Multi-generational group shot in front of the hut. Photo: Vi Pickering
Multi-Generational Weekend at Lake O'Hara
By Franziska Mai
For three nights in June of 2024, the Calgary Section ran a Multi-Generational Family Camp at the club’s Elizabeth Parker Hut at Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park. Franziska Web, an exchange student from Germany and a member of the section during her stay in Canada, was chosen to attend in the lottery system run by the section for the few spots in the hut. Here, she recounts the highlights of her trip to EP with club members, young and experienced.
The Alpine Club went to the cabin at Lake O’Hara from the 23rd to the 25th of June with a multi-generational group.
For me as a German exchange student who was staying in Canada for five months, it was very exciting because it was a multi-generational event, so it was interesting for me to meet the different generations of ACC members from Canada.
The first time I heard about the trip was in March when we got the news that we’re one of the lucky few who got chosen to go. It was something I was excited about during my whole stay in Canada.
At the bus stop of the Parks Canada bus to Lake O’Hara we met the kids and older folks in the group. Then we got all our stuff in the cabin and met a few more people. Everyone was very nice and friendly.
My family went on a hike to Linda Lake on the first day. It was raining very heavily but it was so beautiful that we didn’t really mind. We also had the chance to see a late-season avalanche coming off the peaks. When we got back to the hut, dinner was ready, and it was very good. We played a few games of charades which was funny with all the different generations we had in the cabin. We had kids as young as two, teenagers like me, and all ages up to 77 years old. It was fun getting to know each other.
The next morning, we woke up to a good smell of pancakes and hash browns being cooked in the kitchen. On that day our group would be making dinner, so we prepared it in the morning and had a lot of fun. There were several generations cooking the meal, which was interesting, and us teenagers learned some tricks from the more skilled ones.
My family went on a hike to Linda Lake on the first day. It was raining very heavily but it was so beautiful that we didn’t really mind. We also had the chance to see a late-season avalanche coming off the peaks. When we got back to the hut, dinner was ready, and it was very good. We played a few games of charades which was funny with all the different generations we had in the cabin. We had kids as young as two, teenagers like me, and all ages up to 77 years old. It was fun getting to know each other.
The next morning, we woke up to a good smell of pancakes and hash browns being cooked in the kitchen. On that day our group would be making dinner, so we prepared it in the morning and had a lot of fun. There were several generations cooking the meal, which was interesting, and us teenagers learned some tricks from the more skilled ones.
In the afternoon we went on another beautiful hike which had a lot of snow. After the hike, my sister and me decided to jump in the very cold lake which was very refreshing. When we came back it was very nice to see that everybody was hanging out together in front of the cabin sharing things from the day. The little ones explained how they were fishing and how they built their hooks. The older folks were telling stories about their grandchildren falling asleep in the middle of the path.
That evening we celebrated the 70th birthday of one person in our group, which was exciting because of all the generations celebrating. We learned a new card game and all of us played for the whole evening.
It was a very fun three days. Each generation learned a lot from the others, and we all had a lot of fun.
