Joy Kimball's two daughters remember their mother who ran Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse for over 50 years

Joy Kimball was a trailblazer of sorts in the mountain parks who passed away at the end of May at the age of 94.

She purchased the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse in 1959. It was in a secluded location that could only be reached by hiking up a 6.4 kilometre trail from the Chateau Lake Louise.

The teahouse had no power or running water -- and still doesn't today. Kimball took it over and lived there with her daughters, who were born in 1961 and 1963.

"She had just been married, and they read in the paper that (Canadian Pacific Railway) was getting rid of some of their smaller places so they hand wrote the president," said Susanne Gillies-Smith, Kimball's youngest daughter. "And the president wrote back and said yeah it's yours for $2,000, which was all my mom had and she thought that it would be a nice place to raise kids."

Shauna Gillies-Smith, Kimball's oldest daughter, says her mom purchased the teahouse 'sight-unseen' and decided to take on raising two small children in the woods a long way from civilization.

"At that time it literally were the hippies that were living in the meadow in the 70s for months at a time," she said. "So we had friends from all over the world that were sort of young people coming out to explore and experience nature."

In the early days the teahouse was only open in July and August and saw about five visitors a day. Now it's open from May to October and serves 600 guests a day. Parks Canada says more than 1,000 people hike the trail that leads to the teahouse daily.

Pioneer

"She was very strong woman," said Susanne. "She was very independent, she was a pioneer because she had to make up the menu, she didn't know what to serve, everything had to be on a wood stove, the altitude is at 7,000 feet,.

"She was the strongest woman that I know."

Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse in Banff, on opening day, June 6, 2020 (Photo: Facebook/Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse)

This sisters have been partners for the last 10 years running the family business and Kimball liked to hear how the teahouse was operating.

"She wondered about the menu," said Susanne. "And she couldn't fathom the amount of people that came, like it was just beyond her experience."

Shauna now lives in Boston but says the time spent at the teahouse in her youth helped shape her.

 "Anytime I come to Lake Louise I'm instantly at peace," she said. "I can walk up and be in the meadow looking around by the teahouse and be in awe you know, the place that I grew up is still truly awesome to me."

The teahouse is a step back in time for the sisters and will continue to operate without power or running water. They say a part of their mom will always live on at the teahouse.

"The amount of love that she poured into it and got out of it just exudes there, it's just a really special peaceful, lovely place," said Susanne. "She's still part of it, she's still up there, it's very much her place, I totally miss her, and she’s the mountains for me."

"What the biggest gift my mom gave us is, is the place for our soul to live," said Shauna.

The sisters are hosting a celebration of life in Banff June 8th for family, friends and people with a story to share about the teahouse and their mom.