Canada - days 50 to 53 - Calgary

Wapta falls in the rain

We were up and out promptly, early for BC time, but an hour later in Alberta. The weather forecast was for rain with us. Calgary had had crazy amounts of rain on Sunday, Canmore was flooded, Kananaskis, where Richelle wanted to take us hiking was inaccessible with mud slides and bridges washed out, and the Trans Canada road had been blocked, with another fatality on Sunday too. We were a little nervous about the 4 1/2 hour journey ahead of us!

The rain up to the high point of Rogers Pass was fairly horrendous, though once we'd gone over it did calm down a little. Our plan was to stop at Wapta falls (yes, another waterfall) at the halfway point. It was touch and go whether we would be in rain or not. We got the last spot in the carpark and it wasn't raining, a good sign surely?

It said it was 2.2km, but I asked a couple if they'd been and they said it had taken them an hour in and probably 45minutes out. That seemed a long time, longer than I wanted to spend so we set off at a pace. We got to the first view point just as the rain started, but we went to the next two points before turning round and marching out at a great rate of knots. There were far more people walking out than had been at the falls so we guess they were put off by the rain. Walking two abreast, with their umbrellas did make them difficult to overtake. Brian had almost made it past the front runners when he slipped in the mud, right in front of them. Very damaging for the ego, and somehow his head and his rotator cuff in his left shoulder! And he'd been worried about me and my ankle!

Lunch, fabulous chicken sandwiches with the leftover roast we'd had for dinner for the last two nights, and we carried on. I messaged Richelle, as we passed Banff and got phone signal who seemed a little surprised at our progress. 

We arrived in good time, about a minute before Richelle who had been at the grocery store, stocking up for us. The dogs went mad and it was just like coming home. She was still bewailing the weather for the end of June and just to back her up, it threw it down, again. Who cares, it's margarita and fajita night and we are having a chilling day tomorrow!

Day 51 Wednesday Calgary 

Richelles back garden and the lake beyond

We'd planned a chilled day, and a chilled day we had. We chatted, cuddled dogs, ate, drank and finally made it out on the lake. Not necessarily in that order. The weather cleared up, finally, and Richelle and I went out for a paddle, using the board as a kayak. I did stand up, but didn't go far, didn't want to fall in, but I did get up and safely down again. 

Jackie and Richelle paddleboarding

We made the mistake of coming too close to Brian, the dock and the dogs, but fortunately big dog Morgan opted for Richelle's board while I just had Bailey as a figure head. A job she did remarkably well, she even transferred boards without causing any upsets. Brian did have a quick go but his shoulder wasn't up to too much, though it is feeling better.

A thoroughly enjoyable day, just what we needed.

While dogletts waited patiently

Jackie doing proper paddleboarding 

Bailey joined Jackie on her board

Big Morgan dog wanted to join Richelle on hers too

I had a little go too

And Morgan thought it would be ok to join me

She's a big dog when she decides she needs some fuss

Watching the sunset over the lake from her sun terrace

Day 52 Thursday Calgary 

The day for a hike, though not where Richelle had been planning, that was still a no go area. We headed out to Blue rock provincial park, to see what we could see. Because we weren't going as far we could take 14 year old Bailey too so that was a plus.

The scenery was different from anything else we'd seen, not as jaw dropping as the Rockies, but very pretty and without the crowds. I was sitting in the front, as chief spotter, much to Bailey's disgust. This is her seat! I'm not sure she's have pointed out the deer or the bear that I did though.

Out for our hike the next day

We had to do a linear walk, picking our way carefully to avoid the mud and standing water. The circular walk was out as that involved crossing the river on some stones we couldn't even see! We'd expected to carry Bailey at some point, but she'd trotted along with her tail on the air and done the whole walk. Until she got back to the car when even getting in was a problem.

Little Bailey was feeling a bit tired at the picnic break at the end 

We moved on to a picnic spot for lunch before continuing on to Diamond Valley where Richelle's daughter Colleena lives with her boyfriend. We met her dogs and horses before leaving our two dogs with her so we could go to the pub (she was invited obviously, but had a stinking cold, so declined). It was wing night at the brewery, so along with some very tasty beer we had 2lb of wings between us. Fabulous.

The river was very full after the recent rain

Pick up the dogs and home for a shower and chill on the terrace.

I'm glad we had our shower as I was woken up in the night by a hideous screeching noise in the utility room. I woke Brian, who identified which bit of the hot water system it probably was, but I still needed to wake Richelle, two floors up. Sensibly she flicked the breaker on the whole system, the noise stopped and we all went back to bed.

Day 53 Friday Calgary 

Arriving at the Calgary Stampede. The sign says its the greatest outdoor show in the world!

Our last full day in Canada and we had a big day planned, we were off to the opening day of the Calgary Stampede. We left the house at 11.30, no cowboy boots, but jeans, check shirts and denim jackets. Parked at the nearby station and got on the C train to take us to the showground, along with an awful lot of other people. We walked through the rides, fast food wagons and fairground games trying not to lose each other. It was like a fair in the UK but on an entirely different scale. Then there were the barns with stock, stalls, the 'heavy' Clydesdale Horses, all sorts of things we weren't used to.

Jackie and Richelle consult the programme to plan our day

We didn't have too long to wander though, the rodeo started at 13.30. We'd left Richelle to get seats and they were great, not far off centre, level 2 and enough rows back to be undercover in case of sun or rain. We had no idea what was going on but we had the perfect guide. I've still lost track of all the events but there was bareback bucking bronco riding, saddled bronco riding, ladies barrel race, roping and all sorts. The one that changed the few in the stadium though was steer wrestling. The first two competitors were disqualified as they lassoed the steer but then it flew through the air landing on its back. They both got up and trotted away, but it was horrible to watch. I don't think the man sitting next to me approved of me cheering for the calf!

The three of us in front of the Calgary Stampede sculpture

It was all an absolute experience. There was another moment though, one of the novice bareback riders was thrown almost immediately, and almost appeared to have been knocked out before he hit the floor as he went straight down without any attempt to break his fall, and then didn't move. It's been impossible to find out what happened to him and it just shows how dangerous the whole thing is. So that was three hours during which we'd eaten doughnuts and the sandwiches we'd taken. We walked the park a little more before stopping for a drink and something to eat. We caught a little of the BMX show, and saw all sorts of hideous things we didn't want to eat.

We had really good seats in the grandstand. This was the opening ceremony with the Canadian National Anthem, 'O Canada' being sung

We then went back into the stadium for the evening. Most people wouldn't do all this in one day, but it was now or never. The evening is chuck wagon racing, bareback relay from the First Nations, which isn't one horse many riders, but one rider, many horses. They were amazing. Then there was the stadium show. A whole stage was tractored in. Bands, dancers, singers and performers. The headline actually was High Valley a multi platinum country band which didn't mean anything to us but obviously did to a lot of people. The acts were amazing, gymnasts, tap dancers and two brothers, Sylla brothers, who I almost couldn't watch as it seemed almost certain one of them would fall.

Then there was the drone light show, then the fireworks, it was not what we expected but amazing. 

We were out by 23.15 and amazingly managed to squeeze onto the first train home. A glass of wine and some snacks rounded off a brilliant day, and was a great finale to our Canada trip.

Have a look at this Youtube video showing parts of the various crazy races

Day 54 and 55 home.

We tried to sleep in, but it's not easy, so a gentle start. Pack, walk the dogs, sensible lunch before heading off to the airport for our flight home. Air Canada might be my new favourite airline. Once you've checked in your bags you get notified that they have been received, that they have been loaded, unloaded and on the carousel. That's really good for the Jackanoia.

Out for a final walk with the dogs on our last day

The flight was ok, the usual, only 8 1/2 hours so by the time you've watched a movie and been fed, and then woken up for breakfast there isn't much time for uncomfortable sleeping. A long wait for our Bus home, which departed on time and actually arrived early. Then the train to Alvechurch and walk home. Now it's Sunday at 18.00. Throw open all the windows and then visit the co-op to get something for dinner and breakfast and then struggle to stay awake till a sensible going to bed time. 

We were looking for beavers in the river but settled for this deer

And this very cute squirrel. That's all from Canada for now, we're now back in Blighty where the weather is tropical - 31C today!

Canada - Days 46 to 49 - Revelstoke

Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park. It was raining, but even if it wasn't you'd still need a raincoat due to the spray!

Day 46 Friday Revelstoke

In the Mosquito Creek hostal we did our own thing, coffee in bed, then breakfast, made sandwiches, packed and left all without seeing, or hearing the family. It certainly made it easy as there wasn't seats or bowls for six. 

Just down from the falls is the Meeting of the Waters and it's interesting as the two rivers are very different colours. In front, moving left to right, is the Yoho River, fresh from its fall over Takakkaw with what's called Rock Flour particles still suspended giving it a milky colour. Flowing in, dead ahead, is the Kicking Horse River, where the Rock Flour has settled out in upstream lakes giving it a crystal clear, blue colour

Revelstoke was our destination,  2 hrs 45 minutes. I wonder how long it will take? First stop a relatively long detour up a road that just seemed to go to Takakkaw falls. A couple of 'exciting' hairpins, wouldn't fancy that in the truck camper! I know we've done lots of falls, but these were good ones.

I wanted to post a short video showing a train traversing the upper spiral loop but, for some reason, it won't post here, it's at the very end of this post, so scroll down to see it then come back here. 

Brian was then fretting about getting to Emerald Lake, but we had to stop at the meeting of the waters where the Yoho River joins the Kicking Horse River, just a brief stop followed by one of the two spiral tunnel viewpoints. We were really lucky, we only had to wait a couple of minutes and a train came along. We watched it go one way, round the mountain and then out of a tunnel in the mountain seemingly going in the opposite direction. All this to reduce the gradient from over 4% to a more reasonable 2.2%. there was a guy there talking to some other people, I eavesdropped on some of his information, two trains at the front, one in the middle and one at the end, with the total length being just over a mile.

This is a screenshot from Organic Maps showing the two spiral railway tunnels built into the mountains to raise the trains through the steep terrain whilst keeping the railway angle at 2.2%. Built in 1909 it's a marvel of engineering

Emerald Lake, in the rain, was our next stop. Brian was being terribly negative about parking, and there were lots of vehicles parked up down the road, but we drove into the carpark and got a space almost as close as was possible. The loop around the lake was 5.2km with half of it shown as good path and half shown as being a bit muddy. It was a little muddy, but not bad, and it certainly weeded out a lot of people.

Emerald Lake. Even on a rainy day there are people out in kayaks

The walk round the lake was beautiful, particularly as the rain almost stopped

There we're a lot of very pretty plants on our walk, these were Golden Columbine

The second half of the walk was a bit muddy, but we got through it without muddy boots

Natural Bridge was the next stop which was really impressive. Lots of water definitely helps! Lunch also helped stave off the rain.

Natural bridge in Yoho National Park. With a very full Kicking Horse River squeezing through this obstacle it makes a spectacular sight

We had been worried about getting to Revelstoke too early, check in at the Airbnb was not until 16.00, but that's British Columbia time, and we are still in Alberta, so to us it's 17.00. Perhaps we needn't have worried, we've still got 200km to go! We stopped at a rest area at Kicking Horse on the TransCanada Highway. It only had toilets, but never have I been so excited to see a flushing loo and water coming out of a tap! Three days, two nights without feels like a really long time!

A side view shows the water spurting out of the hole like a jet. The rock must be pretty tough to withstand that pressure

A cup of tea in Golden, to finally get a message from our hostess that we can get in when we like, but we are not going to be early. Stop at Visitor information to plan our itinerary for the next three days. Hurrah we actually have 4 nights in the same, lovely, place.

In, meet Helen our hostess, and pretty much straight out. After the shower that we had been craving!

To Rumpus, one of the local breweries. We would like to sit outside, but it's looking full. The bar tender suggested that the couple over there are very nice, and we could probably join them. We gatecrashed their night out and talked to Lucie and Chuck for the next two hours, exchanging details as they left. How lovely.

Revelstoke High Street Saturday market

The bears of Revelstoke

Very Banksiesque artwork

The picture doesn't show it well, but just to the right of the cars is the railway, ever present in Revelstoke. It's the reason the town is here and still provides much employment. It's a stopping off point for trains between Vancouver and Montreal, drivers change shifts, maintenance occurs, loads and engines are switched and many other railway necessities. It is the lifeblood of the town

This sculpture in the town is of a white sturgeon with Kokanee salmon. They apparently still live in the Columbia river near the town. The White Sturgeon can grow up to 6m long weigh 800kg and is the largest freshwater fish in North America. it is believed to be unchanged for 175 million years, is a bottom feeder and has struggled to survive with the development of hydro dams, but conservation efforts have seen the numbers increase. The Kokanee salmon have adapted to live their entire lives in freshwater

Day 47 Saturday Revelstoke 

We've decided to stay on Alberta time for our 4 nights here, so we are early to bed and early to rise. We were up and at the farmers market just after it opened at 08.30, a good look at it and the town.

I thought we might make the 10.30 tour at the dam, but by the time we got back to the house, with snacks from two different Indian stalls, to discover it was nearly half an hour away, that wasn't going to happen. Into the car and Brian's Organic Maps that we have been using as sat nav for the whole trip finally let us down, taking us the wrong side of the river to the visitor centre! Not to worry, we can work it out.

Revelstoke dam, another employer of the town and helping British Columbia to be almost run totally on hydro power

We still arrived in time for the 11.30. We were sold our tickets by Helen, our hostess, though she wasn't leading our tour. A very interesting hour on the building and operation of the dam. There are 14 dams on the Columbia river, three of which are in Canada. This one is 175 m high, has 5 of 6 possible turbines constructed and supplies electricity to the locality and into the USA. 95% of British Columbia's electricity is hydro generated. This all sounds like a triumph and it really is very good. 

View from the top of the dam. The Columbia river flows on to the USA providing more hydro power as it flows. The car park on the left is the roof of the power generators, the distribution building to the right uplifts the voltage to 500,000volts

The only sticking point is that when the Grand Coulee dam (the largest producer of hydroelectricity in the US) was built in the '50's, with the agreement of the Canadian government, it was decided that it was too difficult to put in a fish ladder for the salmon. They didn't seem to consider that salmon was 60% of the diet of the Canadian First Nations people along the river!

The business end of power generation. Each of the turbines beneath the orange squares generate 500MW each. There are currently 5 in operation with a sixth being installed at the far end. It will make the capacity 3GW

The plan had then been to go to the railway museum, but the weather is better than expected, so we'll head up Mount Revelstoke. The Meadows in the Sky parkway is 26 km going 1400m straight up. We knew it was only open to km16 but that's probably enough. 

Revelstoke down below from our vantage point halfway up Mount Revelstoke on the Meadows in the Sky Parkway, a winding road up the mountain with many switchbacks

We drove up to there took some pictures and chatted to the ranger. Down a little bit to the Broken Bridge walk, 2km return and 40m elevation change. We dispute this, as do the two sets of hikers we met on our way out asking if they were nearly there yet! It was a nice walk though, but we did tell the couple out for their wedding photos that this was not a good trail for her to do in her wedding dress and shoes!

Walking along the Broken Bridge trail we passed a lot of these very beautiful flowers. They are Columbia Lillies 

At the end of the path was... A broken bridge! And a small waterfall but I didn't put a photo of that on

Next stop was the top of Nels Knickers, which was Canada's first ski jump, set up by Nels Nelsen. Thoroughly enjoyed this interpretive trail, though we didn't do the steep bit in the middle, just the beginning and the end.

Jackie on the launchpad of the original Nels Nelson ski jump. This is where, in February 1921 he made the world amateur record ski jump of 185 feet.

Looking straight down the original ski jump

And alternative viewpoint from the bottom looking up

How it looked on that day in 1921

Back to the house for a cup of tea before walking into town, via Lucie and Chuck's house as we were going to the other brewery with them for the evening. As we left the house Helen pulled up asking if we enjoyed our dam tour. Obviously we had. The look on her face when I told her we were on our way to meet Lucie and Chuck was a picture. We've only been here 24 hours, how can we be going out with people? We had another lovely evening, though I think the two pints of just under 5% beer may have made us a little more verbose than the two pints of 2.5% beer we had last night. Great to meet and spend time with new people.

With Lucie and Chuck and their rescue dog Chai on their front porch

Day 48 Sunday Revelstoke 

We are determined to relax a little today, so a slow start before going for a 6km walk around the Illecillewaet Greenbelt. 

Sunday walk round the edge of Revelstoke looking over the Columbia River

The path having been washed away by the river stopped our progress 

But we did see what Google Lens has identified as Ospreys in a nest

We saw these Northern Flicker Woodpeckers on the pavement in town feasting on the ants between the pavement slabs, we thought they were weeding!

A few mosquito and a few double backs where the path had fallen into the river, but a good walk. We finished at a cafe for an early lunch and a coffee which was very civilised, before heading over to the Train museum. I think we would be expelled from town if we didn't visit the train museum, Helen's son works there, Lucie works there (hence how we knew they know each other) and Chuck used to be an engineer and conductor on the railway. He had told Brian all sorts of things about the trains last night, most impressive of which was that some of the trains are actually 2 miles in length!

Revelstoke Railway Museum

The museum was really interesting. It felt quite small when we went in, but my goodness it wasn't. Rolling stock outside and two levels in the central hall with rooms on either side. My head did get a bit full it has to be said. Just as we were about to leave we caught a glimpse of the Rocky Mountaineer going past, though there is no photograph as the sun screen on the windows upset the camera! This is the only passenger train on the railway as financially freight pays much more and doesn't need a timetable, they just run when they are ready. The problem with the 2mile long trains though is they have to know that they are able to stop in the places they need to or wait until they can because if they stop in the middle they don't fit in the sidings and can potentially block roads for a long time! The Rocky Mountaineer probably pays its way as two day packages in April start at $2289 Canadian going up to $15200 for the top multi day packages!

There was so much information in there. This is a huge steam engine built to work in the steep, hostile Columbia and Rocky Mountains 

A peek into the cab of the steam engine. I'm sure I read that King George VI and Princess Elizabeth asked to ride in the cab of one of these during a state visit

The later diesel engines that replaced the steam trains in the 1960's. These are extremely powerful machines that pull over two miles of train up the 2.2% inclines through the mountains

The massive snowploughs necessary for these mountain railways. There are a number of different types necessary for the different types of snow they encounter on different parts of the track. You can't use the same plough, they simply won't work!

We popped into the supermarket on our way home to pick up something for dinner and are planning a relaxing evening, though we are so behind with the blog he's published one, but still has three days to go

Saw these two on the way home. The dog was really keen to pull him on his skateboard and he shot off down the road leaving the other guy standing. It was really quite funny

Day 49 Monday Revelstoke 

We had a tiny bit of rain yesterday, and nothing today, in fact it hit 32° at one point. Back towards Calgary however, there is lots of rain, there are still evacuation alerts in Canmore, just outside Banff and Kananaskis Park that Richelle was planning on taking us hiking in is mostly closed due to mudslides across the road. Apparently people are being helicoptered out. We don't have to drive back that way fortunately. There was another accident on the TransCanada yesterday, just outside Lake Louise, going west, like the last one. Hopefully our eastbound journey tomorrow will be all ok.

Today was a trip into Rogers Pass which we drove in through and will drive out through tomorrow, but with a 4.5 hour journey we wouldn't have time for all the stops. We were very sensible, doing all the stops on the eastbound side as we drove out and the westbound ones on the way back. 

We started at the skunk cabbage boardwalk which I really liked though we were intertwined with a family of 5 who were a bit irritating, fortunately we didn't see them again.

First walk of the day in Skunk Cabbage boardwalk. These are the skunk cabbage, the do really get very big. They are a favourite of bears, so we kept talking loudly hoping none appeared

The birds singing in the trees were a joy, but spotting them was difficult. I just managed to get this one, he's a Song Sparrow and had the most pleasant song

Next stop was Loop Brook, only the entrance to the loop where we parked was closed. We went the opposite way, and managed to get to the stone trestles of the railway bridge that used to carry the trains before they looped them through the mountains, reducing the steepness they had to deal with. We got to the midway point to find the problem, an avalanche in the winter has completely obscured the trail. Fortunately we could cut out through the campsite so that was ok.

You need to look at this first. This was the original high level railway loop system that was built in 1885 to allow trains to get up the steep incline by looping back. It was subject to so much snow and avalanches that eventually they tunneled through the mountain and abandoned this stretch

These are the stone trestles that supported the bridge, left as a monument after the railway was rerouted through tunnels nearby

But on the second loop back over the river one of the trestles has been felled by a huge avalanche. This was the constant battle they had against nature and the reason for the tunnels and the newer spiral tunnels further up

A little further on was another stop to go and look at the ruins of Glacier House, a very posh hotel that had been built on the railway, but when the railway went, so did the hotel. You can just see some foundations on the ground. There was a Parks employee here so we had a chat, learning about the two tagged Grizzly bears in the vicinity. They are hoping the two year old son will remain with it's mother a little longer, to try and learn some road sense.

Further along we hiked up part of the Glacier home trail to see the remains of Glacier House, the first hotel in the area at the original toe of the Illecilliwaet glacier (now much receeded). The railway used to run here and the well heeled would stay here to see the glacier and enjoy mountain air. When the tunnels were built and the railway rerouted Glacier House lost it's trade and closed in 1925

A photo of Glacier House in its heyday

Spotted this in the trees, but he was a bit fast for me and this was the best photo I got. Google lens thinks it's a Varied Thrush, it's very pretty

As we drove further up the road there was a Parks Canada truck with flashing lights, and a slow sign, to warn us of what appeared to be a tagged Grizzly. I'm guessing he was the son, and yes, he could do with learning some road sense!

The Rogers Pass visitor centre is being rebuilt but there was still an information point and toilets etc. This is the furthest we are planning on going before turning round and doing all the stops on the other side of the road. The first of these was the high point of Rogers Pass. Rogers Pass is named after A B Rogers who was paid $5000 dollars to find a way through the Selkirk Mountains for the Railway. It is now the second highest point on the Trans Canada Highway.

Rogers Pass, the highest point on the old railway before rerouting through the tunnels. It's named after the chap who hiked through these mountains and found this pass, believing it the best route for the railway. It's a big memorial about the unification of Canada. Apparently British Columbia only agreed to join the Union of Canada on condition it would be joined to the rest of the country by a railway

This good looking chap flew in while we ate our lunch on outside benches at Rogers Pass. It's a Stellers Jay

This was just down a little from Rogers Pass near the entrance to the tunnels. I felt we were probably encroaching on railway property so didn't go any further (although I wanted to!). The buildings in the distance were marked on my map as the old Glacier Station and the tunnel starts just beyond. There's a train with three engines at the front waiting to enter the tunnels. I'm wondering if it's one of the 12,000feet long trains with three not two engines. We couldn't tell as it disappeared into the distance. We couldn't even see the centre engine!

Rock Garden was next, why is there a huge pile of boulders for no apparent reason? I can't find out the answer, but it did make for an interesting little outing.

Rock Garden trail. Aptly named! Bears are in the locality, we kept talking loudly!

It was a really lovely walk

But a very strange pile of boulders. They hadn't fallen from a nearby mountain as there wasn't one near them. Had they been carried by a glacier? Who knows

Our next stop was Hemlock Grove, a short loop through the only inland hemlock/cedar rainforest in the world. We liked this one, but perhaps that's because we hit it at a quiet point.

Hemlock Grove. A really pleasant walk through a unique inland hemlock/cedar rainforest

The last stop was the Giant Cedar loop, though again only half of it is open, due to a tree falling across it. It was very reminiscent of the big tree trails we did all that time ago on Vancouver Island. At least this time I didn't have my foot in the protective boot!

Giant Cedar walk finished our day

We actually finished quite early, but the heat, and possibly the altitude seemed to have knocked us both out a bit, so we didn't mind returning to our cool basement apartment. Though it's now 16.00 and he's got days of blog posting yet to do!

I can't remember where, but we also saw a black bear, on our way back, sitting on its bottom in a ditch by the side of the road, looking a little bit hot and bothered. I think we all know how he feels

Through the giant cedars

Information boards told us that Cedar trees often grow from the decaying trunk of a fallen tree and, further round we found proof of it. These trees are sprouting from this decaying fallen tree

A selfie in front of a giant cedars tree at the end of the trail 

Here's the video of the train traversing the spiral tunnels. The upper carriages moving right to left is the same train as the one 15m below moving left to right, after it has been through the spiral tunnel. An engineering marvel created in 1909 to allow trains to climb the steep mountainside whilst keeping the track incline at 2.2%. Prior to this the gradient was over 4% and runaway trains, unable to ascend were a constant hazzard