Monday and back to Vancouver

Monday October 22nd The drive back to Vancouver.
The morning reveals a fresh fall of snow and we view it from our apartment patio window. We cross to the Inn for breakfast as the snow falls. The surrounding mountains are obscured from our view this morning.

The morning snow from our patio window

Snowing in front of the Lake Louise Inn

Several of our co passengers have left the tour to go on to other destinations and we are now reduced to 13. Loads of room to spread out! After picking up our Chateau passengers we head out of the Bow Valley into the Kicking Horse Valley. On the Highway, a snow plough is ahead of us clearing and gritting the highway. The plough blows the snow high onto the verges. Onwards we pass into the Yo Ho National Park and back into British Columbia. We have now left the Rockie Mountains. The Canadian Pacific railway runs adjacent to the Highway and we whizz past a train with it's trucks filled with bright yellow sulphur. Some of these cargo trains are up to a mile long and have up to two to three engines pulling them and some of the containers are stacked two high. To get the trains from the lower Kicking Horse valley to the higher Bow Valley a spiral tunnel was constructed inside the mountain to allow the train to travel up at a less steep gradient.

As we descend the mountain the snow turns to rain and mist obscures the mountains. The ground here is less rocky and covered with short tufted grass and bright lime green mounds of moss. A new section of the Trans Canada highway has been blasted through the mountain to replace an old section that was prone to land slides and avalanches. Here the rock face where it was blasted away is so sterile, with no plants or litchens.

We eventually descend into the town of Golden in the Rockie Mountain Trench. The dividing valley between the Rocky Mountain and the Coast Mountains. Through the valley and climbing once more towards the Rodgers Pass we encounter snow once again. In the Glacial National Park we pass through the Time Zone and change our watches back to British Columbia time.

Rodgers was a Scotsman who was surveying the land for suitable routes to the Pacific coast. The pass is 1033 metres high. Snow sheds are built from the mountain sides over the road to protect the highway from avalanches in the incredible snowy winters. It's snowing quite heavily as we enter the pass and there's another snow plough in front of us clearing the road.

At Rodgers pass the snow is three to four inches deep. We stop for a coffee break and some of the younger passengers have a snowball fight when we get off the coach. We opt for hot chocolate instead of coffee. It's a good choice, very warming. The snow in the Pass will now last until about April next year and can get to 30 feet deep. The Pass Hotel has an enormous tractor to keep them moving about. Back on the coach Brad plays us a DVD called 'Snow Wars' it's about the efforts to protect the highway from avalanches and keep the highway open.

As we travel on towards Vancouver the snow disappears and the weather improves again. Eventually the sun appears. We have a brief lunch stop at Tim Hortons in Salmon Arms, then onwards. So far on this trip we travelled approximately 1037 miles. There's probably about another 300 miles to go. Steven suggests we go back to Vancouver through the Fraser Canyon as this is a really scenic road.

We stop briefly for a leg stretch on the shores of Shuswap Lake. The Lake is one of the most popular recreational destinations in BC. There is approximately 1000km of shoreline contains many provincial parks

Nancy and Dave with Brad

Shuswap Lake is named after the Shuswap Indians, an Interior Salish tribe who ranged from west of the Fraser River, east to the Columbia River, and from the north of McBride to south of Kamloops.

We travel on past Kamloops Lake which is actually a widening of the Thompson River. We have another brief stop at Cash Creek at Dairy Queen. I sample a Pumpkin Blizzard ice cream. I ask for a small one! Whoooo this small one would be a large one at home! Our final stop on this homeward leg was back at Hope were we made our first stop of the trip. Nothings changed , it's still raining here! We dash back to the Blue Moose cafe for a refreshing cup of tea.
We pass through hamlet of Lytton it's situated at the north end of the Fraser Canyon, where the Fraser and Thompson rivers meet. Lytton claims to be “Canada’s Hot Spot" due to sweltering summer temperatures that soar into the high 30s degrees Centigrade

Here the mountain peaks only have a sprinkling of snow. We will follow the Fraser river through the canyon back to Vancouver. The river here is a spruce green colour. The sides of the canyon clothed with dark green spruce and yellow leafed Birch trees. This is an incredible scenic route. Unfortunately the weather becomes overcast and begins to rain. This continues until we arrive back in Vancouver were we learn it's been raining since we left on Friday.