After another rest stop we arrived in Valemount. Doug explained before arriving where we could go for a beer. After the check-in, many of us went to the pub Doug had explained but unfortunately, they had closed a while ago because of few people. Some of us asked for another place to get a beer, and the others got something to drink from the gas station near the hotel.
Saturday 2nd of September 2006
The busiest day started at 7 o'clock with a phone ring. Doug had told us the day before that the phone would ring at this time to get up. After the breakfast we checked out, took a seat in the bus and Norm drove us to Mount Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. As a Swiss guy, it wasn’t so breath-taking, the highest mountains in my country are much higher then Mt. Robson. On the other hand, I can understand the Canadians. Mt. Robson has a beautiful surrounding of other mountains and the whole area is vast. I think there is more space for every mountain then the mountains have in Switzerland. This wideness is the difference between the Rockies and the Alps in Europe.
After Mt. Robson, Doug told us to have our visas ready for Alberta because we would have to cross the border to Alberta soon. For a moment it was silent in the bus, then some people realized the joke and began to laugh. After that, Doug told us to change the time to mountain time and this wasn’t a joke.
We arrived in Jasper, a town in the Rockies were all tourists must have seen, but our stop was only for buying lunch. It is a town where most of the citizens live from the tourism. The town is on the north end of the Icefield Parkway. Along this highway there are many glaciers and also the most famous and second biggest one in the world, the Columbia Icefield. On the way to the Columbia Icefield we also saw the Maligne Canyon and the Athabasca Falls.
We took a stop at the Columbia Icefield. Doug gave us a tour of the ice field, so we had to change the vehicle to a special one for exploring the ice field. The driver of this vehicle told us, that a company in Calgary developed this vehicle and built 25 of them. 24 are in the area of the ice field and one is used in Alaska by an oil company. This vehicle took us to the ice field, were we went out. It was a gorgeous feeling to be on the ice field and the view down to the bottom was beautiful. After this side trip we went back to our normal bus and Norm drove us to Canmore. It was a busy day, but we had learned that Canada is a vast country with an interesting face like an old Inuit, in which you can read and see so many different things and you can discover things still unknown.
After the check in the people went out for dinner and the night life. I was in a group of people who were looking for a good restaurant, which we found after a walk through the Main Street asking some citizens. The dinner was very good and the waiter and waitress very friendly. After dinner we went to the pub which was located not far from the hotel. It was a typical and very loud Canadian Pub with a live band, crowded with nice Canadian girls and strong Canadian boys drinking beer. Some guys were dancing and others were playing billiards or standing together and talking – simply a Canadian Pub.
Sunday, 3rd of September 2006
Finally Sunday! So we could sleep longer than as the day before. Olivia and I didn't take advantage of that possibility and instead we got up early enough for a real Canadian Breakfast. For us it brought back memories of the last time when we were here: "Our heart beats a Canadian rhythm". When we left the hotel, the three sisters welcomed us. The three sisters are mountains like Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in Switzerland. Norm drove us to the Banff Gondola, where we took a ride to the top. On the top, and because of the beautiful weather, we had a such stunning view over the Canadian Rockies, you wouldn't believe if you weren't there. Such a vast country! Such beautiful nature! Awesome! You feel yourself so small, so insignificant in this huge and great nature.
After Banff, along the Castle Mountain, we arrived at Lake Louise. On the way, Doug explained us why the lakes have this intense color. He knows a lot about the Rockies and shared this with us, so we learned as much as we could. By now, many thanks to Doug and I’m sure he will become a very good teacher.
Lake Louise! Olivia and I climbed to a view point. The effort that we made rewarded us with an awesome view over the lake and the castle. At the view point I found an explanation about the history of the castle. After Lake Louise we stopped at the Emerald Lake before we arrived at the next hotel in Golden. That evening the dinner was a BBQ on a campfire. The most important event happened after the BBQ. Two nice ladies gave us a lesson in Canadian Line dancing. You can believe me, after this lesson all the students except myself could more or less do the line dance. At the beginning I was also in line, but then it became faster and faster and I couldn't follow. I was astonished by the ladies because they took a fitness lesson by running around the group to show the steps for dancing. Because of the line dancing lesson most of the students slept very well.
Monday, 4th of September 2006 (Labor day)
We got up very early because of the long way back to Vancouver. After a simple breakfast we left Golden. On the way back Doug told us that we had about 600 km in front of us. We took stops at the place where the Trans Canadian Railway was finished and at the Othello Tunnels, an old and unused part of the Railway. But nothing could top what we had seen in the Rockies.
I told Olivia: "The next time we go back to Canada, we will rent a car in Calgary and visit the Rockies again on the way to Vancouver. It was so amazing that we have to come back."
Finally I will also say many thanks to Norm for driving so safely and to Simon who planned this wonderful trip.
Ernst Siegenthaler |
