Exploring Northwest US and Canada: Week 2, Day 11, Rocky Mountaineer!

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7/21Kamloops is known as a major sports tournament center. We listened to local Kamloops commentators on the morning news who said their upcoming marathon was cancelled in consideration of the fire evacuees. People have offered to donate their entrance fees to the charity set up for these people. In addition many generous people in town have opened their homes and donated food and supplies to those in need. We left our hotel in the sun and boarded the train in Kamloops around nine. Finally hoping for visible scenery!



Soon we were passing beautiful gold and green farmland converted for organic farms in an area named Tranquille where in 1907 people came to a TB center for healing due to the dry weather. St Joseph’s Catholic Church, built in the late 1800s, is the oldest in Kamloops and is the final resting place, in the church cemetery, for this lost population. The restored church is a Canadian Heritage Site. The church glowed in the midst of beautiful dusty sage and bright desert grasses.



Kamloops Lake was the next big body of water which we followed for about an hour. The lake is very cold and deep as the Thompson River runs into it. After a long grey day yesterday, we were warmed inside and out, grateful as the bright sun was highlighting this rocky desert region, a different kind of beauty, but beautiful nonetheless. Not surprising since this Okanagan region of Canada is actually the northern end of the Sonoran Desert! I happen to love the tawny hues of the desert so for me this was a real treat.



There is reportedly good fishing in Kamloops Lake but the only “fishermen” we saw were the winged and feathered variety. As we were eating our breakfast (a really delicious cheese omelet, fried tomato, chicken sausage and potatoes,) we saw many bald eagles in, mostly, dead trees hunting along the lake and river; we had a special treat when one soared in the air beside our train. On my right against the rocky cliff wall we saw a family of big horned sheep and later a group of them on the river bank.



We passed an osprey nest and some small hoodoos near Ashcroft in this semi-desert region. Sagebrush punctuated the dry yellow grasses. We were told that last year there was a fire in the hills that curled right up to the train tracks. The terrain quickly changed in Ashcroft when our train began to travel through the Thompson Canyon. We seemed to be running right up against steep orange and green rock walls contained by heavy netting that was an attempt to prevent rocks from falling on the track. In 1880 large sections of the bank tumbled over the tracks and into the river in what is known as the Big Slide. Our route took us through numerous small and large tunnels that were dug out of those hard canyon walls. The Black Canyon Tunnel was the most interesting because, although it was short, it was curved, giving us the ability to photograph the train emerging from the tunnel before the end of the train passed through it!



Along the Thompson River we began to see whitewater rapids on the edge of the Cascade Mountain Range. It is around this area that we began to see some evidence of smoke from fires in the low lying clouds. Food break! We had another snack mid morning. Surprisingly I chose dried fruits and seeds over chocolate! And I had another Hot Toddy (I needed it for my cold). The Jaws of Death Gorge came fast upon us where rapids from the Thompson River churned into the dramatic Rainbow Canyon. The topography changed again from desert to evergreen forest. Shortly after Rainbow Canyon we came upon the turbulent, swirling confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers at Lytton. Quite an obvious color contrast between the muddy “Mighty Fraser” and the more tranquil blue green waters of the Thompson. It is at this point that the river runs alongside the Trans-Canada Highway, and the tracks for the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railway. Jacob, our Rocky Mountaineer Cabin Guide, pointed to the famous Cisco Crossing, where the old Canadian National RR and Canadian Pacific RR lines merged around the Fraser River over the multilevel CN/CP Bridge. We watched the Canadian Pacific RR wind its way in the opposite side of the river as it seemed to disappear into the rocky canyon wall.



Food again. Time for lunch! Lunch was served as we chugged further into Fraser Canyon. Jacob pointed to Boston Bar, so named for a “gold bearing sandbar” or riverbank where early Bostonians came to search for gold during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. We enjoyed a Roma tomato feta salad, (although the tomatoes were not the fresh and delicious New Jersey or Italian varieties) mustard seed dressing with grilled BC salmon, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables (carrot and rutabaga) nicely al dente. Sauvignon Blanc from BC accompanied our lunch.



Between lunch and dessert (a decadent chocolate brownie with gooseberries and decaf coffee with Baileys…I can’t stop mentioning the food). On Mile 7 we came upon Hells Gate in the Fraser Canyon, an apt description for this treacherous gorge. From here the rushing and vigorous Fraser River, “the most savage river of the continent” spills silt all the way into Victoria Island adding to its land mass. This dangerous narrow passage has been a popular fishing area for the First Nations People. There were the remains of some derelict fishing camps (and some new active camps) along this portion of the Fraser River. We were told the First Nations People are the only ones allowed to fish on the Fraser below the bridge because British Columbia honors the thousands of years of tradition of salmon fishing with these people.



A little lesson on Salmon: Chinook salmon are the largest, pink the smallest, coho and sockeye in the middle. They all travel to the sea without eating and when they mature they return upstream instinctively to spawn. Once they lay their eggs they die adding nutrients to the soils and food for foraging birds and animals. Rainbow trout leave for salt water like the salmon but at this point are still trout. When they return they are steelhead salmon because of the effect on their kidneys from salt to freshwater with similar spawning behavior changing them from trout to salmon.



We passed the tiny town of Yale, the wickedest town in the west back in the gold rush days. With lots of saloons, bars and houses of ill repute that became quite rowdy back in the day it gave this town its rough and tumble reputation. Yale is considered the dividing line between the Coast and Interior areas of British Columbia and although the rough and tumble river was a navigational nightmare, steamers did make it to Yale and its popular bars and restaurants. Now this area is the self-governing Yale First Nation where mostly First Nation businesses predominate.



As the canyons diminished our train entered the fertile Fraser Valley that was once under water until it was dredged for farmland. Now crops of corn and farms with cows and chickens utilize the rich riverbed soils. Between Langley and Vancouver we passed a fisherman on the Fraser River near the new Port Mann Toll Bridge, the widest single cable stay bridge (10 lanes) in the world. The sportsman was fighting a big fish, most likely a white sturgeon that can get up to 20' long. These ocean-river fish are catch-and-release only as they are protected by the government. Our train passed the historic New Westminster Bridge or the Fraser River Swing Bridge. Jason pointed out the elevated automatic sky train that was built in 1996. There is a $3 charge per ride that goes to the airport. We were told if you go on this train to sit in the front since there is a good view with no driver obstruction.



Vancouver has a temperate climate on the west coast that, combined with easy access to mountain skiing and sailing, is the reason for its popularity. However, it can rain for weeks at a time and is not often sunny, especially in winter, which is the reason I decided not to move here. Not surprisingly it began to rain hard as our train entered the city. In the distance we saw snow on the Lions Mountains on the North Shore. The mountain access was closed (in July!) because of avalanches.



Our train was welcomed by a waving Rocky Mountaineer staff as we entered the station. Busses were lined up ready to take us to our respective hotels at our final and rainy destination of Vancouver. Our bus picked us up and deposited us at the hotel. We were booked for two nights at the Georgian Court conveniently located near good restaurants, the BC Place Stadium (where a football game was scheduled for the night), Chinatown and Gastown. We made sure our bags were in our room, then set off for dinner in Chinatown.



Thankfully our friend Huel had given us a map detailing safe places to walk and where not to walk in North America's largest Chinatown. Unfortunately this Chinatown has changed over the years adding many fast food restaurants. It also has a real drug problem making many streets unsafe to walk down. Following my friend Huel's map and advice we entered through the main gates and stayed on E Pender looking for an authentic Chinese restaurant among the many fast food or Americanized restaurants. I think we really lucked out when we found the Jade Dynasty Restaurant. It had apparently reopened and although not full, was busy. We found a table and with the help of the high strung Chinese owner, ordered beautifully prepared shrimp dim sum, pork dim sum, shrimp egg rolls and beef fried noodle in bean sauce. It was very good and more than enough for us both to share. By the time we left the restaurant it was packed with a line out the door. Well timed!





After our delicious Chinese dinner, and unfortunately not checking Huel’s map, Dave and I headed toward Gastown mistakenly taking a "what looked to be safe shortcut" through a very sketchy area, but thankfully, safely arrived in Gastown after negotiating a rather risky part of Chinatown where people were loitering in streets looking to sell or buy drugs. We enjoyed our walk through historic Gastown’s cobbled streets, the first settlement in Vancouver. The Globe Saloon was opened in 1867 by John “Gassy Jack” Deighton. Apparently the drinkers thought enough of “Gassy Jack” to name a town after him. We walked past trendy restaurants on the way to the famous Gastown Whistling Steam Clock that pumps real steam through a mechanism that plays a song every 15 minutes. The steam comes from a series of underground steam pipes that provide heat to most of downtown Vancouver but the “steam clock” is not technically steam powered, the clockworks are actually powered by descending weights. Curious tourists like ourselves lined up to see the iconic clock puff and sing its short musical notes on the quarter hour. That done we walked back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

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