This past weekend the hubby, some friends, and myself headed to Abbotsford, British Columbia for a heli kayaking adventure that was almost a year in the making.
In August of last year Brian and I were hanging out in Kirkwood with our friend Jeremy and his partner Randy when we saw a viral video that had been shared around on Facebook. It showed some people taking a helicopter to the back country of British Columbia and kayaking down glacier snow melt in beautiful, unreal blue water. We called up Nick, the owner/operator of Compass Heli Tours, and chatted with him about all the details before ultimately deciding to book our trip for June of 2018. Why June? Because that’s when the water is the amazing bright blue color.
Fast forward to June and Nick was very accommodating when Randy was no longer able to go and we had to switch our reservation to include 2 more friends. Day of our trip arrived and again Nick was on top of it. He emailed to let us all know that conditions were not perfect like the above video and that he would give us other options. We met up with him to discuss said options and talk with the previous group that had just gotten back. Their pictures looked amazing, so we decided to go and check it out for ourselves.
Nick took us out to the helicopter for a safety briefing and then we climbed in and took off for an amazing adventure. 
Now I haven’t been in a helicopter since I was airlifted to Stanford back in high school, so I had a few butterflies in my stomach when we took off. That wore off pretty fast though, especially once we were in the back country. It is so beautiful there!
After a 50 minute helicopter tour, we landed at our first destination. A lake that was beginning to melt and create that amazing blue water from the video!
We hiked down to the beach where Nick had the kayaks ready to go. One by one, we each took off and started kayaking the rim of the lake. It was a little slushy but not that bad. The temperature was perfect and the company was fantastic. How often do you get to say you took a helicopter to the back country and kayaked in snow melt!??
After kayaking for about an hour we had lunch on some very nice picnic tables and discussed our next destination. The lunch was from Lepp Farm Market, a local market that is organic and gets all of it’s ingredients from British Columbia. So tasty. Especially the dessert. I had a brownie that had a marshmallow middle and rice crispy top. OMG!
We loaded back into the helicopter and headed off for our next destination. A rainforest lake where Nick had been going since he was a kid. Back story on Nick; he’s been flying helicopters for 11 years, and comes from a family of pilots. He used to collect pine cones for seedlings and also helped fighting fires using helicopters. OMG this guy is awesome! He’s planning on building a lodge for helicopter glamping trips on Paradise Lake, which I think is fantastic.
He landed us on a sandy beach with not much room for error, but he’s a pro, so no big deal. The kayaks were hiding under some camouflage. We all got in and enjoyed a little piece of paradise. The water is very clear and you can see all the trees that are now submerged due to a rock fall that happened many years ago. When the snow melted, it created this breathtaking lake.
After another 25 minutes it was time to go back. 😦 We loaded back into the helicopter and this time, I got my turn at sitting in the co-pilot seat (not really a co-pilot, but up front!!)
The whole trip was 5 hours long and worth every penny. Nick is amazing and he offers multiple kinds of trips. Next ski season he’s offering heli skiing, so you know I’ll be back!
https://www.compasshelitours.com/glacier-kayaking/
Check him out above and tell him Team Adventure sent you. He’ll take VERY good care of you and you’ll have an experience of a lifetime!
Kari's Adventures 