use of Nordic trekking poles, encourages an upright posture, and emphasizes small steps.

Transformative Experience in the Wilderness

During the initial hike, I was quite talkative. The following day, as we regrouped, a fellow hiker from London suggested I try the next, faster-paced group. I realized that I had overlooked one of Mountain Trek’s principles: on uphill hikes, participants should maintain silence to engage with their natural breath, work on their form, and observe bald eagles soaring above. The power of wilderness meditation is palpable at Mountain Trek, so much so that they’ve incorporated meditative walks on select days.

As the week progressed, the hikes’ intensity increased, but so did my strength. By the final day, I was prepared for a high alpine trek that brought us above the treeline in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park.

A week spent in the British Columbia backcountry reconnected me with nature — and my senses. As a result, I revitalized my body and elevated both my mind and spirit.

I returned home with invaluable tools, profound knowledge, and sensory memories from my time in the woods: the smell of damp earth beneath my feet, the sound of a roaring river, dipping my sweat-soaked hat into its icy mountain runoff, and resting next to a historic mountain graveyard while enjoying half a banana and some unsalted nuts. It turned out, these simple pleasures were the luxuries I had been searching for all along.