British Columbia & Alberta 2005

Our home county of Kent in England is, I have read, the most densely populated area in Europe which for someone who hates crowds and loves wide open spaces, kind of sucks.  This is why I love the USA, but Canada takes the definition of ‘wide open space’ and super-sizes it.  Our next road-trip involved flying into Calgary and out of Vancouver, navigating the Canadian Rockies on the way.

Our arrival at our Calgary hotel is to be our first view of the majestic Rockies way out there in the distance.  I don’t know if it’s my Swiss blood, but I love mountains and the safe feeling they give, like a massive granite-y security blanket. We’re sadly lacking in mountains in Kent.

…sometimes when the clouds form low on the horizon (and if I squint) I can summon up that feeling I get when near the mountains once more.

Calgary, with the immense Rockies on the horizon

We make a flying visit to The Calgary Boot Company to get some authentic cowboy boots.  Not cheap by any stretch, but beautifully made.  The sales lady informs us that it had been virtually impossible to move in the store a couple of weeks previously, when the Calgary Stampede was in town.

Alberta is plains country, with oil derricks dotted about.  We stop of at the badlands of Drumheller to visit Dinosaur Valley where, true to the name, dinosaur bones have been discovered.

Dinosaur Valley, Drumheller

We hit Whistler Mountain via the Jasper Tramway, then into Jasper National Park continuing down the Icefield Parkway, stopping at Athabasca Falls.  Lake Louise is beautiful but full of tourists.  We find the equally beautiful (and deserted) Moraine Lake not far away… this is more like it.  I’m increasingly convinced that of all the ‘must see’ places in the world, it’s the lesser known ones that are the real gems.

The Eagles were right when they sang “call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye”.

Me at Lake Louise

Moraine Lake

We hike in Sulphur Mountain, then have a look around Banff before heading into Kootenay National Park, driving through the Sinclair Canyon and Vermilion Pass.

Paintpots

A brief stop-off at ‘Paint Pots’, named because of the rich iron deposits resulting in ochre there.  The ochre at this sacred site was used by the First Nations to trade, and used to paint horses, their own bodies, etc for ceremonies.

Moving on to Nelson, where Steve Martin chose to film ‘Roxanne’.  A nice little town, just what you would expect ‘Main St USA’ to look like.

Driving on to Vernon we take the river boat across the lake, then on to Kamloops – I really like this town and could imagine living there.

Strolling through the park, three of the Kamloops Mounted Patrol: Jeff, Wanda and Rick, come over to say Hi on their horses Texas, Diablo and Sisco.  We have a really nice chat with them about the area before they ride off to welcome the Rocky Mountaineer train coming in.

The Kamloops Mounted Patrol. Rick, Jeff, Wanda with Texas, Diablo & Sisco

Next stop was Whistler.  Made-over in the 60’s in a bid to host the winter olympics, it finally came here in 2010.  It certainly is geared up for it.  Heading up Blackcomb Mountain on 1 of 3 chairlift stages and a bus ride, 40 minutes later we reached a ridge at the top..

…here was were the action was – a snowboarders paradise – grinds, jumps… with a rock soundtrack blaring out.

In another life, the one where my parents DID emigrate to Switzerland, I’d be well into that.

Blackcomb Mountain

Funnily enough, I recently had a conversation with one of my Swiss cousins (an excellent snowboarder) would recounted his trip around the Rockies and it turned out we’d made almost the same trip, and he’d recently been one of those snowboarders I was looking at in awe atop Blackcomb.

Our trip is now nearing it’s end as we head towards Vancouver. Grouse Mountain, just outside Vancouver, provides the last opportunity to head up the peaks. Some crazy (and very fit) people are running up the mountain! At the top there’s a lumberjack show (ok, this is really touristy) and I get press-ganged into taking part in a sawing contest! Me and a lumberjack against a teeny-tiny Japanese lady and her lumberjack. Well, she got through the log quicker than I did… oh the shame! There is video evidence of this but I’ll choose not to upload that 🙂
Checking into our Vancouver hotel overlooking the bay, we decide to go and hire bikes in Stanley Park and enjoy a gorgeous ride around in the sunshine.

Cycling in Stanley Park

Another fantastic city – I don’t think I’ve been anywhere in North America that hasn’t made a good impression. The people are friendly and the scenery is beautiful. Vancouver has a real feeling of being on the edge of the great wide open; where if you set out across that Great North Pacific, you wouldn’t hit land again until you reached Russia or Japan.  For a girl from her little squished-in corner of Europe, that’s quite something to imagine.