Loading...
June 27, 2002 - Tracks across Canada part 2The Suffolk Times • June. 27, 2002, I racks across Canada art 2 Times /Review photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Just after we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer at Banff National Park, we spotted a group of bighorn sheep, such as these, alongside the train on our way to Kamloops. Welcome back aboard the "Canadian;" our passport across National Park, where we would stay Canada. We've been through the overnight. province of Ontario, where we spent Focus This park was four days; and then into Manitoba . one of the with its lakes and forests; and then ON grandest sights ever westward into Saskatchewan, th NATURE our eyes have bread basket of Canada where there ever seen. Huge were wheat fields as far as the eye by Paul mountains with could see; then into Alberta, which Stoutenburgh snow- capped brought us into the foothills of the _ tops and glacier Rockies with our destination, Jasper in their valleys greeted us as we pulled into this magi cal area. We'd spend the night here and then head out on a bus to see some of the sights along the way, and there were sights everywhere you looked. Our eyes searched for the ani mals of the, area and we were reward- ed with views of elk, mountain goats, bighorned sheep, caribou and black bears. All seemed to show up to give us an idea of the wildlife of this won- derful area. Our trip the following day took us to the glaciers and we rode a snow - coach to the heart of the Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Ice Fields. These huge vehicles, with big wide tires, were especially built so that the didn't disturb and chew up the glacier area that we had come to see. What a spectacle it was. All glaciers are reced- ing slowly. This one recedes approxi- mately 30 feet each year and it has receded a considerable distance from where it was first recorded. And, of course, the melt water from this glaci- er, which is part of the Columbia Ice Fields, flows emerald - green, yet other waters turn milky gray from the grind- ing rocks of the glacier. Here we could see the great moraines that the glacier had pushed along and they stood out in huge pyra- mids of loose stones running alongside the roads as we traveled toward the glacier. The Columbia Ice Field, by the way, is the largest of its kind in all North America, with its melt waters running to the Arctic and Pacific oceans and eventually some of it goes to the Atlantic Ocean. We spent hours just walking around and taking pic- tures of this magnificent glacier. On our way to Banff National Park, where we would stay overnight, we stopped for a picnic lunch. We had to change our picnic spot when a black bear showed up just about where we had planned to stop. We moved on and let him have the place to himself. The next day we took a gondola ride 5,000 feet up u p ur ountain to view the superb scenery. Then we went to Lake Louise, which most peo- ple have heard about or been to, but we were just aghast at its beauty. Emerald water, glaciers off in the dis- tance, snow- capped mountains on each side and, of course, the famous Chateau Lake Louise that has some 800 rooms and houses people from all over the world visiting this part of the Rockies. it's nard to describe the panoramic views that surrounded us. It became almost impossible to take your eyes off the glittering light of the moun- tains' snowy peaks, the great swath of the glaciers and the emerald water that lay before it all. After our superb buffet lunch there we headed back to our hotel, where that evening a park warden showed slides of the Canadiar. Rocky Mountains. The next day we were treated to the Rocky Mountaineer, one of the great railroad trains that would take us to our next adventure. By the way, as I . write this on the little balcony in the bedroom that overlooks the moun- tains and busy little village of Banff, there is a magpie calling his head off below. I go to investigate and he flies away with his black- and -white wing patches and tail scolding me for dis- iturbin2 him. Off in the background I can hear the hoarse call of a raven. My, but they are a big bird. After leaving Banff National Park we headed for Kamloops, where we would have dinner at Two River Junction Restaurant that included a wonderful frontier show we all thor- oughly enjoyed. We were back on our Rocky Mountaineer with deluxe "gold leaf service" early in the morning. To give you an idea how deluxe it was, we started our first breakfast with orange juice and champagne; meals were, served so sumptuously it was hard to get used to them, with fresh flowers, different- colored tablecloths at each meal and in the afternoon huge, fresh - cooked chocolate -chip or oatmeal - raisin cookies served warm; it was unbelievable, and fattening! All the time we were riding throug some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. We rode along the Fraser River Valley, Fraser Canyon, Hell's Gate and the Thompson River. There was an open car where we could go for photographing and our dining car had a glass dome so we could see all around during meals. Here we could see where ospreys had built their nest on the old telegraph poles that were no longer in use. As the train went along we could plainly see the female settled down in the nest, accustomed to the many trains that pass by. Our destination was Vancouver, British Columbia. Once settled in the Metropolitan Hotel and after a good night's sleep, we headed out for a panoramic tour of Vancouver; we went through many districts, including Chinatown, second in size only to the one in San Francisco and started in 1900. The streets were lined with little shops selling fish and vegetables, a col- In Gastown we passed the famous 1867 clock powered by steam. We rove all through beautiful Stanley Park. The only city park larger than it is Central Park. With 60 inches of rainfall a year, it looks like a tropical rain forest, with magnificent western red cedars, ferns, etc. They've even been able to introduce palm trees there. After taking a skyride up Grouse Mountain we visited a steelhead fish hatchery. Here we watched the fish jumping up a manmade ladder larger in size but much like the one in Riverhead installed for the alewives to get up to their spawning grounds i the Peconic River. After this we went to the Capilano Park, where we saw a huge display of totem poles (over 40) and heard about their history and meaning. Here, too, some native Americans from local tribes per- formed songs and dance before we enjoyed a pow -wow dinner` of grilled salmon, then all who wanted could walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge 240 feet above the ground. We finished our 16 -day trans - Canadian rail tour by spending the day touring Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, and ending up at the world- famous Butchart Gardens, created from a worked -out quarry site. It's unbelievable to see what can be done with imagination and dedica- tion to beauty. We enjoyed high tea at the Empress Hotel, where the queen stays when she visits here. It's situated at the head of the beautiful and busy harbor of Victoria. Then we were off to the mainland, where we stayed at the airport hotel overnight to be ready for our early- morning flight to Toronto and on home. Glad to have you aboard on this wonderful trip.