Vancouver

 Our stay in Vancouver started with our view from our hotel window!

It was an amazing view of the port and the Cruise terminal. The ship on the picture is a Princess cruise ship. We noticed over our time here that the boats come in between 6:30-7:30am and leave between 6-7pm. We were told that there are about 300 cruise ship docking per year here. They are almost all between May-September. One day there were three ships docked at the cruise port. 

During our time here we did a tour of the Vancouver downtown. The greater Vancouver  Metropolitan area is over 2 million in population. An interesting finding is that the downtown  buildings are 60% residential buildings. With over 100,000 people living in the immediate downtown area. 

Vancouver has one of the largest urban parks in North America. Stanley park is right off downtown Vancouver. The park is 1000 acres in size and is just a bit bigger than Central Park in New York. Within the park there are bicycle trails, a marina, aquarium, old growth forest, and other recreational areas. There are great views of the city too. Most of my pictures of the city are from Stanley Park. There is a display of totem poles in the park from indigenous peoples of western British Columbia.

A final point of interest for Vancouver is the steam clock. An area of town (gaslight) has central supplied heat. The steam from the heat runs the Steam clock. 

Our second day in Vancouver we did a day trip to Whistler mountain. Vancouver was the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics games. Whistler Mountain is where all of the downhill events took place. The ride up to Whistler is on the Sea to sky highway. Along the way are some dramatic views. Including a look back at Vancouver city.

You can see the Cruise port and Lions Gate Bridge.

We stopped at two waterfalls along the way. Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls.

Shannon Falls

Brandywine Falls

While at Brandywine Falls we met a group of Volcanologists Studying the area around the falls. 

They were doing detailed laser mapping/imaging of the area around the falls that would then be combined with detailed satellite images. The combination will be used as a research tool.

At Whistler mountain we were amazed at the views. We did a peak to peak gondola ride. First we went up from Blackcomb Ski area. 

After spending time at the Blackcomb peak we took the Peak to Peak Gondola over the Whistler peak. The ride is 2.7 miles long. And at the lowest point of the ride you are 1400 feet above the valley floor. 

The initial descent got to Ila a bit. Amazingly even with a gusty wind outside the gondola was very steady.

Reaching Whistler Peak we took a short hike.(limited due to snow on most of the trails)

Back down on to the Ski Village there were numerous shops and Hotels. Also the site where we think Olympic Medals were given out. 

The day was very enjoyable and highly recommended. We booked our tour through Tours by local. But you can also reach Gabriel directly at his website.  https://bcgrandtours.com/

To finish off our time in Vancouver we were out early to see our cruise ship coming in to port.

This afternoon we board the boat to start the next part of our Journey.

Dale and Ila

Rocky Mountaineer Day 2

 Day 2 on the Rocky Mountaineer was off to an early start. We were leaving the hotel by a bit after 7am and everyone was expected to be down 15 minutes early. It seemed to work our bus loaded quickly and we were off to the train. On the train they provide Breakfast and lunch with additional snacks throughout the day. Food is well covered. Due to the smaller size of the dining car area (the kitchen takes up space as well as the bathrooms) we eat in two shifts. I think this keeps the kitchen staff busy throughout the day as breakfast one is 8-9:30 then clean up breakfast two is 10-11:30 then clean up, lunch 1 is 12-1:30 then clean up, and lunch two is 2-3:30 then clean up.

The terrain was noticeably different today. When we left Banff we were in a pine forest and this was the case for the majority of the day. Kamloops was at the start of a much more arid climate. Very similar to the more arid conditions in eastern Washington/Oregon. Sage brush was the most common of the plants seen.

We continue along the Thompson River. Surprisingly even along the river there did not seem to be a lot of trees or other vegetation. Often the river seemed to follow a narrow channel and there were occasional areas of rapids.

Our big excitement today was seen Big Horn Sheep, and several Bald Eagles. 

About mid day we started traveling through more mountains and with that more pine trees again.

Further along we came to another important land mark. The Thompson and Fraser Rivers met and continued as the Fraser River. The convergence is interesting as the Thompson river goes through several lakes which allows silt to fall out of the water. The Fraser river does not have lakes and the flow is still very silty. This results in a slow mixing of the two river waters…

A few more pictures of travel along the Fraser River

We finally arrived at the Fraser Valley. This is a large agricultural area. There are large dairy farms, Fruit Orchards, and Vineyards and Wineries. We are also close to the U.S. border and you can see Mt Baker in the picture.

As we got in the developed area of the Vancouver suburbs the train speed slowed. It seemed to take for ever to go only 10-15 miles to get to the Vancouver train station.

Final thoughts on the Rocky Mountaineer. The trip is relaxing and enjoyable. The staff takes incredible care of all the passengers. The seats are roomy and comfortable to sit in. Most of the pictures I took were done on the rear observation deck at the back of the car. This was fun to go out and see the world go by. The point of the trip is to see the sites. This would not be a way to travel if you are in a hurry. Would we do it again? Yes. Rocky Mountaineer does a Denver to Moab, UT trip which would be an interesting route. 

Next up is our stay in Vancouver

Dale and Ila

Rocky Mountaineer

We finished our time in Banff and moved on to the next stage of our adventure. We woke early on Sunday morning and met our bus to take us to the train station in Banff. Once on board the Rocky Mountaineer we started our ride towards Vancouver. The idea of the Rocky Mountaineer is to enjoy the beauty of the Mountains and river scapes from along the way. The train car has a panoramic roof that allows you to see the scenery in all directions. The train does not run at night instead it stops at a halfway town and you stay in hotels. Given the point of the trip is to enjoy the scenery the stop allows the maximum amount of time seeing the sites.

The staff is very attentive and helpful and along the way they point out interesting parts of the history sites along the way. We started at an elevation around 4600 feet and will end up near sea level in Vancouver. So I guess you could say it’s downhill all the way. Our trip and the original rail line stayed mostly along rivers which essentially are the valleys. The route was originally developed by the Canadian Pacific Rail line. The trans Canada rail line was started and finished later than the American trans continental rail line. The final spike of the rail line was placed in 1885. (Compared to 1869 in US) 

An interesting element of the rail line is the decent in the Kicking Horse Pass. The valley steeply descends and the original routing allowed for a 4.5% grade down the hill. Unfortunately the first train to go down the hill immediately derailed. (No injuries) For the next 20 years they would unload the trains at the top of the hill and take cargo and passengers down the hill by horse carts. The empty trains were able to safely descend the hill and reload to continue on the way. Ultimately the decision was made to construct the spiral tunnels. 

The tunnels each drop the train about 50 feet in a loop. On the picture above the train starts in the lower left and goes through a left turning tunnel then comes out goes a short way and enters a right turning tunnel that drops the train another 50 feet. Riding through it is strange as you feel your direction reverses twice. On the last tunnel if the train is long enough you can see the front of the train coming out of the tunnel before the back of the train goes into the tunnel. 

The morning ride was filled with views of rivers and a few lakes. There were occasional bear sightings but we only successfully saw one black bear. (Sorry no picture)

One surprising river we followed was the Columbia River. I guess being American I had always assumed that the Columbia river was a river that started and ended in the states… Little did I know that it starts fairly far north in British Columbia, and flows north before finally turning south. Check your maps..

In the afternoon we came upon  Lake Shuswap. Lake Shuswap is a huge lake which I thought was man made, but it was actually a natural convergence of several rivers forming a lake that is many mile long. We followed the lake for what seemed like hours.

Not long after leaving Shuswap Lake we arrived in Kamloops where we spent the night in a hotel. Kamloops is an englishized version of the indigenous peoples word for rivers meet. Meaning two rivers the two forks of the Thompson Rivers meet(North and South) After checking in to our hotel room we went out for a walk along the Thompson River. We met an Australian couple from the train and enjoyed conversation with them as we walked.`

Lake Louise and Lake Moraine

 Sorry that things have been coming out slow. The days have been full and I have been wanting to relax a bit at the end of the day.

On Saturday morning we had some free time and walked to the Cascade of Time Garden in Banff. It is around the Banff Park administrative building. It is a pretty garden where they have planted flowers that progressively bloom through the summer season. It feels very much like the prototypical English Garden.

(Not my photo)

Our favorite flower there were the Poppies. Couldn’t resist a picture.. We may plant some at home for next summer…

After  exploring the Banff area we joined a tour group and went up to Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. The trip is about a 40 minute drive north from the town of Banff. Lake Louise is a beautiful place…but… it is as crowded as any place I have been in a park. There were literally thousands of people at the lake. The other issue we faced was the skies clouded over on our way to the lakes. 

Okay with that preamble I would say that this place is very beautiful which is why I suspect it is so popular as a destination.

The overcast skies really do not do justice to the lake. There is a trail that follows along the north side of the lake. We walked a far ways towards the end of the lake… Unfortunately we had to turn around due to catching our tour bus. Notably the crowds thin out the further you walk. A popular activity on the lake is to paddle in large canoes that hold 8 people. The lake is fed from a glacier that is visible at the end of the lake valley. At Lake Louise is another Canadian Pacific Railroad Hotel… the Chateau Lake Louise. It was originally built around 1900 but has been added to and enlarged over time. The views look great.

After our time at lake Louise we hopped back on our bus and rode                     to Lake Moraine. This lake is also glacier fed and has this intense blue color. (When sunny) Unfortunately it started raining when we got there. 

With clear skies…(not my picture)

We talked later to some people that stayed at Banff Springs, Lake Louise, and Jasper hotels. They felt the Banff Springs was the nicest of the Hotels. The Jasper Lodge was their favorite for beauty with no crowds. The lake in Jasper is similar to Lake Moraine but without the people. 

We met our fellow travelers today for the cruise and will get to know them better over the next few days.

Tomorrow we start our Journey to Vancouver..

Dale and Ila