Stark raving contrasts

Toronto :: Canada

Back to the Rockies - part the second.

Places: Banff & Edmonton.

Coolest thing I did: Stood atop Sulfur Mountain for possibly the best view of the whole trip.

Coolest thing I didn´t know: The reason all those mountain lakes are that spooky light blue colour is the water is filled with minerals from the melted glaciers. I don't understand it, but that explaination sounds plausible enough.

It's funny how the memory can play tricks on you. I really recall the town of Banff being a rather small and cozy place but after Jasper and Lake Louise it seemed like pulling into a small metropolis. The caveat is that most small metropolises don't have such a perfect setting but still I felt a little let down (or perhaps forgetful). I guess it was that much colder in March to keep people indoors or out on the ski slopes so I didn't notice it being so large last time. I just don't recall their being THAT many ski shops and starbucks coffee houses.

As it's such a short drive from Lake Louise we pretty much had our last full day to do all things Banff. We chose to do the 2 hour walk right up the side of Sulfur Mountain and managed to overtake all comers and get to the top in less than 90 mins. As the only other option is one of the steepest Gondalas I've ever seen (both in price and gradient) it was a far more rewarding way to see the place. I'ts about 5km total trail with an elevation of 250m and the view from the top is like nothing else. There is an old weather station at the peak that has 360 degree views down the valley into Banff and over the border to the B.C. side of the mountains. If it wasn't for the Gondala disgourging thousands of loud, fat, smelly, baseball cap wearing, RV driving hicks at about the same time as we got there it would have been perfect. I love the Rockies but after 4 days I was kind of sick of most of the bus and RV people that seem to inhabit it. I think being in one of the range's most beautiful spots and having it chock full of humanity sums the whole thing up really. It's bitter sweet.

After the trip back down we went for a soak in the 40 degree stinky water of the hot springs that are powered by the sulfur that give the mountain it's name. The facilities that mean you have to pay are modelled in the old school 30s style, which is nice but again, all of humanity seems to have decided to find a gap on the side of the pool and take a seat. Still, after days of hiking it was all very relaxing and nice.

Instead of holing up in the Samesun we booked into for the night we decided to have a good old drink at the St James Gate in town, then authentic (you guessed it) Irish drinking establishment that must exist in every human settlement on Earth over 25 people. It was a goodun and the Steak and Guiness pie is highly recommended.

Our last day was spent trying to make it back to Edmonton in time to catch our plane. Three things about the day stand out.

Canmore is the first town just outside the national park and it shows. As development is in no way hampered as it is inside the park the town is growing and fast. It's worth a look, if only for the fact that everyone looks like they are out of South Park but I wouldn't stay unless it's ski season and staying too close to the slopes is out of your price range. The Three Sisters (which I thought us Aussies had copyrighted) which stand over the town are very impressive, again in a different way to every other mountain range we saw in the trip. The cool thing about the Rockies is the scenery keeps changing. You haven't seen all the variety your going to see even in the first couple of days.

The Alberta Bahn, the stretch of road between Calgary and Edmonton has to be the most boring peice of asphalt man ever drove an automobile on. It's dead straight, long and so flat you can still see the Rockies even hundreds of kilometres away if you look over your shoulder. You also get to see the joys that rapid urbanisation can bring. The treeless suburbs of Calgary are built in a uniform grey and the McMansions seem to go on forever. It's not something you can fully explain without seeing it but it does bring out a sense of despair for modern society. Only the pure pursuit of profit can produce something so truly uninspiring as this. Add to this our lunchtime stop in Red Deer, a single old street of vintage buildings surrounded by Walmarts, Safeways and Home Deports and you can see the way things are going out here. There is something to be said about cities that grow slowly and gain character over time, rather than a massive expansion that causes all this sameness and ultra effiecient design.

The last big gem wasn't Edmonton itself, as that's really a shell of a town now, but rather the West Edmonton Mall, one of the wonders of the retail world. It may or may not be the world's biggest shopping centre any more but it must be close if its not. Not only does it have 800+ stores but it has drawn most of the community activity out of the downtown and into it's muzac playing clutches. Inside the masses of space it's got a theme park, submarine ride, ice rink and even an indoor beach and water slide park. I know people don't want to go outside much when its 30 degrees below but there is something sinister about being cooped up inside where the main option is to shop. This much consumption quite frankly is scary but fascinating to watch at the same time.

The best thing about the mall is right in the middle is a bronze statue of three oil workers taping a well. None of what you see around you in that monument to retail would be possible without the rapid infusion of oil money into the communities of Alberta. It's like Dubai with cowboy hats. It will be interesting to see what happens when they eventually run out of the black stuff and whether that mall becomes a relic of a bygone era. I can just see people coming into the interior from the coasts of Canada in 50 years and seeing these ruins, kind of like the pyramids or Ankor Wat, poking out of the plains. I can see them scratching their heads wondering what on Earth those three blokes are doing.

All in all I think the Rockies was one of the best things I've done since arriving in Canada, both with and without snow. I think it's one of those places that could keep drawing me back as long as I am still able.

Compulsive Photography

Toronto :: Canada

Back to the Rockies - part the first.

Places: Edmonton, Jasper & Lake Louise.

Coolest thing I did: Went white water rafting for the first time ever.

Coolest thing I didn´t know: Alberta has only been a place on the map since 100 years ago last weekend. I would never have known that had they not been celebrating when I arrived.

Let's be honest here, when you decide to drop everything and go to Canada you aren't going to see the cities. You get this idea in your head about snow-capped mountains reflected in crystal clear lakes and all lots and lots of pine trees. The cliches are endless. Since arriving in the country in March I've done a fair bit of going out into the touristed wilds to see all these things for myself but nothing compares to the Rocky Mountains national parks (both Jasper and Banff) in the task of providing the great Canadian outdoors. The only thing remotely like it I've seen is the Austrian or Slovenian Alps and even these seem like pale imitations when compared to North America's most famous mountains.

The plan was simple enough, give Budget a huge wad of our hard earned money and drive ourselves for 5 days in a round trip from Edmonton to see as much as possible in such a limited time. You could spend a lifetime out there and not see a fraction of what is on offer but the best bits that can be seen on a whirlwind trip are spectacular enough to leave you wanting more.

One thing that gets you is you start trying to take millions of pictures to get that perfect shot of mountains reflected in misty aqua lakes surrounded by pine forrests and it takes up a lot of time. You can't help yourself. Take a picture, walk 5 metres and the next potential masterpiece of a photo presents itself, usually the same thing as you last photographed, only at a slightly more impressive angle. It's crazy, but you feel like you will never be able to explain how beautiful the place is because every picture you've ever seen of the place (and trust me, you've seen lots, even if you don't realise it) doesn't do it justice in the flesh.

Glaciers were something new to me. I wanted to walk on a glacier in Norway on my grand European adventure but was unable to as I was a fortnight too early for the roads to be opened in Fjordland. However there are more than enough glaciers to go around in Jasper and walk on them we did. Halfway down the Icefields Parkway, which must rate as the most scenic road in the world, is the Columbia Icefields with no end of glaciers. The one most easily walked on can be reached from the car park in minutes and it's simple enough to trudge out onto it you could probably do it in ugh boots. To go out onto the glacier proper you need to get on a tour on this bus with monster truck wheels but that didn't appeal so much.

I like the sheer pragmatism of the Canadians. All the way up to the glacier are posted stories of people who didn't obey the warnings and signs, slipped into one of the cracks in the glacier and died of hypothermia before they could be rescued. No promises of liability, no one to sue, just if you do something stupid like cross the fence and get trapped in the ice we will try and save you but you will probably die. I prefer this approach to the American way of doing things ("These Penut M&Ms may contain nuts or traces of nuts").

Jasper is a nice place to stay, much smaller than Banff but with enough of a population to support actual commerce. This meant a choice of places to stay and eat, which was something Lake Louise suprised us with. The village of Lake Louise consists of a mall, a petrol station & a single resteruant. The rest is hotels. With hindsight we may have decided on two nights in Banff and one in Jasper. Still after entire days of walking up mountains and stuff like that being in bed by 9 is the usual rather than the exception.

After the experinces of deep fried everything in the back country of Ontario the food in Alberta is much more to my liking. Red meat abounds and I think I put away the best steak I've had in a long time. Add to that they get the real Kokanee beer right from B.C. made with proper glacier water (rather than the stuff you can get sometimes in Ontario which is made with Lake Ontario water...) and I was satsified with the fuel I was getting for all this hiking.

We took a day to go white water rafting on the Kicking Horse River in B.C. It's not something I've ever done before but I enjoyed it a lot. Though the water runs directly off the glaciers and is a balmy 4 degrees they do dress you up in wetsuits and jackets and stuff and work you hard enough paddling to make it so you don't mind so much. Though the low level of the river (apparently spring is far rougher, as the snows start to melt) meant we were going down some beginner level rapids I found the skills of our guide somewhat awe inspiring. With just an authoritive voice and a keen eye for quick changes in conditions he managed to get 6 complete newbies to guide a rubber raft down though tight circles of rocks and waterfalls without error or even a loss of temper or patience. I find it almost too rare to see people so good at what they do anymore, it's a sight to behold.

Of all the hyped tourist sights I though Chateau Lake Louise lived up to it's reputation. You're dumbstruck as you clear the trees to see this hotel perched on the edge of one of the most perfectly cliche ridden Canadian scene anywhere. If a Mountie rode up on a Grizzly bear under Aurora Borrealis then maybe, just maybe it would be more Canadian. The place is almost too good to be true.

The wildlife was a bit fleeting for us on this trip. We did see glimpses of deer and the squirrels and chipmunks were like pigeons in Trafalgar Square the bigger prizes remained more elusive. The fact that a woman was mauled by a bear in Banff National Park only a week before we left meant that this probably wasn't a bad thing.

More on our return to Banff and the trip back to Edmonton to follow.