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Published: September 2nd 2018
Let the Northland Adventure begin! Tuesday, July 31, 2018, Day 1 of the YMT “Alaska Cruise & Canadian Rockies” Tour: “Day 1, Fly to Calgary AB – Today, your Alaskan adventure begins with your flight to Calgary. If you booked your flight with YMT, you will meet a YMT representative at the airport for your transfer to the hotel.” Not everybody needs to fly to Calgary – duhhh!!! Some travel enterprises count a travel day as a day in the tour package. It makes a 12-day tour appear to be a 13-day tour and, therefore, a more economical tour. How much fun can a person have on a red-eye between New York City and London? Tour day 1, give Uncle Larry a break! Deceptive at best, and it tells me something about the tour company. Our friends, Barry and Lorna, had brought us to the Sandman Hotel Calgary City Center in Calgary AB in mid-afternoon to check in with the YMT representative, Tour Guide Jim, to get our room keys and to stow our luggage. We spent the remainder of the afternoon and all evening with Barry and Lorna until they returned us to the hotel about 10 PM.
FYI
– At the time of our trip to western Canada, several wildfires were burning. As we moved from Moose Jaw to Calgary, the smoke became more noticeable, and it intensified as we drove from Calgary to Lake Louise. Luck of the draw. I’ll try to treat the attractions we visit as though the smoke were absent; however, its presence and its effects cannot be denied in the photographs. Barry and Lorna had told us the mountain views from Calgary are stunning, USUALLY! I’ll just have to take them at their word.
Wednesday, August 1, 2018, “Day 2, Banff National Park – Start your tour through the majestic Canadian Rockies by traveling north and enjoy a stop at Bow Falls; take in the sparkling water dancing in the sunlight and hear the sound of crisp sparkling water as it cascades down the limestone ledges. Then, pass through the charming town of Banff and enter Banff National Park. See Canada's ‘Diamond in the Wilderness,’ Lake Louise, known for it's (sic) turquoise, glacier fed (sic) waters. The tranquil, crisp waters that mirror the magnificent peaks and lush forest all around will leave you speechless, making Lake Louise a perfect location to take
a picture worth much more than 1,000 words!”
We started the day with Driver Bob giving us a tour of Calgary as Tour Guide Jim provided the directions for Driver Bob and the narrative for us. We made a photo stop at
Stampede Park, home of the Calgary Stampede before we left Calgary proper and headed to
Canada Olympic Park for a 15-minute photo op and potty stop. Calgary hosted the 1988 Olympic Winter Games. After getting into the Canadian Rockies, we made a stop at
Bow Falls, a 30-foot waterfall in Banff AB that is near the parking lot and is of relatively high volume, even after the spring melt has subsided. Our lunch stop also was in Banff. Marilyn and I opted to dine at
Rose and Crown, where the Bison Burger was mighty tasty. After lunch, we proceeded to
Lake Louise. Lake Louise was packed with people by my standard but was not as busy as Tour Guide Jim had expected. We took the short walk from the parking lot to the lake vista. The lake is unquestionably pretty, but Marilyn and I agreed that it is way over-rated. After the Lake Louise stop, we backtracked about 50 miles to Canmore AB, got
Num-Ti-Jah Lodge at Lake Louise
Banff National Park - Alberta, Canadachecked in at the hotel and walked next door to
Patrino's for a nice dinner. I chose the Mediterranean which includes linguini, shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and kalamari (we’re in Canada, you know) in the diner’s choice of an alfredo or tomato basil sauce, my choice. Very enjoyable.
Thursday, August 2, 2018, “Day 3, Jasper via the Icefields Parkway and Icefields Glacier Experience on the Athabasca Glacier – This morning, travel along the Icefields Parkway en route to stunning Jasper National Park. Stop to experience the breathtaking Athabasca Glacier, the most visited glacier in North America, nestled at the bottom of the Columbia Icefield. Then, board a Massive Brewster Ice Explorer, specially designed for glacial travel, and take a remarkable excursion onto the surface of the Athabasca Glacier. You will also have the opportunity to step onto the ‘Glacier Skywalk,’ - a glass floor observation platform suspended 918 feet over the Sunwapta Valley, offering spectacular views (optional excursion at an additional cost)! In the afternoon, arrive in Jasper.”
For the third time in 24 hours, we set out on that stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway, CA-1, between Canmore and Lake Louise. On Day 2, we had driven the
Glacial Melt – Fill Your Water Bottle but You Won’t Need Ice!
Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure - Banff National Park - Alberta, Canada 63 miles from Calgary to Canmore and then the 50 miles from Canmore to Lake Louise. After visiting Lake Louise, we backtracked 50 miles to Canmore and the hotel. On Day 3, we found the tour retracing the 50 miles from Canmore to Lake Louise before driving the additional 144 miles from Lake Louise to Jasper AB. This time, however, we made a stop at Num-Ti-Jah Lodge at Lake Louise where potty breaks were in order and where an interesting lakeside trail awaited us. A stop at Bow Summit gave us the opportunity to harvest a distant view of Bow Lake, the source of the Bow River, and we also made a stop at Peyto Lake and Peyto Glacier. Somewhere along the way, someone spotted a black bear walking along what appeared to be an abandoned roadway that paralleled the highway and, later, a small herd of bighorn sheep; but I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo of either.
Then, it was time for the highlight of the day and what I believed would be the highlight of the Canadian Rockies tour, the Columbia Icefield. The Columbia Icefield is located in the Canadian Rockies astride the Continental Divide
Did I Mention That It Was Windy Up on the Glacier?
Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure - Banff National Park - Alberta, Canada along the border of British Columbia and Alberta. It lies partly in the northwestern tip of Banff National Park and partly in the southern end of Jasper National Park and is the largest ice field in the Rocky Mountains – it’s about 125 square miles in area, is 330 feet to 1,198 feet in depth and receives up to 280 inches of snowfall per year.
On the surface, the process seemed complicated and confusing; however, it was actually straightforward and simple. Our bus arrived at the
Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre where we offloaded. The Discovery Centre actually is a misnomer, for there is little to discover ala a museum or natural history exhibit about glaciers; but there is a gift shop, a cafeteria and, of course, the loading point for the
Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure. From the Discovery Center, a regular street-legal coach takes the “soon-to-be” glacier explorers for a 1-2-mile ride to the staging area for the all-terrain Ice Explorer – a massive vehicle specially designed for glacier travel. While two of the “Terra Buses” are in service in Antarctica, the only other 22 of these specialized vehicles existing in the world are in service at Athabasca Glacier. From the inside, the Ice Explorer
Sitting Inside the Ice Explorer Is Akin to Sitting in a School Bus
Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure - Banff National Park - Alberta, Canada looks like a school bus. From the outside, it looks like a six-wheeled ATV on mega-steroids. The Ice Explorer can transport up to 56 passengers, is 48.9 feet long, is 13 feet high, weighs 24.95 tons (maximum gross vehicle weight, 29.94 tons), has a top speed on the “road” of 25 mph (on the glacier, 11 mph) and has a turning radius of 72 feet. Try maneuvering that baby in city traffic!
On the way to the Athabasca Glacier, our glacier tour guide provided interesting information about glaciers, their historical impact on our environment and the contemporary impact of our environment on them! Once we arrived at the glacier playground, we were given about fifteen minutes to take pictures, walk (slide) around and fill a water bottle or other container with glacier-melt. Far, far too quickly, our time on the glacier was over, and we reboarded the Ice Explorer for the trip back to the staging area where we reboarded the coach for the short trip back to the Discovery Center. In my opinion, the Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure was worth double whatever YMT paid the concessionaire – it was included in the YMT package! (Regular price is $99.00.)
While most of our YMT group had lunch and shopped, a half dozen or so of the group (those who had paid the additional fee) were bussed to the Glacier Skywalk. Marilyn and I opted to forego the skywalk attraction as we had been on a glass walkway at Calgary Tower days earlier. Glacier Skywalk is a glass platform 918 feet above a canyon floor. Our next and final stop was Athabasca Falls, an incredible waterfall that is nearly roadside.
Friday, August 3, 2018, “Day 4, Kamloops, BC – Today, travel westbound and leave the Province of Alberta behind to reach its neighbor, British Columbia. Along the way, you will be able to enjoy stunning views of Mt. Robson and the surrounding provincial Nature Reserves. Characterized by a unique combination of energizing recreational activities and a warm, welcoming culture, you'll soon understand why Kamloops is known as British Columbia's friendliest city.”
We left Jasper and headed for Kamloops via
Yellowhead Highway, part of the Trans-Canada Highway. The Yellowhead Highway runs from Winnipeg MB to Graham Island BC crossing Alberta and Saskatchewan. The highway is named for Yellowhead Pass, the route chosen to cross the Canadian Rockies while both the
Mount Robson Might Have Been Obscured, but The Flowers Were Brilliant
Heading for Kamloops BC via Yellowhead Highway – Alberta and British Columbia, Canada pass and the highway are named after a fur trader and explorer named Pierre Bostonais. Since there is no word in French that translates directly to blonde, he was nicknamed "Tête Jaune" (Yellowhead). Our first stop was at
Maligne Canyon for lunch and a short walk to an incredible canyon. The Maligne River has cut a gorge over 150 feet deep at some points. Six bridges have been built across the canyon to give hikers of all abilities an opportunity to explore this astonishing natural landmark.
Shortly after leaving the Canyon, we saw a small herd of elk grazing adjacent to the road. We crossed the border with British Columbia and made a stop at
Mount Robson, the highest peak in Jasper National Park (12,972 feet), for lunch and a group photo. Mount Robson, however, was not showing us her splendor at the time of our visit. With only the lower elevations unshrouded by low-hanging clouds, her splendor was left to our imagination. Upon reboarding the bus, Marilyn and I won the drawing for the front-row seats. Since the bus tour began, Tour Guide Jim has drawn the names of one couple for the “reserved” front-row seats. The view was pretty
Spahats Creek Falls Makes for an Incredible Optical Illusion
Heading for Kamloops BC via Yellowhead Highway – Alberta and British Columbia, Canada cool, but it didn’t enhance the photography. We lucked out as most of our time in the seats of honor was only moderately photogenic. During out tenure in the seats of honor, Tour Guide Jim kept us entertained with a group game wherein papers were passed around, and the first person drew a circle on his/her paper that would serve as a moose’s body. Bodily components are added piece by piece, person by person until a composite likeness of a moose was formed. Whoever drew the antlers on my moose did a remarkable job.
We relinquished our front-row seats when we stopped at Spahats Creek Falls, near Clearwater BC. The falls is about 197 feet tall and is sometimes known as Spahats Falls. The falls is readily accessible and has an unusual characteristic. If one stares at a spot about 6-10 feet below the top of the falls and then turns to look at the canyon wall, a strand of green (probably influenced by the lichen on the canyon walls) appears to be moving upward across the canyon wall. Pretty weird but pretty cool. That night, I had one of the best Seafood Linguine dishes I can remember, ever.
The Contrast Made Me Do It!
Queen Elizabeth Park – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Saturday, August 4, 2018, “Day 5, Vancouver, BC – This morning it's off to Vancouver, regarded as one of the world's most livable cities. Vancouver is a place where the mountains and the oceans seem to have had a love affair that resulted in a picturesque city with plenty of historical sites, including Gastown.”
Early in the day’s trip, Tour Guide Jim announced the “winners of the moose-drawing” contest. I was tied for second (thanks to my mystery antler drawer) and selected a “Moose Crossing” warning sign as my prize. It was a lot of fun, and my prize will hang proudly from the king pin of the Bighorn. Other than a couple of potty breaks and a lunch stop, it was pedal to the metal for Vancouver. Driver Bob grew up and lives in the Vancouver area and knew that traffic can be crazy on the weekend, so he checked ahead, found our scheduled tour of downtown Vancouver was ill-advised and selected an alternate to fill the remainder of our Saturday afternoon. He drove us to Queen Elizabeth Park, the highest point in Vancouver, where we saw a monkey puzzle tree – very interesting. We strolled free-lance
around the gardens for about an hour, reboarded the bus and headed for the hotel.
Sunday, August 5, 2018, “Day 6, Transfer to Vancouver to Board Holland America's ms Westerdam – This morning, you will board Holland America's ms Westerdam, your floating hotel for the next week. Discover the many facilities aboard your ship and enjoy the striking vistas that surround you. An experienced crew is also on hand to outline the ship's many amenities and activities available.”
We had been going to “sleep in” on Sunday morning; however, the postponement of the Saturday afternoon tour of Vancouver pushed that event to Sunday morning. Even Sunday morning presented a slight traffic snafu
– several downtown Vancouver streets were closed to accommodate a parade. Never fear, Driver Bob had everything under control. Our first drive-through was not McDonalds but Chinatown. Driver Bob related that 1/3 of Vancouver’s population is Chinese and related the story we had heard at the Tunnels of Moose Jaw about the importation of Chinese workers for railroad construction and, once the railroads were completed, the poor treatment and discrimination they faced. We drove past normal, blue-collar, 1200 square-foot houses that were selling for $1,000,000 each
I Wish I Knew How to Read the Totem
Tour of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (so much for the YMT descriptor of Vancouver as “one of the world's most livable cities”), a gas station (the last in downtown Vancouver) that had sold for $45,000,000 and the adjacent White Spot Restaurant that recently sold for $245,000,000 (including the parking lot, I might add). We saw the Sam Kee Building, the "shallowest commercial building in the world" according to the Guinness Book of Records. It is a mere six feet deep and had been constructed by the property owner after his building was demolished for a street-widening project, and he was left with this narrow strip of land.
From Chinatown, we made a drive through Gastown, a lively entertainment district, and then headed to Stanley Park. After a stop at the “park epicenter” where numerous replica totems are on display and city vistas are available, we headed for the cruise terminal. Interestingly, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a post established in Canada to screen all the passengers boarding a ship headed to the United States. I had expected to encounter customs in Ketchikan AK or Seward AK but was ecstatic to have that process out of the way before the nautical trip even began. The
Down Go the Houses and Up Go the Condos
Tour of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada entire procedure went without a glitch, our luggage arrived at the stateroom promptly and we walked to the “casual” dining room for a very nice lunch. Before departure from Vancouver, all hands participated in a mandatory emergency evacuation drill which went smoothly. Then, anchors aweigh, matie!!!
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