rockin road trip in the rockies...Day 5 and 6

hey,

It's funny that we had spent 3 days within relative spitting range of Banff, but we had not yet managed to spend any time in the township.

1/2 a day was devoted to checking this place out. Above all else, this town has the most amazing main street backdrop...ever! Banff Avenue is your typical small country town main street, loaded with touristy souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants, but at the Northern end of the street lies the stupendously imposing Cascade Mountain, sitting virtually right on top of the town. Clocking in at 2998metres high, the formidable looking mountain has a presence like no other.

At the other end of town is the 2285metre high Suplhur Mountain, which you can pay an extortionate $22.50 to ride a 13-minute long gondola journey to the top, where a 360-degree observation deck gives a pretty darn spectacular all-round view of the Mountains.


Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain

The gondola-fare doesn't seem nearly so extortionate once you get up there tho lemme tell you! I was loving it up there, even when the clouds did swiftly come in and obscure the views, and dump a brisk 20minute show shower on us all. Not every one was enjoying it so smuch, especially the vertigo-suffering Paul, altho full credit to him for facing his fears in the past few days, riding gondolas up to Sunshine and here, even when we tried to stir him up by rocking the carriage back and forth! "Don't....i'll f-ing hit ya, either that or i'll throw up on ya!" I think we were more put back in our place by the thought of vomit than threats of violence, so we contained ourselves.


Cascade Mountain and the Rockies overlooking Banff Township

Calgary is barely a 90minute drive from Banff. It didn't make sense not to visit it, even for a few hours. Aside from that, a good buddy of mine from my bar-tending in Edinburgh days, Tricia, lived there. I'd been trying to get in touch with her ever since I'd arrived in Vancouver, and was lucky enough to finally reconnect with her just the week before we headed out on the road. We finally met her that afternoon, and she played tour guide for us for the duration. By her own admission, there isn't a whole lot to do in Calgary, and was struggling to think of places for us to see and things to do. Admittedly she was restricted somewhat by the fact that we were now very poor and very tired, and we only had a few hours. Calgary Tower, 190metres tall (762 steps if you don't take the lift - our leg-weary bodies insisted we take the lift), and another vertigo inducing height for Paul, gave us an overview of the oil-rich skyscrapers of the city, the Saddledome hockey stadium, Calgary Stampede venue, and the sprawling, sprawling, sprawling suburbs. Downtown Calgary is a cluster of modern architecture - mirrored glass and polished granite facades and are a self-evident monument to oil money - everything is sleek and brand new, and as far as cities go, relatively easy on the eye.


Downtown Calgary


A short walk around the gardens of the oasis-in-the-city, Prince's Island, with very pretty ground-level views of the city skyline, and then it was "lets hit the pub for a drink and meal". A couple of pints and darn-good pub grub at The Ship and Anchor, a down-to-earth, dimly lit bar, and then we were off. And that was it, that was Calgary.


Downtown Calgary from Prince's Island



Calgary's Saddledome and Stampede site

While in the pub tho, Tricia told us about one of the bizarre vagaries of Calgary City is the by-law forbidding smoking in beer gardens! True! There were people inside the bar smoking, but none in the beer garden. Apparently in the peak of summer, when the beer garden is chock full of people, smokers either step inside for a smoke, or climb over the fence to the footpath outside for their fags. Quite strange, especially considering most places in the world, particularly in Ireland, are forcing smokers outside, banning it indoors for health reasons.

It was great to catch up with Trish again (thank you Trish!!!), altho it was hardly long enough - just enough time for a quick chat really. I love it when i get together with folk that i'd met earlier in my travelling life, in a completely different part of the world, especially if its in their home town. So here's an open invitation to all of you - if yer ever in Melbourne when I'm there, feel free to look me up, and i'll set you up on my lounge or spare room.

Back in Canmore, even tho it was our last night on the road before the long drive back to Vancouver, I stayed in and called it an early night. The lads tho, once again fuelled by a bottle of Jameson's even before leaving the motel, hit the town again. I could simply never keep up, and besides, that's at least $100 (or more) still in my pocket.


Elk grazing by the Bow River Parkway


Day 6. Our final day. Its a long drive, better get an early start. Aye right! As if. It was almost 9am Alberta time by the time we left, and 14 hours later we were finally, finally, finally, back in Vancouver. We opted to take the scenic, alternative route back, rather than retrace out steps on the Trans-Canada Highway #1, and turned left at Salmon Arm to head south thru the Okanagan Valley, via Kelowna and Penticton.

What a change in scenery from the Rockies! From soaring majestic mountains to semi-arid desert, prime fruit-growing orchard territory in the space of a cuppla hundred kilometres. If time and money permitted, we would have stopped loads of times long the way. As it was, petrol, lunch and toilet breaks were the only stops, and these were at some of the most peculiar small towns such as Enderby, where the local mini-mart reeked rather badly of Dr. Pepper cherry cola.

Kelowna and Penticton are famed for being nearby more-than-decent ski-fields and hiking territory, but we saw none of that, but the towns themselves seemes rather less-than-inspiring. Or maybe it was just that we were pretty tired and slightly grumpy, and in the mood for bagging everything in sight. If I'd had the chance, I'd revisit later this year for a new, fresh perspective.


Mount Baker in Washington State, USA. View from Langley, BC.

By 6pm, and with still some 300Km to go, we were going stir-crazy in the car. Manning Provincial Park provided some scenic respite, having left the stark Okanagan Valley, and back into the hills, this time the Coast Mountains that end in Canada with Vancouver's backdrop of Grouse, Seymour and Cypress Mountains, then continue down into Washington State in the US.

When I was finally dropped off home at 10pm, I was more than happy to be out of the car. It was a great road trip, amazing scenery and amazing memories, but the last 1/2 a day was a killer.

Okay, that's it.

Talk soon,

Tony

rockin road trip in the rockies...Day 3 and 4

Hi,

I've never been snowboarding, or skiiing.....ever. In fact snow itself is just a random occurrence in my life that pops up every few years or so, but never long enough or in the right location for me to give boarding or skiing anything more than a passing thought.

When I first arrived in Vancouver, I had every intention of heading up to the Whistler-Blackcomb snowfields, try and get a job, spending nights tending bar, and the days perfecting the art of snowboarding. Alas, it was a shite season, and the week I arrived I read a newspaper article lamenting the fact that 800 staff on the mountains had been laid off because of the lack of tourists - caused by the lack of snow. I figured they probably wouldn't hire me if they've just laid off 800.

So, having arrived in Banff, on the last weekend of the entire season, and hence my last chance to say I'd been snowboarding in Canada, it was a no brainer. "all right lads, lets hit the snow!!!"

An early rise, a quick 45minute drive down to Sunshine Village, and another kick of the footy in the almost empty carpark (much to the delight of some Aussie carparking attendants who had been reduced to kicking a shitty footy bladder about!), then we were ready to get ourselves up a mountain. But not before i drained my credit card by about $170. This is not a cheap sport! $62 for a lift pass, $40 for boot and board rental, then another $15 for skipants rental - coz I'd forgotten to pack the skipants i had bought while in Nepal 18months ago in anticipation of getting some snow action (doh!), then another $30 for a beanie to replace the one I'd bought in Seattle then lost 6 weeks later (the 3rd in 12months!!), and $25 for some new sunnies. Phew.

Anyway, into the Quad-gondola we climb for the 20minute life to the base of the snow, and then exiting into.....paradise! Sooooo much snow, and as it was still pretty early, not a whole lot of people to have to share it with. Of the 4 of us, Daryl was the only guy with decent experience, the other 2 on their 3rd or 4th boarding run. So rather than pay out more money for lessons, Daryl was kind enough to give me a few pointers on the basics. The next hour or so I restricted myself to the bunny run, just merely trying to stay upright, altho not very successfully. I coln't tell you how many face-plants i did, immediately followed up by the inevitable fall on my arse. Followed by a face-plant......and so on. It was quite comical actually, and I laughed a lot at my own predicament, all the while watching the rest of the mountain glide across the snow as elegantly and smooth as you like...Bastards! they make it look soooo easy!

After thinking i'd got a hold on the most basic skills, and getting very bored with the bunny run, I decided to hop on a ski lift to the top of one of the big runs. big mistake! Anyone who remembers their first forays into skiing or snowboarding knows all too well that where you want to go, and where the board/skis want to go are usually two completelt different directions! While the snow was pretty deep and compact, it didn't have as much depth as usual, and so I was warned to "look out for the rocks!" I took that to mean to try and avoid them....the board took that to mean to head straight for them, and there was no telling it otherwise! After about 15minutes I had covered a whopping 50 meters or so before veering off the beginners run onto an intermediate/expert run, and reaching a rather steep descent which quite literally scared the crap out of me.

So I opted to call this one quits, took of my board and began trudging thru the snow on foot. I was making my way slowly but surely thru the pine trees and down the hill, and then...flop! i hit a soft spot and my right leg sunk up to my thigh. after successfully extricating myself from that, three steps later - flop! - my left leg sink in the snow up to my thigh. This time, as i was struggling to lift myself out I lost balance and flopped forwards for another face-plant, and with the snowboard I was holding in my right arm assuming seniority in the partnership, I did my best Superman-arms-outstretched impersonation, and slid down the hill on my belly....right into the middle of the run that I was too scared too attempt 20 minutes earlier!....with a ready made audience of silky-smooth expert skiiers as they glided down the run. Round of applause for the comic act of the day.

Somehow, I made it back down, having strapped myself back onto the board, and retreated back to the bunny run for some more practice. In the meantime, my buddies were going up and down the runs willy-nilly. I was convinced by them to give another run a go, and hopped on a different lift to another part of the mountain. As the lift got higher and higher, the view across the mountains became more and more awe-inspiring. With the sun beaming down and blue sky everywhere, perfect perfect weather, the vista was simply flabbergasting. Obviously I thought of my camera, but knowing that I was going to be crash-landing every 15 seconds, had left it in the car at the bottom of the hill. "I'll come back up the lift later sans snowboard for some pics" I thought.

This time, I had considerably more success, having managed to some degree to assert some authority over my board. At one point, I managed to stay upright and even make some swivel manouveres to prevent me from getting too much speed up, covering I guess 50 or 60 metres before i flopped over - at my choice. I looked around then, to see if any of my mates had witnessed this phenomenal effort, and they were nowhere to be seen!.....My best run yet, feeling very proud, and no one to share the moment with. After that, the spell was broken, and the board re-asserted itself as boss, and i flopped and face-planted my way down the rest of the run.

By now I was knackered, cold and wet, and there was a bar in the village just beckoning me to try its warming whiskeys. I got talking to a bloke in the bar with a deep, booming, resonating Canadian accent, and therefore it came as no surprise when he told me he was a DJ with Edmonton rock radio station 'The Bear'. We got talking about about bands and music and the music industry etc, and he thought it was "Awwwwe-some" (in that over-the-top shock-rock-jock style that was his standard refrain) that I was here catching loads of local bands and soaking up the scene, and with a non-stop bellowing laugh, bought me a few drinks after I'd told him about my first-time-boarding exploits.

Having called it quits for the day on the boarding front, I stepped back outside where it was blowing a snow-storm gale, to see an AC/DC cover bans called BC/DC. This was great, an Acca-Dacca cover band from British Columbia called BC/DC - very clever......and they were damn good too! The guy doing the Angus Young role had dispensed with the usual school-boy outfit and instead got dressed up as.... a cow! I kid you not. Hilarious.

By the time I caught up with my buddies again, the snow had stopped, but the thick clouds remained, spoliing my photo-op on the ski-lift. Everyone was beat, bushed and bolloxed anyway, so we called it a day, gondola-ed it back to the car and headed home to Canmore.

"F**kin sore!!" That became my mantra for the next 4 days.


Banff Main Street

Day 4 was the absolute highlight of the trip, and also the longest. We started off at 8am, and got back in at 11pm - 15 hours of Rocky Mountain high's (sorry!). We stopped off at Lake Louise first of all, an amazing picturesque setting (altho smaller than expected) of the lake with Mount Victoria and others towering over the top, with the Plain-of-the-six glacier bearing down on the south side of the lake. At the northern end was the monstrosity Chateau Lake Louise, a humungous five star hotel complex that would never get planning approval in these more-enlightened 21st century days. The clouds made the view a little less spectacular than it could have been, but this was a very, very pretty spot.


Chateau Lake Louise


Lake Louise


Lake Louise

A mere hop up the highway was Lake Moraine, a less popular, and much less-developed spot. This turquoise colored lake was frozen over from the winter months still, and with the ice-capped mountains appearing closer and more imposing than ever, this, in my book, easily topped for Lake Louise on the "wow" factor.


Moraine Lake near Banff


Moraine Lake

History says that The Rockies, and this lake, was created wither by glaciation or by a rock fall. According to an information board at the lake, all of this happened 560 million years ago,.....at ten-past-three on a Tuesday afternoon in June. (i made that last bit up - but it sounded good!). But anyways, that's some history there...really, really old.


The Three Bears of Banff

The road to Jasper was next. The Icefields Parkway is a 230-odd Kilometre drive, and can be hardly overstated. Shooting up thru the heart of the Rockies, it ranks as one of the worlds best drives - and thats not just my opinion. Its unending succession of huge peaks, immense glaciers, iridescent lakes, wildflower meadows, wildlife and forests - capped by the stark grandeur of the Columbia Icefield - is absolutely overwhelming.


Elk grazing by the Icefields Parkway to Jasper


Even the back roads are in awesome condition here!

One of the aims of the trips was to see some wildlife - grizzly, black and brown bears, moose, deer, elk - and the road to Jasper provided all (except the grizzly), and without too much effort involved, as they all apparently decided that the best grazing was to be found at the side of the highway. So, without getting out of the car (well, most of the time) we had clear photo ops of them all - very definitely a major contributor the 'highlight day of the trip' vote.


"Not too close!!"


Black bear grazing at dusk

I lost count of the number of times I had the window wound down to stick my head and 1/2 my body out of the car to get that 'classic' shot of the cream-coloured highway careening off into the distance with the mountains and pine forest providing the backdrop, but it was indescribbaly essential. With stops along the way at various wonderments, gob-smacking views of glaciers (Athabasca Glacier), ice-capped mountains and frozen lakes (Bow Lake and Glacier), not to mention scenic footy sessions(!), it took us some 5 hours to drive the 230Km to Jasper.


This was one of my Rocky Mountain high's


Bow River Lake and Glacier

This place is tiny, well in comparison to Banff and Lake Louise it is. Visiting at that in-between time, when the ski season is done, and the hiking-mountain biking season yet to begin, and without the influx of tourists, it felt a little like a ghost town. Not more than 1/2 a dozen streets make up the town centre, and the only folks around were the locals. We stayed long enough for some digi-pics to be burnt to cdee-rom and a late lunch to be had, and were off, back down the same road we came.


Jasper Main Street


Aussie Rules on the road in the Rockies!

This was the only night of the trip that the lads didn't hit the town when we got home. It was straight to bed - we were totally spent, but oh-my-god, what a great day!

rockin road trip in the rockies...Day 1 and 2

G'day,

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!....................................YAY!!!!!!

I've just spent the most amazing 6 days scootin' all over Southern British Columbia and the Rocky Mountains with 3 other Aussie lads, Paul, Darryl and Reggie (also known to his mother as Marcus). Thankfully, we avoided any renditions of really bad and really old John Denver tunes (Rocky Mountain High anyone?) - actually, until just now, i hadn't even thought of it.......my more-cheese-please sensibilities are slipping (some would say that's a good thing!!).

We'd arranged for me to be picked up at 8-ish last Friday morn, so that we'd get a nice, fresh, early start on the road. I remember the text convo distinctly "Shall i train it downtown to you guys, or will you pick me up from east van?"...."Save the trip, we'll pick u up, c u at 8-8.30"......These boys being country lads from Ballarat an' all, of course that was never going to happen......I was ready at 8.30am.....i got picked up at 10.30am. Coulda used that extra 2 hours snooze!


Road to Revelstoke

Our first overnight stop was to be at Revelstoke, a mere 600Km away along the Trans Canada Highway #1 - roughly 6 hours if you don't stop. We took 12. We stopped a lot. First, barely 2 hours in, for some hangover-revitalising Red Bull (them, not me) at Hope, a tiny 2 horse hick town where there doesn't seem to be lot to be hoping for. Then, a random turn off the highway up a back road for a change of scenery and a view over the hills - and a kick of the footy. One of the lads brilliantly thought to bring an Aussie Rules football on the road, the only drawback being that it was emblazoned with the Essendon Bombers logo all over it! This footy featured in our extra-curricular activities more than a handful of times on the road.


Trans-Canada Highway #1 to Banff

Other stops included lunch at Kamloops, for the worst KFC ever known to man - in fact, KFC's all over North America suck the big one, then Salmon Arm for a view over the Shaswup Lake and another round of footy. We also pulled in at Craigellachie to see the "golden spike" which marked the completion of the trans-continental railway here in November, 1885. Really, it's fascinating! Oh, and also a little spot called Crazy Creek - a wanna-be tourist attraction centred around a small suspension bridge over-looking a very pretty waterfall, and a vague promise of some bear-spotting in the surrounding woods...we never saw any.

Were we ever going to make it to Revelstoke?

In the end we did, checking into the Samesun Backpackers - a bargain at $16 each per night four our own 4-bed dorm room. After a long hard days driving (or cruising in the back seat, as the case may be) we were all ready for a beer or two, and to check out the town's nightlife. A few early-starters in the room before we headed out got us in the mood, and then we were off to paint the town. With the winter snow-season finished, and the summer biking-hiking season not yet in full swing, the town was kinda (read: very) quiet....not a whole lot going on to be honest. But that didn't stop us leaving an impression on the place, particularly on the cute blonde waitress, Molly, at our restaurant. Actually, to be honest, I shudder to think what she thinks of Australian men after we exited the premises! The local nightclub was next to feel our impact, the Ballarat lads really going to town, fuelled by the flask of Jameson's whiskey that Reggie had on hand, terrorising the local female clubbing population.


Revelstoke Main Street

Staggering out of there at some ungodly hour, we stumbled back towards the hostel. Daryl found a pushbike not locked up and entertained us by scooting around on it, quite a laugh given that it was a bright pink girls bike with a floral basket on front. Too bad we couldn't get our cameras out quick enough before he was told in no uncertain terms by a drunken, local lad to 'put the f-ing bike back where you found it!!'

Next morning, hangovers in tow, breakfast beckoned us to a local cafe, where once again, the waitresses would have been left with quite an impression of loud, rowdy Aussie blokes, and then we were off - destination Canmore, a small town just the other side of Banff. Taking a direct non-stop route, this would be a 3 hour, 300Km piece of cake drive. This being a sprawling, spread-eagled Aussies-on-tour road trip, we stretched it out to 7-8 hours with a 250Km detour, going via the Radium Hot Springs. Upon arriving here mid afternoon, expecting a scenic natural setting with open wilderness surrounding pools, we were highly disappointed to find a hugely commercialised spot, teeming with screaming kids, that looked pretty much exactly like ur local council outdoor swimming pool. I thought that the inground pools at the entrance were just an added attraction for the kiddies to play in, but they were actually it!!! If you ever think about checking it out, my word of advice....Don't bother. A little stop a bit further down the road for a kick of the footy by the side of the highway, with the looming, majestic, snow capped, granite Rockies as a backdrop revived out spirits somewhat after that disappointment, and then we were on our way again. Earlier in the day, we had passed thru the Glacier National Park - a bit of a giveaway name as to what we would see, but this was our first real, decent glimpse of the beginnings of the Rocky Mountains. To say that we were slightly gobsmacked by the grandeur of them would be to make the understatement of the day. Little were we to know just how much better it would get. We knew it would, but our pre-conceived perceptions would be surpassed many, many times over.

Arriving in Canmore to check into our motel that was home for the next 4 nights, I was more than impressed with the vista just across the street - an extensive scape of the ubiquitous jagged edged granite mountains that would become the mainstay of out trip. So close, they were practically within touching distance.


our Motel in Canmore

Our second night started off with a fantastic steakhouse dinner - this area of the world is famed for its steaks, and then the lads went out on the town again, once again fuelled by a bottle of Jameson's consumed before the revelry began. I stayed in. I wasn't up for it. In a pinch, these guys can drink waaaaaayy more than I can, and I didn't want to wake up feeling the way i did that morning.

Day 3 and 4 to come...

Tony