Back when we were
full-timing, two opportunities to go to the Canadian Rockies didn’t happen
because of motorhome problems. Last spring we planted the seed again,
telling ourselves, “If we don’t do it now, we never will.” This time the
seed germinated and grew, right out of our bucket list.
The “Rocky Mountaineer
Adventures” tour we chose featured:
• two days on the train from Vancouver to Kamloops to Banff
• three days in the Rockies led by experienced, knowledgeable guides
• hovering in a helicopter above glacier-covered mountains
• seven nights in extra-nice hotels
THE TRAIN – DAY 1
On the bus ride to the
train station in Vancouver, our escort cautioned we would probably be
driving through a picket line of striking Rocky Mountaineer workers. Sure
enough, at the entrance to the station picketers shouted at our bus and held
up “Locked out for 50 days” signs. Then they showed up again, as seen here:
Striking workers near
the tracks as our train pulled away from Vancouver station. That was the
last time we saw the strikers. I was sorry for them, but I must say, there
were no noticeable effects from the strike during the entire trip.
Holliday, our
train-car attendant welcomed us with non-alcoholic mimosa punch and proposed
a toast to the success of our trip. Her most striking feature was a sparkle
of tiny studs embedded in skin piercings below her left eye. When she served
us, Bruce noticed writing on her hand.
Holliday was asked many
questions. One was: “How did you get your name?” The answer: “My mother
chose it because I was due on Christmas day.”
When Holliday wasn’t
loading her food cart and rolling it up and down the aisle, she was
explaining the significance of what we were seeing, no doubt referring to
the writing on her hand.
As we rolled east
through a lush agricultural area and then north toward Kamloops, we passed
places with mostly self-explanatory names: Hell’s Gate, Jackass Mountain
(named for the pack mules that traversed it in the 1860s), Avalanche Alley,
and Jaws of Death Gorge. In contrast to the green areas seen in the morning,
in the afternoon the landscape changed to a semblance of the U.S. southwest.
Most notably was Ashcroft, a cattle ranching area and one of the driest
places in Canada (average annual rainfall, 10 inches).
Holliday explained that
trains could only carry enough wood or coal to travel 120-150 miles in the
1880s when the Canadian Pacific National (CPN) Railroad was built. Thus the
route was divided into 120-150 mile increments called subdivisions; these
are still used today in the mile marker system. The total distance traveled
depends on the number of subdivisions traveled. If a mile marker says 110,
you may have gone farther than that. Another fact of rail travel: freight
trains have priority over the rails. So, from time to time the Rocky
Mountaineer waited patiently on a spur track while a freight train moved
slowly by on the main track.
Before serving our
meals, Holliday used tongs to pass out a hot towel to each of us. The food
that followed (even though cold) was abundant, tasty, and innovatively
prepared. A few hours after each meal she returned with her cart at least
twice, offering snacks (a package of lemon filled or chocolate chip cookies
or a bag of “munchies”) with many choices of juice, soda, and hot drinks. A
glass of wine or beer was offered at no charge at lunch but had to be
purchased if it were ordered with the last afternoon snack.
See the video of day one on the train
Monday’s travel ended at
the Kamloops station where a bus took us to the Riverland Inn and Suites.
With a population of 70,000, Kamloops is a haven for retirees, we were told.
The Riverland’s rooms have little balconies overlooking the junction of the
North and South Thompson Rivers, called Kamloops Lake. We watched the sun
set from our balcony. You may be able to make out more balconies where other
people were doing the same thing.
Train Day 2
At the station, we were
intrigued with what Bruce called the “Bus Ballet.” Eight tour buses arrived
at a “staging area” near the station, we sat in our bus and watched as the
other seven buses smoothly backed into a line side by side. After the last bus
arrived in the staging area, the buses then pulled out one at a time and in
a pre-determined sequence, drove down the narrow lane next to railroad
tracks and parked alongside the train so that each bus was next to its
assigned railroad coach. Thus, passengers did not have to look for their
railroad coach; all they had to do was step off the bus and onto the train.
By the time we finished
breakfast, the terrain had changed from the dry mountains of Kamloops to
green fields and pine-tree-covered mountains. Since we were going through
salmon spawning territory today, Holliday read a humorous poem about the
salmon’s like cycle: spawning and dying. It ended with the line, “Sex is so
much trouble.” She challenged each of us to write a poem about the salmon’s
plight. An hour later, six or seven passengers, all men, recited their poems
on her mike. One long ballad was really good and its author was proclaimed
the winner according to Holliday’s “applause meter.” I don’t know enough
about salmon to write about them, but I did pen a rhyme of sorts. When I
finished writing it in the afternoon, Holly, who thought it was about
salmon, blushed when I recited this verse:
Holliday said a poem we
should write,
then come and deliver it
on her mike.
If I wrote (as she
requested) about fish that spawn,
all of you would be sure
to yawn and yawn.
Instead, my mind is on
the things we eat and see,
things Holliday gives us
with much glee.
Thus, with this poem I’m
here to say,
Thanks -- and thanks
again -- to our gal, Holliday.
Here is the video of Day two on the train
At 5 p.m., we were
surprised to be the only passengers in our railroad car to get off at Banff
(the other 26 were going on to Calgary, 129 miles away). When we checked in
for two nights at the Caribou Lodge a gal at the front desk speaking with a
New Zealand accent said we were getting the best room in honor of our
anniversary. “Wait ‘til you see this!” Bruce said. The suite had an upstairs
loft where there were a king-sized bed, a Jacuzzi, and a full-sized
bathroom. Downstairs had a half-bath and a gas fireplace. Rustic luxury!
Our friend Natalie was
always admiring the huge hanging planters. This one was at Caribou Lodge in
Banff.
Day 3 – a day on our own
in Banff. Several times we were told that Banff stands for: “Be Aware:
Nothing’s For Free.”
Banff Avenue
The town of Banff is
part of Banff National Park, one of the two largest National Parks in Canada
(the other is Jasper). The Banff National Park building consists of a museum
but there are no rangers who give talks, take visitors on guided walks, or
introduce people to the area and its heritage as there are in the U.S. In
order to live in Banff, residents must own businesses there or work there.
They own their homes but lease the lots from the government; they are
allowed to continue living in Banff after they retire.
A hike to a Bow Falls
viewpoint gave us an appetite which we rewarded with ice cream cones.
Surprisingly, we only found two shops that sold ice cream. The one with
reasonable prices was in the back of a fudge shop where we eventually
spotted eight ice cream containers lined up in a freezer. I chose “Tiger
Stripes.” Dark ripples running through the orange sherbet looked like
chocolate but turned out to be licorice. I ate it anyway. We were sitting
outside eating our cones when a woman rushed up to us. “May I take your
picture?” she asked. “You all look so cute eating your cones!” Somewhat
surprised, we said, “Sure,” and made arrangements for her to email the
picture to us (so far she hasn’t).
Day 4 – on the way to
Lake Louise
At Caribou Lodge our bus
driver, rosy-cheeked Mike, checked in our luggage and his 28 passengers.
Our first viewpoint
overlooked the CPN Railroad’s Lower Spiral Tunnel. A long freight train was
waiting its turn to enter the single-track tunnel, just as our Rocky
Mountaineer train had done two days before. The tunnel’s spiral climb allows
trains to gain, or lose, elevation at 2 % grade rather than the steeper
4-1/2% grade, which can be dangerous when descending.
Another stop (Mike’s
favorite) was Natural Bridge. Over hundreds of years, the rushing river
forced its way through cracks in the rocks. The water and the silt it
carried gradually wore down the boulders and created the shortcut the river
is rushing through in this photo.
The "bridge” is where
the fissure is narrow.
Two nights at the
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Outside the Fairmont
Chateau with our new friends Natalie and Dillon from Vermont.
Today is our 55th
wedding anniversary. At the Fairmount Chateau, a bottle of champagne in an
ice bucket awaited us in another lovely room, this one with an elevated
viewing area of the lake.
Bruce took this
sunrise photo from the viewing area.
As are so many lakes and
rivers here, Lake Louise is emerald-colored due to the glaciers above it
grinding the rocks to powder – “rock flour.” Blue and green tones from the
rocks are not absorbed; this accounts for the bluish-green appearance of the
water.
We were told that all of
the Chateau’s 540 rooms are full today and tomorrow. The hotel has several
restaurants; all are busy and expensive, even the deli. Unless the hotel
guests have a car, they are captive customers. We wondered how the many
families milling about can afford to stay here. A complete cold breakfast
has many nice choices but it costs $19. A bowl of soup or chowder is $12;
when served with rolls and butter it makes a satisfying lunch. No entrée was
less than $37.
Convenient, portable
charge machines are at every restaurant, even McDonald’s. The server brings
it to the table (at fast-food places it is on the order counter). The size
of a writing pad, the machine has a slot on the side to slide a credit or
debit card. The customer completes the transaction, then hands back the
receipts to the server. Very speedy. We’re puzzled why they aren’t in use in
the U.S.
Day 5 - touring the
Rockies by bus, Snowcoach, helicopter
Some roads we traveled
today had construction going on but it didn’t hold us up. I like the
Canadian expression for widening a highway -- “twinning.” Twinning creates
two additional lanes, making a two-lane highway four lanes wide. Our driver,
Tall Tim, said because of a short good-weather window, construction workers
have only four months to widen the roads and bridges (some bridges take
years to complete).
Herbert Lake, a photo
stop on our way to the Icefields.
Early in the day when there is no wind and
no ripples in the water, Herbert Lake is like a mirror.
By mid-morning, Tim
dropped us off at the Columbia Icefields. The Icefields Center, where we
awaited our turn to ride a Snocoach, has the distinction of having the
largest ladies room (68 stalls) for a building its size (the men’s room has
13).
Snocoach vehicles take
passengers up steep ice-covered inclines to traverse a glacier and actually
get out and walk around (it’s like walking on slushy snow in the spring).
Snocoach tires look like huge tractor tires, 5½’ high x 3½’ wide. It seems
these monsters would erode the glaciers. However, we were told that because
of their spongy consistency they do not damage the ice.
Tim and the other guides
today reminded us that glaciers have been retreating for thousands of years.
The most rapid melting has occurred during the last 30 years. Melting is
caused by global warming but whether it occurs naturally or is due to human
intervention, no one agrees. More glacial ice melts than is created -- that
is the problem. The ice is not created by water that freezes but rather by
snow that falls, accumulates in depth, and becomes compacted and compressed
by its own weight. When glacial ice melts, it slides down mountains taking
with it stones and silt. The mixture lands farther down the slope in piles
(called moraines) or in fan-shapes that create gouged-out areas which
eventually become lakes and rivers. The resulting blue-green rivers and
lakes are a delightful sight especially on a sunny, clear day like today
One of many blue rivers
Ride with us on the bus and the snowcoach
At the Icefields
Heliport, we were instructed to approach a helicopter with moving blades
like this: walk quickly with hands on thighs and knees and head bent (this
avoids beheading by the fast-moving roto-blades!). While the helicopter
roared, a guy fastened our seatbelts, adjusted two vertical straps in front
of each of us, and handed us helmets with earphones and a mouthpiece-mike.
We were all set to go! Up, up we went, hovering over that pristine place
with its rolling slopes and blue-tinted glaciers. The pilot’s voice came
through the earphones like a bad cell phone connection. Large glossy prints
of photos taken of the two of us with a helicopter in the background were
for sale. The picture was a good likeness of us but we appeared to have been
“pasted” into the setting like we hadn’t really been there. I would even had
paid the $25 being charged but didn’t because the picture looked fake.
Come along with us on the Helicopter ( noisy)
Returning to the
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise:
On the way back to the hotel, Tim reminded us
to call out if we saw a wild animal. We hadn’t seen any the entire tour so I
had more or less given up. After a while, Mike O’Hara, who was always alert
and looking out the window, shouted, “Bear!” People awoke from their naps
and Tim braked and started backing down the road. Mike told him to keep
going. Tim went further and Mike said, “More,” and then, “Keep going, keep
going.” I thought he was unable to remember where he saw the bear and that
we never going to see it. Finally he said, “That gulley there, that’s where
I saw it.” Sure enough, coming out from behind a berry bush and headed for
the next bush was a black bear with a tan snout.
The three-year-old bear
was oblivious to the bus and us in it. ?He ?She swiped its paw along the
branches and used its tongue like a scoop to remove berries.
In luck again: down the
road vehicles were pulled over, usually a sign an animal has been spotted.
This time the cub was smaller, probably a year old. It was doing the same as
its brother or sister up the road: wiping the bushes clean of berries.
Again, no mother in sight; this one was also on its own.
Day 6 - more touring on
the way to Calgary
The weather is still
great, like it has been all week. Based on having lived in the north most of
my life, I think August usually has better weather than July. That’s why I
chose it.
On the last leg of our
trip this afternoon when our bus rounded a curve on a busy road’s
mountainous descent, I let out a startled “Oh!” Mountain goats (at least
seven) were marching toward us as if the middle of the road was their path.
Bruce captured three of them here.
We are leaving
the mountains and heading for the prairies and our last overnight stop, the
International Hotel and Suites in Calgary. With a population of one million,
Calgary is Canada’s fourth largest city; Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver
are first, second, and third. We will fly home tomorrow.
Some notes and
impressions:
Money –
Since the
exchange rate is about equal, our travel agent advised us not to bother
getting Canadian money. He said to bring U.S. bills -- lots of fives and
ones for tips, some tens and twenties (but nothing larger) and to charge our
meals and any other purchases.
Clothes –
Knowing that temperatures could drop to freezing or below and rise to 80 degrees F. or
more, we brought lightweight layers of clothing. They worked out fine.
An easy way to convert
from Celsius to Fahrenheit-
take the Celsius temperature, double it, then
add 30. Using this formula, 20 degrees Celsius equals 70 degrees F.
The people-
The people in the Canadian tourist industry work hard and are knowledgeable,
efficient, and friendly. Many employees (as well as visitors) are from
Australia and New Zealand. Among the people in the airport, we saw Indian
men wearing turbans and ladies in saris, Jewish men and boys wearing
Yarmulkes (skull caps), and many Chinese and other Orientals speaking their
native tongues.:
Marianna
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