A West Vancouver woman has just returned from what she says was the "trip of a lifetime" after spending three days heli-hiking with Roberta Bondar, Canada's first female astronaut.

According to a written statement, Jeanne Coleman, after hearing about the opportunity offered by Canadian Mountain Holidays, jumped at the chance to travel with the famed Canadian in B.C.'s Bugaboos.

Bondar served as the exhibition's guest hiker and speaker.

Each day started and ended in Bugaboo Lodge's main dining room. For those interested, stretch classes started at 7:30 a.m., followed by breakfast at 8 a.m. All 50 lodge guests ate family-style, gathered around large tables.

By 9 a.m. the helicopter (a Bell 212, with seating for 12) was waiting, ready to carry the first group of hikers to a location on a nearby ridge or glacier, returning a few minutes later for the next group.

Coleman says their destinations varied daily, from meadows filled with flowers, to high alpine surrounded by shale and sparse vegetation, to the top of glaciers, where every step was closely monitored to avoid crevasses. They saw a variety of foliage and wildlife -- mostly ground squirrels and birds as well as grizzly digs. However, the highlight of the trip was time spent with Bondar, who joined the hikers at every meal, hiked two of the three days and otherwise worked on a photography assignment. On the second evening at the lodge, Bondar delivered a presentation chronicling her path to becoming an astronaut and the highlights of her experiences on the shuttle Discovery.

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