Through the Rockies by coach and train

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Next stop on this wonderful journey was the little railway town of Jasper; well it is a small town, but a major hub for the railways heading East/West and some to the North. This was also the first of the Fairmont Hotel chain that we were to stay in. This is a fascinating establishment that fits into the category of “it was a good idea at the time” or perhaps in hindsight “what were they thinking?” The best description I can come up with is it is a bit like a Billy Butler’s holiday camp with rows of cabins scattered around the curving roadways of the facility. After following one of the roadways , which were all in a poor state of repair, we found our cabin at the end of a row of 6 or seven and some 200 metres from the main building. As it was a warm day the cabin was very hot and stuffy and a perusal of the room literature in search of information about the air-conditioning, informed us the daily temps in the area were 22.3 C and overnight around 8 C, so the plan is to keep the curtains drawn on hot days and open the windows at night! It was in fact about 30 degrees with windows that did not open fully and even with the door open we got very little relief and the fan swirled madly all night. Marg, who has her own mobile furnace running 24/7 nearly ripped the fan out of the ceiling trying to get some relief…Geoff decided it would be better to take some photos of the lake… It is a lovely location with lots of wildlife in the park (it is located in the Jasper National Park) and great views across the lake into the mountains that were still showing swathes of snow from the winter.

The disappointment over the state of the accommodation was more than made up for on the excursion to Maligne Lake(pronounced Maleen), and the views across Medicine Lake on the way. Maligne Lake was special, and we were lucky enough to sight Salmon swimming in the river, a Bald Eagle, Harlequin Duck, 2 elks with new antlers, and a Grizzly bear that walked first on one side and then the other side of the bus – WOW, WOW, WOW! Now things were starting to look up.

Bags out, breakky done and onto the bus and pointed towards Lake Louise, but not before a visit to the giant Columbia icefield and the Athabasca Glacier. What an experience; we were taken to their specially designed Ice Explorer which is a great behemoth of a vehicle weighing 25 tonnes and with 6 tyres that were a metre wide. We did not spend a lot of time on the actual glacier, but we did learn a lot about it and it’s not so gradual retreat.

Onwards to Lake Louise, and the difference between this Fairmont and the one at Jasper could not have been greater – L.L being somewhat of a palace, and located at the base of a glacier fed lake (as you would expect from the name… We entered from the ‘back’ of the hotel and when we got to the room, the blinds were down. What a sight when opened the blinds – the postcard view was laid out at our feet. W had 2 nights here and dined in the Fairview room (fine dining) on the first night where we had the archetypal view across the lake to the snow-capped mountains through the arched window seen so often on promotional material. The following morning we did a little trip over to the L.L ski field area and took the gondola up to the first station; that was about as high as any lift I have skied in Oz, but the lift went at least as high again. This first station seemed to be in the clouds when we were looking back to town and the Fairmont and lake in the distance. Rob and I walked to the end of the lake, and then more, the following day. We did not get to the base of the glacier, but far enough to get some good photos and meet up with my ex boss from Coles – Paul Hackett and his wife. What are the chances? They were doing a self -drive holiday of the North East coastal area and Rockies before flying to New York, Paul said something about a birthday present and did not seem keen about the impending damage to his wallet.

Damn, its bags out at 8.00 and on the bus again. Off to Banff, but before getting there, there was a side trip to Lake Moraine (a moraine is the term given to the deposits of stone and rubble created when a glacier pushes its way through a valley; there are lateral – on the side, and terminal - at the end, moraines and are usually seen as the glacier recedes). This lake was one of the prettiest we had seen and it was possible to get a great view looking back up the lake from the top of the terminal moraine – along with 27,000 Chinese who wanted to sit in the middle of our photos. However, it was worth waiting for them to take their 6 photos of each other in various poses in front of the view to get a good look at the steep snow-capped mountains dropping into the turquoise lake. We were also treated to some mini avalanches in the hills on the other side of the valley as the snow melted and slid down over the rock ledges. Thank goodness for my telephoto lens.

On arrival in Banff, we did a short tour of the town and then out to the gondola to head to the top of Sulphur Mountain, a peak behind the hotel and town. It is incredibly steep and high, but offers spectacular, uninterrupted 360 deg. views of 6 Rocky Mountain ranges – and they are all bloody tall and rugged.

The Fairmont Banff Springs is a huge sprawling establishment that required a map to navigate. It is built very much in the style of a Scottish castle with all the external walls made from dark brown stone and the inside full of arched and tunnel like passages. As it happened it was the Canada Day long weekend and a lot of local people had taken the opportunity for a break at Banff. Geoff covered himself in ignominy after missing the bus for his excursion – well everyone is allowed one ‘senior moment’ every now and again.

It is fair to say that the days prior to arriving and during our stay in Banff were filled with apprehension. Unfortunately for the folk on the east side of the Rockies in Calgary (and other places nearby) there had been deadly and devastating flooding in the week(s) before we arrived, and the train we needed to take the next (and very much anticipated) leg of our journey had to use the track from Calgary. Hopes were raised when we heard the sound of the locomotive whistle, but our (original) arrangements were not confirmed until the (Sunday) morning when were due to depart.

APT had booked the Rocky Mountaineer train tour with us in Gold Leaf class, which is where you get the glass domed roof and dining underneath. There is no doubt that this was a highlight (one of so many so far) as we snaked our way between towering cliffs and above raging rivers, through tunnels this way and that. The journey to Kamloops was somewhat slower than anticipated as the R.M has to share the track with the freight trains (who own the track) and it was a particularly busy time given that they could not run past Banff (eastward) or Calgary (westward) for at least a week before our journey. Ours was the first R.M to operate since the track was closed. The R.M company have a quaint way for describing their schedule – they do not have one, so when you arrive it is the scheduled time!

We did arrive in Kamloops on schedule (see previous paragraph) at 10.30 pm. local or 11.30 pm from where we left! However it was very much a whistle stop as we had no sooner put our heads on the pillows and the wake-up call was sounded – or so it seemed. Back to the train and on to Vancouver. Today is Monday and officially Canada Day so many of the group wore red and we were given special maple leaf stick pins to wear. Today the rail line followed a less mountainous route, although there was still plenty of raging rivers. The rivers (Fraser and Thompson) were wider, but very angry as we came out of the mountains with many stretches of rapids and swirling water. The day could generally be described as leisurely, and we were lucky not to have too many hold ups on the tracks this time. We arrived in Vancouver pretty much on schedule (as described in our tour guide) to the festivities of Canada Day. The city put on a great fireworks display, but after such a gruelling trip over the previous 2 weeks, we opted for bed…

Next note will be after the cruise to Alaska.

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