ACROSS CANADA BY TRAIN NO. 2 of 2
In Nomad News No. 97, I had just arrived in Jasper after traversing the Canadian Rockies from near Lake Louise. Tremendous. Exciting. Massive. Stupendous. Words can't describe the wonders of he Rockies. I have seen the American Rockies and the Alps but nothing compares to the unending beauty of the Canadian Rockies and I still have some to go.
After a day in the Jasper area, the seemingly unending beauty continued most of the way to Vancouver. The highlight of this last lap was Mount Robson with an elevation of 12,972 feet and one of the highest peaks in the range with it's massive snow and ice-covered cap. As I recall, the train made kind of a semi-loop around the mountain as we had views from several angles. The trip from Jasper to Vancouver was overnight and for some reason I could not get a compartment. We arrived around 6 a.m. and without hardly any sleep, I was worn out. I went directly to my hotel and slept most of the day.
I was up at 6.00 a.m., had breakfast, then located the airport which was a couple of miles out of the city. I rented a Gruman American low wing airplane, and planned to fly to Mount Baker in Washington state. I forget the model but she was a four-place and turned out to be the most comfortable airplane I had ever flown. I don't know what it was but we became instant friends. She was quiet with good 360-degree visibility, and responded to the controls like we had been together for hours. She settled in the air just like a good wooden boat settles in the water. I wanted to loop her in the worst way but I had taken one of the personnel from the airport with me so I wouldn't have any problem with local flying restrictions, crossing the border, etc. and he said: "no no".
As we took off, I could see Mount Baker about fifty miles to the south. As the mountain's elevation is 10,781-feet, I started a slow climb so I would be at that elevation on arrival. As we approached, there were four o five little specks on the mountain's top. The specks turned out to be people on snow shoes. There were several active volcanic holes, emitting hot steam, that didn't look friendly. We circled the mountain a couple of times, and then headed back to Vancouver. Upon return, the airport operator told me the folks on the mountain were probably scientists checking things out as the mountain had been acting up lately.
The next day I took the ferry boat to Vancouver Island where the city of Victoria is located. The island, 290 miles in length, is the largest Pacific Island east of New Zealand. I believe the city is noted for some gardens but, if so, they didn't leave any permanent impression on my memory. The net day was more interesting. I took the Royal Hudson Steam Train to Squamich, about a two-hour ride. I had always been fascinated by train travel and the opportunity to travel in a train from the 1930s was something I couldn't pass up. The train had either been maintained in mint condition or restored. We arrived for lunch and I believe we were there for a couple of hours until it was time to return. Squamich was an old town, as well as I can recall.
The following day I departed for Ottawa, this time by the southern route. The return was straight through with no overnight stops. I had a compartment and a Dome Car so the Labatt 50 problem was taken care of. I don't recall if we spent one night or two nights on the road. All in all it was a great trip and one to be remembered, even if a bit hazy. (copyright 2014 - Andrew M. Dolan
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