
Our return to the UK on Sunday as a married couple begins a new era in our lives but we leave Canada behind with some vivid memories and an immediate passion to return. As yet I've not posted anything on one of the highlights of our trip The
Rocky Mountaineer. The problem lies in the amount of information needed to describe such an incredible journey, the sights we encountered were altogether breathtaking. Below is the most briefest of descriptions.
Having spent our first couple of days sightseeing in Vancouver we arrived at the Rocky Mountaineer Station at around 6.30am on the 10th to board the train for our dream journey. Having received the traditional call of “all aboard” we took our seats as Gold passengers in the observation deck and enjoying bucks-fizz left for our first stop of Kamloops, which was approximately 10 hours away. We could not have asked for better weather, 20C and cloudless skies.
The Kicking Horse Route named for the pass over which it crosses the Canadian Rockies takes you between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Banff, Alberta. This route traces the historic transcontinental rail line that united Canada's East and West and includes, amongst other highlights, the legendary
Spiral Tunnels.
Leaving the outskirts of Vancouver it wasn’t long before the snow-capped Coast Mountains came into view, soaring majestically to heights of over 9,000ft. After a breakfast of salmon, scrambled eggs and caviar, served in the lower deck, we continued our journey alongside the fast running Fraser River with breathtaking views, passing the famous
Fort Langley en route. Continuing on we had great views of Mount Baker (10,778ft) which lies across the border in the USA and by this time we had already had sightings of several Bald Eagle and Osprey.
After lunch we left the Fraser River and began to follow the Thomson River that would accompany us through to Kamloops. Indeed the name Kamloops is an old First Nation word meaning joining of the rivers. Here the landscape took a distinct change, being slightly more baron and filled with Ponderosa Pine. It was shortly after this we first sighted a Black Bear, who was foraging alongside the river, an astonishing site! We arrived in Kamloops at 5.14 pm with vivid memories of some breathtaking scenery, incredible wildlife and were taken by coach to the Thomson Hotel after what can only be described as a most incredible day.
We were picked up at 6.15am the following morning and returned to the Mountaineer for day 2 of this inspiring journey. A short while after leaving we bid farewell to the Thomson River and joined the Eagle River which would accompany us for a short while. Later we passed the stone cairn of
Craigellachie where the last railroad spike was driven linking Canada’s railway from coast to coast. The landmark is named after a large rock in Banffshire County, Scotland where Donald Smith, who drove in the last spike, had grown up.
Still enjoying stunning scenery we crossed the Columbian River, the 3rd largest in Canada climbing a further 2500ft where we encountered two more Black Bear. Shortly after, we crossed into Rocky Mountain country and incredibly the scenery became even more stunning. We eventually arrived in Banff, our chosen wedding venue, at around 5.30pm having had one of the most amazing experiences of our lives and one which will live forever.
Our route is perhaps the most scenic & certainly the most historically-significant route to choose, as it travels over the famous Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada's first trans-continental line opened in 1885. It's the original 'Rocky Mountaineer' route on which the company first started in 1990, when the last regular passenger trains on the line were discontinued. You'll pass Castle Mountain, the pretty station at Lake Louise, the continental divide, the much-photographed
Stoney Creek bridge, the site of the 1885 'Last Spike' and the wonderfully-scenic Thompson & Fraser river canyons.