Guests of our April spa spotlight don’t expect to lounge about the pool. A visit to Mountain Trek in British Columbia means working hard at improving one’s whole being. Carole Jacobs, Real Food Traveler’s Health, Fitness & Spa Editor, tells us what a stay is all about.

Save our April Spa Spotlight to Pinterest to help plan your visit to Mountain Trek Health Reset Retreat. Photos courtesy of Mountain Trek. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

April Spa Spotlight: Mountain Trek Health Reset Retreat, Ainsworth Hot Springs, British Columbia

The mountaineer John Muir once said, “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”

Mountain Trek has made Muir’s MO the hub of its science-based mind-body “reset,” delivering a unique path to wellness that combines daily hikes in breathtaking mountains with an anti-inflammatory diet and mind-body activities.

Located about 45 minutes north of the Canada-US border in southeastern British Columbia’s Selkirk Mountains, the retreat, set in the historic mining village of Ainsworth Hot Springs, overlooks glacial-fed Kootenay Lake about 40 minutes from the bohemian mountain town of Nelson.

“Whether you feel overworked, overweight, or just in need of time to unplug, slow down, and recharge, Mountain Trek is for you,” says Mountain Trek co-owner Alex Timmons.

Hiking as the path to better health

Hiking through a life-size postcard amid alpine glaciers, crystal lakes, thundering cascades, and wildflower meadows “injects hikers with energy, confidence, and inspiration, and immediately helps them feel restored, reconnected, and rejuvenated,” says Timmons. “In just one week of immersing in our pristine nature, guests see a profound shift in their physical, mental and emotional health.”

Timmons should know, having discovered the life-affirming powers of Mountain Trek the hard way, that is, firsthand.

In 2018, Timmons, then 30, unexpectedly found himself in the hospital with a collapsed lung. The surgeon said it had occurred spontaneously, but Timmons, who’d been running a San Francisco-based venture-backed tech startup, suspected the real culprits were chronic sleep deprivation, over caffeination, and persistent stress.

“I was pushing myself beyond the limits to achieve what I thought would make me happy, but in reality, I was out of control and burning out—fast,” he says.

Having seen the same pattern in friends and loved ones and wanting to help himself and others discover “a more sustainable path,” Timmons and his wife, Hannah, bailed from the fast lane, trading the tech frenzy of the Bay Area for the forested calm of Mountain Trek.

Today, Timmons is “forever grateful to Mountain Trek, and passionate about helping anyone else who feels their health is slipping beyond their control. It is not too late—balance, energy, vitality, and longevity can be found once again, and Mountain Trek can help.”

Hiking is an important part of the experience at Mountain Trek Health Reset Retreat. Photo courtesy of Mountain Trek.

No pain, no gain at Mountain Trek

Returning to health and wellness can be challenging, which is why Mountain Trek requires that guests commit a week to learning the best ways of doing so.

“Detoxing from an unhealthy diet and lifestyle takes time,” says Mountain Trek co-owner and program creator Kirkland Shave, also a hiking and life coach. “It can’t happen in a few days, which is why we ask guests to come for an entire week.”

Offered from mid-April to mid-October, the program attracts urban warriors between the ages of 45 and 65. About 70% come from the U.S., 20% from Canada, and 10% from foreign countries. About 70% are women.

Mountain Trek limits attendance to 16 guests (the retreat can accommodate three couples per week) to ensure personalized attention and build Survivor-like bonding – “The tribal feeling that we’re all in this together, regardless of our differences,” says Shave.

By the end of the week, most guests have developed life-long friendships, which can help build in accountability and protect against dreaded fitness lapses, he says.

The retreat also has a strict digital detox policy. Guests may only use computers and phones in their rooms. Phones may be taken on hikes for photos but must be kept in airplane mode, Shave says.

Guests lodge in a beautiful timber frame main lodge that could have dropped in from Aspen. The Yoga Studio, Functional-Fitness Gym and State-of-the-Art Health Spa are in an adjoining building.

Realizing that the diet and activity level of prospective guests may be a far cry from what they’ll encounter at the retreat, Mountain Trek preps them a month before arrival with advice –from suggested packing lists (with complimentary daily laundry service, organic toiletries, and provided backpack and hiking poles, guests can pack light) to tips from the staff nutritionist and kinesiologist on how to arrive in fighting form for the rigorous exercise regime and what some guests may regard as rather spartan spa cuisine: low-cal; low carb; free of sugar, salt, and processed foods; and you can forget about your morning caffeine buzz.

Hungry for more? Read about Carole’s Spa Spotlight feature in Mexico.

Hiking with a difference

As the name implies, Mountain Trek’s reset revolves around 2.5-4 hours of daily guided hiking along glacier-fed lakes and into the Purcell and Selkirk mountains. The week begins with “easier” hikes and progresses to steeper climbs by week’s end.

Be forewarned that “easier” is relative. “We’re in the mountains, so none of the trails are flat,” says Shave.

To ensure no one’s left behind, Mountain Trek splits guests into four groups by fitness and ability level and provides trekking poles to work the upper body and provide additional stability and knee relief for the downhills. Guests stop for water, snacks and a picnic lunch by a waterfall, alpine lake, meadow, or glacier-fed river.

Why Flow Trekking is best

In keeping with the latest research, Mountain Trek adheres to Flow Trekking.

Says Shave, “After 20-plus years of dividing our 16 guests into four, guide-led groups, each hiking fast enough to be in their cardiovascular ‘fat flush’ zone (65-85 percent of their max heart rate), we realized we were doing it wrong!”

“We were under the illusion that the harder one worked, the more fat they would burn, the fitter they would get, and the more efficiently their body composition would change. What we didn’t realize, though, is that many of our guests were over-striving to trek in that zone, causing a cortisol response,” says Shave.

“Three years ago, when we introduced Forest Bathing to the program, we had our first real illuminating moment,” says Shave. “Return guests began sharing they were feeling a deep sense of enrichment as they moved through the forest savoring what their senses were bringing into awareness.”

“Guests told us that in their many years of Nordic Fitness Trekking, they had not been able to see anything beyond the heels of their guide, hear anything over the sound of their own wheezing breath, or feel anything other than their heart pounding in their chest!” he says. “Sure, they were exercising in the most pristine gym, aka Mother Nature, but they hadn’t consciously experienced her beauty.”

“We realized that their enjoyment came from being in a state of ‘Flow’ rather than a state of striving or performance, says Shave.

“In response to that feedback, we set up an experiment for the 2023 season to have all four guides slow their groups down by 15 percent, putting the cardio output at a Zone 2 level of 60-70 percent maximum exertion. We analyzed that season’s body composition stats and were positively surprised that on average, guests were 12 percent more efficient at burning fat.”

“We realized that by bringing the 2.5-4 hour hikes into a slightly lower cardio range, the body’s conversion and utilization of stored fatty acids improved and that guests were enjoying their hikes much more! Research shows that the state of striving is facilitated and supported by cortisol, the stress hormone, combined with the activation of the fight or flight sympathetic nervous system,” says Shave. “Adding to this, higher levels of cardiovascular exercise also releases an even greater level of cortisol. While cortisol release during exercise is completely natural, its elevated, chronic, and sustained release makes it difficult to lose belly fat. This became the birth of Flow Trekking at Mountain Trek,” he says.

The many health benefits of exercising in nature

Neuroscience also shows that merely exercising outdoors instead of in the gym can lower cortisol, says Shave, adding we’re “programmed to be in nature genetically — we see more shades of green.”

According to Harvard Health, spending just 20 minutes in nature can dramatically lower stress (cortisol) levels.

Outdoor exercise may also have far more physiological benefits (lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol) as well as psychological benefits (decreasing anger, anxiety, depression, and confusion) than indoor exercise, says new research.

“At Mountain Trek, we want to fill our guests up with awe and nature and replenish things that are hard to find in concrete and glass,” says Shave, adding that 95% of guests live in urban areas that aren’t conducive to daily hiking.

Fitness beyond the trail at Mountain Trek

Not all the fitness at Mountain Trek happens on the trail. As well as hiking, there’s early morning yoga as well as après-hike functional fitness classes focused on strength and stability, says Timmons.

In addition, afternoon lectures by Shave and others help keep guests abreast of the latest/greatest trends in fitness, nutrition, stress, sleep, detoxification, mental and emotional health, mindfulness, and nature immersion, as well as mind-body modalities you may never have encountered before (unless you live in Sedona), including tarot card reading, cranial sacral therapy, Biofield tuning, Reiki, and Tibetan sound bowl healing.  Shave also offers at-home coaching sessions to help guests stay on track and maintain their new hard-won health and wellness habits.

Yoga is among the offerings at Mountain Trek. Photo courtesy of Mountain Trek.

Recovery in the Spa

Despite the intense program, Mountain Trek is not all grunt and sweat. After hours of hiking and working out, you can head to the spa to pamper yourself in the infrared sauna, steam room, hot tub, or cold plunge hydrotherapy pool; unwind with an organic facial or therapeutic massage (three 50-minute massages are included in your stay); book a private yoga or relational somatic counseling session, or try one of the  New Age treatments. Or you call your family to assure them you’re still alive and kicking.

Following dinner and a stroll, you’ll return to the spa for more me-time, and end the day with relaxing activities designed to lower your parasympathetic nervous system and prepare you for restful sleep, including guided meditation, Tibetan bowl sound bathing, violin concerts, and slow-paced yin yoga.

Food as medicine

Mountain Trek’s squeaky-clean organic spa cuisine, a team effort of the staff nutritionist and chef, is another essential part of the reset equation. From breakfast and dinner served in the lodge dining room to lunch on the trail, the healthy fare is a mouthful in more ways than one: It’s anti-inflammatory, low-calorie, low-carb, low-sodium, free of sugar, caffeine and processed foods, majority plant-based, micro-nutrient-dense, macro-nutrient-balanced, and omnivorous, says Timmons.

Since most of Mountain Trek’s guests are omnivores who consume both animals and plants, the retreat meets them where they are by serving a healthy omnivore diet, which is like a Mediterranean diet minus wine. Plant-based meal plans are available upon request.

Mountain Trek also views its food as medicine. “Every single calorie and nutrient are accounted for and meticulously designed to fight inflammation, balance blood sugar levels and hormones, increase energy levels and stamina, improve gut health, and promote mental clarity and emotional balance,” Timmons says.

To spread the word about healthy eating beyond the walls of the retreat, Mountain Trek has published its first cookbook, aptly named Cookbook Volume 1, featuring 50-plus recipes served at the retreat, plus a description of its nutrition philosophy and program. For two of Mountain Trek’s favorite mushroom recipes, go here.

The cuisine at Mountain Trek is made to improve and instill health. Photo courtesy of Mountain Trek Food.

Hungry for more? Here are two healthy recipes from Mountain Trek.

No walk in the park

Timmons is the first to acknowledge that “Mountain Trek is no walk in the park. It’s hard to cut sugar, alcohol, and caffeine for a week, hike several hours each day, get up to do sunrise yoga and exercise after dinner, all while eating a calorie light (but nutrient dense) meal plan,” he says. This is not a spa “where you can hang out by the pool all day with cucumbers on your eyes and a cocktail in your hand.”

Rather, “Mountain Trek wants three things to happen during your reset, “says Shave. “We want to lower your inflammation through hiking and an anti-inflammatory diet; raise your metabolism so you’re a calorie-burning machine, and rebalance hormones like cortisol, a key disrupter elevated by stress, depression, lack of sleep, not getting enough exercise, and an unhealthy diet high in sugar, caffeine and unhealthy fats.”

Although some guests come to Mountain Trek to shed a few pounds, “Once people go through our program, they see that weight loss isn’t a thing all by itself but a lifestyle adjustment through many areas of health,” says Shave. “Being overweight isn’t just calories in, calories out, but the result of elevated cortisol.”

And according to research, elevated cortisol doesn’t just keep you from squeezing into your skinny jeans.  It’s also a literal killer that fuels the cellular inflammation that stokes many serious diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer, says The Cleveland Clinic.

Runaway cortisol can even lead to sleep disorders, which are common among Mountain Trek’s ranks of urban warriors, says Shave.

Kudos for Mountain Trek

Considering Mountain Trek’s intensive, highly structured reset, how do the survivors rate the program when no one is looking (or waking them up at dawn for sunrise yoga)?

The answer? A whopping 5 out of 5 on TripAdvisor.

Guest comments range from “The hikes were incredible” and “The food was really really good” to “It’s the best thing I’ve done for myself” and “I wish I could stay forever.” (Alas, you can’t. After two weeks, Mountain Trek says adios).

Given the rave reviews, it’s no surprise that Mountain Trek also has an enviable return rate. “More than 30% of guests come again, 20% are referred by return guests, and on any given week, 50% of guests are either alums or returning with a friend, mate, or coworker,” says Shave.

The retreat has also won many awards from the travel elite: Travel & Leisure named it the Best Health Retreat in Canada, the #3 Wellness Retreat in North America, and the #4 Health Spa in the World; Mountain Trek won Condé Nast Traveler’s Reader’s Choice Award; and Outside Magazine named it the Best Wellness Retreat in the World for active travelers.

As it turns out, one Mountain Trek may not be enough. The Timmons’s are currently exploring the possibility of opening a second Mountain Trek campus in the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara.  The retreat would be open year-round, designed by the architect behind Bill Gates’s 66,000-square-foot house, and fully off-grid and 99% fossil-fuel-free — a first for the industry, says Timmons.

Wondering how it all fits together? Here’s a day in the life of Mountain Trek.

6am: Gentle Wake Up: If the songbirds don’t wake you up first, the staff will gently tap on your door.

6:15am: Break your fast: Kickstart your metabolism with a nutrient and protein-rich green smoothie and support natural detoxification with Lemon Ginger Tea.

6:30am: Sunrise Yoga: Greet the day with a gentle yoga stretch class while you watch the sunrise over the mountains.

7:30am: Breakfast in the lodge

8am: Check-in: Review the upcoming day with your guides and learn about the hiking destination and upcoming weather.

8:30am: Depart for your morning hike

12:30pm: Picnic lunch on the trail

3pm: Return to the lodge to unwind in the spa

4pm: Functional fitness classes and/or lifestyle talks

5:15pm: Gourmet dinner in the lodge

6pm: Nature Walk: Relax and control blood sugar levels with a post-dinner nature walk.

6:30-10pm: Unwind in the spa, then end the day with activities designed to nurture restful sleep.

Getting there: Fly into Spokane International Airport or the West Kootenay Regional Airport in Castlegar, British Columbia, with daily flights from Vancouver on Air Canada in Vancouver, BC. The Mountain Trek shuttle will meet you at the airport and transport you to the retreat.

Extend your stay: As long as you’ve come this far north, consider spending some time exploring the area. Around the corner from the retreat is Ainsworth Hot Springs, where you can soak in natural hot springs and swim through caves. About 40 minutes away is the historic silver mining town of Nelson, which has been reborn as an artsy mountain town with a 5-star setting on Kootenay Lake. Take a walking tour past the town’s 350-plus historic heritage buildings, shops, galleries, and boutique hotels (plus more restaurants per capita than San Francisco and a slew of breweries, cafes, and coffee houses.) Nelson is also a hiking nirvana, with easy access to countless trails. Pulpit Rock switchbacks to staggering views of Nelson and the lake while delivering a Mountain Trek-like workout. Or hike past thundering Fletcher Falls or through towering 800-year-old forests at  Kokanee Creek Old Growth Cedars. You can catch your breath on the Kootenay Lake Ferry. The world’s longest (35 minute) free ferry ride delivers mile-by-mile views of the lake, quaint shoreline villages, and surrounding mountains.

To learn more about Mountain Trek Reset Retreat, visit their website, here.

-Story by Carole Jacobs, Real Food Traveler Health, Fitness & Spa Editor