Vancouver, Alaska and the Rocky Mountains

The problem is where to start and where to finish?  Not the journey, as that was well prescribed in the Itinerary and in much detail.  But, so much was seen and experienced that the problem is how to condense it into something reasonably brief, and pick a selection from the many photographs!

The trip consisted of three parts, a Cruise to Alaska, a Rocky Mountaineer train trip and some time in Vancouver before, in between, and after them.  It was another of my top three Bucket List things to do before slipping off the mortal coil and, oh yes, it did fulfil expectation.  Rather more accurately, it overflowed it!

We were extremely lucky with weather, being told many times and in different places how exceptional it was.  We had one day of drizzle that didn’t stop us doing anything, and lots of bright blue sky and sunshine.  Most of where we were is temperate rain forest, some with high annual rainfall, and we hit it just right even though it was getting to the end of the season.

Memories include breath-taking scenery, glaciers, logging, humpback whales, Dall (black and white) porpoises, Steller sea lions, salmon spawning, two black bears, elk, bald eagles, turquoise rivers and lakes.  We didn’t see any grizzly bears in the wild, but we did see two adult orphans in captivity.  Oh yes, we enjoyed outstanding seafood and sampling of British Columbia’s wine too!

Vancouver presented itself as a clean and pleasant city with history, and growth through significant immigration – 50% of the population speak English as a second language, and the 30% are Chinese, both Cantonese and Mandarin.  But, everyone seems to get along well and there does seem to be good integration.  

It’s a busy port and is also the 3^rd largest centre for the film industry, which was news to us.  Big names were mentioned many times and in different set locations, the area’s diverse scenery making it attractive and Vancouver is also a technical centre of excellence.

Our cruise took us through the Inside Passage to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and a return through the Inside Passage to Vancouver, with hardly any movement on the calm sea.  We enjoyed several shore excursion experiences. 

Our Rocky Mountaineer train trip took us to Kamloops and Jasper, then a coach journey from there via the Icefield Parkway to Lake Louise and Banff, returning from there by train via Kamloops to Vancouver.

Float-plane trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island

Took off from Vancouver's and landed in Victoria's harbour - handy!

The pilot presented the safety video, of himself, from his iPad.  Such is progress!

British Columbia's Parliament House in Victoria

We also enjoyed a visit to their excellent museum nearby

H2O Taxi in Victoria harbour - neat!

Our return to Vancouver was by bus and ferry.

Capilano Suspension Bridge on Grouse Mountain, Vancouver.

It was rather heaving with people, but was impressive nonetheless.

First built over 100 years ago, it has been upgraded several times.

Tree walk at Capilano Bridge among the tall firs and pines.

Not very!

Grinder and Coola at Grouse Mountain Sanctuary

Bottom to top and down again, in 14 secs!

Good fun lumberjack show, but genuine and real skills!

Well that's probably enough of Vancouver.  There was lots more - a walk through Stanley Park, bigger than NY's Central, eating out in Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House etc, but a trip wouldn't be complete without a couple of Harleys, in Gas Town, Vancouver:

Oh my, those scallops!

So, getting onto that cruise ship and off to Alaska:

Obligatory photo on boarding!

Sunrise near Tracey Arm en route to Juneau

ms Zuiderdam at Juneau

Inaccessible by road, but the State capital of Alaska nonetheless

Was it really necessary for two US Coastguard boats to accompany us into Juneau with manned machine guns so overtly threatening any misbehaviour?  Good old US Shock and Awe.  I think most of us were underwhelmed or didn't notice, but I guess their egos were reinforced by their potential firepower.

Humpbacks blowing near Juneau

One breached, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera, damn!

Stellar sea lions making a racket near Juneau

Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau

Falls by Mendenhall.  Note the scale from the size of the people!

A 200 year old chunk of ice on display at Mendenhall

I also saw some sock-eye salmon in the very shallow river nearby, en route to spawning.

Skagway, a frontier town of the Yukon Gold Rush, viewed from ms Zuiderdam.  One main street and a population about that of Church Lench.

Old snow plough train in Skagway

Zuiderdam, just visible at the end of main street of Skagway!

Oh yeah, I really just needed another HD T-shirt!

It really was quite a frontier place where the prospectors got going in the harsh conditions of the gold rush.  At the outset, all their supplies for up to a year (compulsory I recall) had to be hauled manually, until the railway track opened to White Pass, and that could take months.  Many failed to find gold, or perished.

Jean strikes a pose on a caboose!

Then, we took a boat trip down to Glacier Point, where we boarded a canoe and paddled (well a wee bit until we got tired and they started the motor!) to the foot of a glacier and had a walk around:

It got more and more cold as we got closer

A great experience, but it WAS cold!

From Skagway, we then sailed overnight into Glacier Bay, a wilderness National Park with controlled access, accompanied by Rangers who boarded as we arrived in the early morning.  We passed and got up pretty close, despite the large vessel, to some seriously hefty glaciers, sailing through water coloured turquoise by rock flour - rock finely ground by the glaciers' movement, which causes limited refraction in the water depending on light - as well as some substantial lumps of ice.  Where it was windy, it was cold, but it was quite an awesome experience.  Bear in mind that the photos are taken from deck 11 on the ship to give you some idea of size when up close.

Lamplugh Glacier

John Hopkins Glacier

Some large chunks on the move

Marjerie Glacier

Blue colour in the ice due to pressure and compression changing the refraction.

Interestingly, this ice is so compressed that it will release 5 times as much water as cubes from a freezer.

Gives some idea of its height from the 11th deck, from nearby

Cracks open in the centre of the glacier to create crevasses as it moves

We saw some small calving from the face of the glacier, hearing the cracks as they broke away and splashed into the sea.  Then, we sailed overnight to Ketchikan, which proclaims itself as the salmon capital of the World:

Float plane to Misty Fjords near Ketchikan

Landing in the fjord,we just got out on the floats, no warnings or disclaimers.  Now that WAS unusual for this litigation-minded nation!

Then, our pilot did some fancy flying over hills goat spotting and we saw a few!

Back to Ketchikan

Its claim of salmon capital appeared substantiated as we saw lots of live and dead salmon in the small river, being the middle of the spawning season.

Other than all that, it was just lots and lots of boring scenery, with mountains higher than Everest when measured from the seabed as opposed to sea level, sunshine, blue skies, great dining on board, a few cocktails (Jean found a liking for Mojitos), and quite a few very informative lectures given to help us understand it all better.  The scenery that is, not the cocktails!

You're doing well to hang in this far!

So, cruise done, a bit more of the Vancouver touring (merged in above), it was a very early start, but with very efficient organisation, and it was off on the Rocky Mountaineer:

Double deck coach, viewing on the top, restaurant below, the only way to go!

Rock sheds on the other line to protect the track from falls in Avalanche Alley

The protection also includes wire sensors to detect falls so that trains can be stopped.

Freight train on the other (Canadian National) line

The treacherous waters of Hell's Gate

Rock colours determined by mineral content

Freight train on the other line

Lots of very long freight trains passed, one 174 cars long!

Much of the line each side (Canadian Pacific and National lines) is single track so either we or the other had to stop in a siding to pass.  Some of the freight trains were too long to fit in some of the sidings.  A couple of train buffs on the trip were into counting!

The CP line was built first, forcing CN to take the tougher side in places, but they now share tracks for efficiency and it gave us the opportunity to travel up one and back on the other between Vancouver and Kamloops.

We saw salmon in several places, hundreds of miles inland to spawn, and First Nations fishermen trying to catch some with both nets and lines.

Arrival in Jasper

By the time we got to Jasper, we had traversed the desert area that includes Kamloops and then climbed into the Rockies, passing its highest mountain with snow and ice on the top.

Our accommodation was at Fairmont Jasper Lodge, an idyllic log cabin development by two lakes, and with elk wandering around:

All bulls are regarded as dangerous, but the females get a white collar fitted if they have shown dangerous behaviour, which our coach driver described as going to the 'principal's office'!

From Jasper, it was coach along the Icefields Parkway via Lake Lousie, another Fairmont stop at their Chateau, then onward to Banff.

You're doing remarkably well to be here, well done!

We had stops along the way at some great scenic spots, where the pictures speak for themselves, and saw a black bear by the roadside foraging for berries:

Athabascar Falls

Athabascar Glacier - in retreat over many years

Out on the glacier!

Big boy - the tyre that is!

11km long and 1km wide, but still receding

Peyto Lake

Glacier run-off enters the lake with rock flour and gives it its colour

Bow Lake, several glaciers feed it and it's Banff's main water supply

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

Quite a pile there on its own

These large hotels were started by the railroad top draw in the tourists and help pay for its construction

A fondue just seemed so right..............

finished off with Toberlone of course! So very alpine.

The glacier at the end of the lake

Quite ingenious and learned from the Swiss

How to take excess gradient out of the railway track by creating two spiral tunnels with entrance and exit at different elevations.

Long freight train exits the inclining tunnel (top left) while the rest is still entering (bottom right)

Then it loops round the contour and enters the second one mid right.

And we had the benefit of going downhill through these on the way back from Banff!

The railroad really is an astonishing feat of engineering and determination.  It took 20 years to find the first route through the Rockies, there were many deaths, difficulties and very slow progress during its building, finance ran out at times, but the vision of those involved thoroughly deserves recognition.  A fear was that British Columbia would integrate with Alaska, at that time a property of Russia until purchased by the US.

Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park near Lake Louise

Emerald Lake

Room with a view from Rimrock Resort Hotel, Banff

And in the early morning

Or over breakfast!

Helicopter tour from Kananaskis near Banff

Lake Minnewanka

Banff - small, controlled development, very pretty and nestled in the Rockies

Rimrock Resort Hotel, mid right, viewed from Sulphur Mountain gondola

Banff from Sulphur Mountain

Jean yomped to the top of this adjacent hill and took a few selphies! I flimed.

So, you're still hanging in there and it's time to start the journey back to Kamloops and Vancouver.  During this, we saw lots of bald eagles, a couple of ospreys, plus their nests, and a black bear by the riverside.  I was amused to hear that ospreys like to build their nests on telephone poles.  So, the phone company, once the nest is established, put up another pole nearby and then move it, but the ospreys don't notice and everyone's happy!

A frosty start from Banff

But the sun came through as we descended 4,000' to Kamloops

Kicking Horse River

Colombia River

Cisco Crossing, where the CP and CN lines cross over

North and South Thompson Rivers combine with different temperatures and suspensions of rock flour

And remain distinguishable for about 3km after the confluence

Another freight train passes by

Sunrise in Kamloops

More mineral bearing rock

Hoodoos - soft rock eroded by water

And, finally, back to Vancouver

What a journey and I'm impressed that you have made it this far.  That's outstanding perseverance!

The photos and words do small justice to what was an awesome experience.  The memories will be lasting and triggered by the many more photos than those included here.  The scenery has been simply superb and the organisation was very slick in the main on both the cruise and the train segments.  We met a few people along the way too.  Canada still beckons and there is much of the area visited that remains undiscovered.  Perhaps by another means at some time in the future?