Calgary
Calgary Tower
As the coach neared Calgary, we passed through intriguing places such as Maple Creek and Medicine Hat, the approach to the city limits was one f the most stunning.
You gain a true sense of nature’s scale with the man-made skyscrapers in view, framed by the far off, pink back-drop of the snow tipped Rocky Mountains.
I was offered work by a strange guy who worked on the oil rigs in the north during winter. He turned aggressive to others after drink and I found myself having to share a room with him, for some reason he liked me but seemed to hate everyone else.
Calgary C Train
I was tempted with his offer of work on a building site but it meant me having to cash my cheque with a Chinese restaurant to avoid being caught, it sounded too convoluted so I declined.
Staying in hostels could throw up some interesting characters, and having to sleep in the same room could be a bit uncomfortable at times.
We attended a reggae bash one hot and dusty evening in an old part of town. At one point a bottle fight broke out between two rival gangs, the staff were cowering under the bar, as bottles flew from side to side it seemed like a film set and somehow not ‘real’.
We often explored places like this, off the beaten track, to gain a true perspective of Canada. You don’t always receive the same ‘tourist’ treatment when you cross the tracks, and while many Canadians were greatly accommodating and a friendly people, both my partner and I experienced some quite unpleasant types as well. I would like to have met more native American people, but their existence in Canada seemed a distant memory and almost non existent in the places we travelled.
Banff
Sulphur Mountain
The road to the Rockies was impressive, as expected. I seem to remember the mountains looming like an immense wall of darkness, which cast huge shadows over the ever nearing foothills.
We ascended by Greyhound into the heart of the Rocky Mountains, to Banff, our first destination in British Columbia.
Banff hostel was an impressive log cabin perched on the outskirts of town. We had our first encounter with an Elk – an extremely large and grumpy one. He was plonked, grazing, by the entrance to the hostel. Elk are responsible for more injuries to humans than bears in Canada, and frustratingly for me, this one was stood guard over the entrance for quite some time.
Once settled in, we were advised to take a trip up to Sulphur Mountain with the hot springs so, the next day we took the long trek up the hillside.
There had been a few bear attacks in Canada around that time, being ignorant to the danger we took a route through the lower forests and emerged out by a bus stop. An elderly lady complained about how we shouldn’t have chosen that route, with a black bear warning in force at the time, but hey, we were naive English tourists, what did she expect.
Banff
We took the cable car up as far as we could go, it felt like being on top of the world. The visitors centre offered views down over the wooded valleys with Banff carved out of the middle. Banff, as a town, was very touristic and there were lots of late night bars serving Coors and Kokanee beer.
One night we ended up in a lively bar with a band playing, they band were all naked much to the women’s entertainment. Later on in a nightclub, I nearly walked into a fight with a ‘local’. I initially walked away, but then (as my adrenalin kicked in) started to get wound up that this jerk had kicked off so I approached him by the side of the dance floor to have a word, the bouncers had been pre-informed by my partner and they jumped in, but took my side. I then had to hear his sob story which was a load of crap basically, and his mates backed off with the door staff watching. I blame the Beastie Boys as ‘Intergalactic’ was playing at the time and had whipped everyone up into a frenzy.
Lake Louise
Peaceful Lake Louise
Lake Louise was by far the most stunning place we had visited in the Rockies and it helped to focus the mind after the trouble back in Banff. We took a grand day trip up to the sublimely beautiful ice flows.
There were several routes up to the Lake from the hostel and I think we took the longest one, it was a quiet and secluded track which followed a pearlescent blue creek – bear territory and no bear-bells again. Lake Louise is slightly tainted by an immense hotel which ruins the view in one direction.
The journey up to the ice flow skirted around the valley of the lake and we rested at a log cabin settlement which served tea and muffins. This whole area is cut off by snow in winter and even in autumn they have to carry out explosions to prevent avalanches. I spied an American tourist who, sat just metres away, was watching my partner with his binoculars, he then freaked her out by reading out loud the labels on her clothes – Strange sense of humour.
By the time we reached the ice flows, the last of the tourists had passed us on their way back down. It was quiet and eerie up there, the only company was from the odd chipmunk and a cool and gentle wind in the trees.
On the way back down it was getting dark fast, I was winding up Charli by making bear calls across the wooded valley, until what sounded like a bear roar came back in the far off distance. I was told to shut up quickly, which I did and I reminded myself that we were not in Symonds Yat anymore.
