ACROSS CANADA BY TRAIN -No. 1 of 2
I have mentioned a couple of times that once upon a time, I owned a plot of land on Clear Lake, Ontario along with five fishermen friends. Over the years we met a lot of "locals" and became quite friendly with a few. Two were Art and Kathy Eberhard. Art called everyone "Chicky". The Eberhards lived in Ottawa and had a summer home on Clear Lake. One year I decided to take the train from Ottawa to Vancouver. The Eberhards invited me to stay overnight with them in Ottawa, leave my car in their driveway, and then took me to the train and picked me up on my return.
I had a compartment so I could take a nap when I felt like it, the train had a Dome Car, I believe they called it, where I could sip my Labatt 50 Ale and watch the scenery go by. I also scheduled an overnight stop at Winnipeg, Edmonton and Jasper. The first day, I saw nothing but trees and more trees. From Winnipeg to Edmonton, it was sunflowers. They're still embedded in my mind. I rented a car and stayed a day in and around Winnipeg. I can't remember anything special about the area although I did visit a zoo that was quite nice.
The following morning I checked the schedule to find the train was three hours late. Today, I compare this to the European fast trains that operate on such a punctual schedule. Through the sunflowers to Edmonton where I had scheduled a day stayover.The train is four hours late in arriving. In the morning I rented a car and drove around the area. Here again, I don't recall anything outstanding except the zoo may have been in Edmonton. I was up at five the next morning and checked on the train. It will arrive six hours late. My original schedule would have given me nearly a day at Jasper, near the northern end of the Rockies. I thought this would give me enough time to ride around and sight see the Rockies at that point pretty good. With this unexpected time problem, this wasn't going to happen. I still had the car so I pulled my map out. The road south from Edmonton to Calgary, about fifty miles east of Lake Louise, was straight as an arrow. The distance was 185 miles. I figured I could drive to Lake Louise and then back up to Jasper through the Rockies and arrive about 8 p.m. The decision was made. It was "wide open" all the way with my fingers crossed that the law would not be out that early.
My sheltering angel, which I wasn't aware of at that time in my life, must have been with me as I made it without mishap. From Calgary, I could see the Rockies for the first time in my life. I stopped for a bite of breakfast, filled the gas tank, then hit the road. I bypassed Lake Louise and Banff as they were a little distance off the main road. I had a 35mm camera and every time I came to a spectacular view, I would pull off the road, place the car in neutral, leave the engine running, hop out, take the picture and then reverse the process. This went on for miles, one spectacular view followed by one even more spectacular.The Canadian Rockies are distinct from the American Rockies as glaciers have produced sharply pointed mountains and deeply gouged valleys. The American Rockies are more rounded.
Around noon I arrived at what proved to be the only emporium the entire distance. I picked up a Coke and something to eat on the road. There was a sign pointing to some water falls on the left of the highway. As they were about a hundred yards, I decided to take a look. I pulled into the parking area, following my usual process. Here, however, the falls were not visible and no one was around, I decided to lock the car and pushed down the lock button, shut the door and as I did, I realized the key was in the ignition and the engine was running. Too late. I was locked out in the middle of the Rockies. My first thought was: Break the window. Luckily, the window was down about an inch, so I decided to walk back to the store and see if they had a wire coat hanger that I could use to hook the button. The gentleman was very nice. After some rummaging around, he found one. He loaned me a pair of pliers, I fashioned the tool, and on the first try, hooked the knob and pulled it. I returned the pliers but kept the coat hanger in case I should pull that stupid stunt again. From that point on, I always kept the window open about an inch.
A short time later, I arrived at the Columbia Ice Fields; a glacier that was about fifty yards from the highway. There were several cars stopped there and the occupants were walking on the ice. I decided to take the time and join them, which I did. About four o'clock I came upon a Ranger Station. As it appeared, I wasn't going to make Jasper by 8 p.m. so I stopped to see if they had a phone that I could call the hotel and tell them I might be a little late, but that I would be there. There was no phone but the Ranger told me he would radio the information through to the hotel. I thanked him, and then hit the road. I pulled into the hotel parking lot at 8:05. How's that for planning?
This is getting a little lengthy, so I am going to sign off and continue on Nomad News No. 98(copyright 2014-Andrew M. Dolan)
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