Our stay in the two national parks added up together to be 5 days. On the morning of August 19, it was time to go back.
We went just as we came, except a small incident on the way. That afternoon at 5pm, after passing Coquihalla toll plaza[*], our car ran out of gas. This forced us to stay there for a hour, waiting for roadside assistance from CAA. During the time, we entertained ourselves by pretending to shoot a TV soap.
On the night of August 20, Wei, Ran and me hold a farewell dinner at Tanpopo Sushi Bar on Robson St. Farewell, Vancouver! Next year, let's meet in the Windy City.
I spent a sleepless night in Seattle, looking north, it seemed that I could still feel the damp air from English Bay. This was indeed a successful trip, and that moment was a perfect finale. ( The End ).
[*] On trans-Canada, 30 miles north from city of Hope.
Monday, August 23, 2004
[r] Canada Story(6): Lake Medicine and Lake Maligne
It was then August 18. We still had two places of interest to go: Lake Medicine and Lake Maligne. Set out earlier, we arrived at Lake Medicine at about 11.
The name of Lake Medicine came from its mysterious disappearing in the winter. Indians couldn't explain and believed that must because of treatment of some "medicine". Modern research found the root cause, which were the underground river and lakes that absorbed water in the winter. We found a family of wild goats along the lakeside -- a male, two females and two lambs.
The majority of our time that day was spend in Lake Maligne. It would take 6 hours single trip from boat renting dock to the island in lake center. That was much beyond us, as we were all new to rowboating. The first two hours we advanced only 300 meters off shore. Most time our boat was just making circles. But soon we got trained, and the rest 4 hours were full of fun of oaring.
At dusk, we came back to town of Jasper. That day happened to be match day for Olympics boat racing, what a coincidence!
The name of Lake Medicine came from its mysterious disappearing in the winter. Indians couldn't explain and believed that must because of treatment of some "medicine". Modern research found the root cause, which were the underground river and lakes that absorbed water in the winter. We found a family of wild goats along the lakeside -- a male, two females and two lambs.
The majority of our time that day was spend in Lake Maligne. It would take 6 hours single trip from boat renting dock to the island in lake center. That was much beyond us, as we were all new to rowboating. The first two hours we advanced only 300 meters off shore. Most time our boat was just making circles. But soon we got trained, and the rest 4 hours were full of fun of oaring.
At dusk, we came back to town of Jasper. That day happened to be match day for Olympics boat racing, what a coincidence!
[r] Canada Story(5): Bow Lake, Mistaya Canyon and Columbia Ice Field
It was August 16 night, back from Lake Louise and Six Glaciers, all of us were still in excitement. After shower, I proposed we going Banff to do laundry and have dinner at McDonald's. This was agreed upon. We carefully calculated the time and made sure the closing time of Laundromat could be met. However, an important fact was missed: the time difference between Pacific Time and Mountain Time. The consequence of this ignorance was obvious:). We still caught McDonald's, and enjoyed driving under a skyful of bright stars.
Monday morning, we set out for Jasper, another national park 100 miles to the north. Along the Banff-Jasper highway we met Bow Lake, which was feed by the Bow Glacier and was the headwater of Bow River. The lakeshore was a bit tilted to its feeder, like a bow cord. My guess was this was how the lake got its name.
Continue going north, about 15 miles more, was Mistaya Canyon. Water fought rock heavily and cut deep scars over its face. Standing at the edge of the canyon, the book of millions of years' natural history was clearly shown before us: the potholes witnessed how rapid swirls washed over, and the wave line on lime rock told how water rushed by into the downstream Saskatchwan River. There must ever be dinosaur wading through, elephants drinking and our far far away ancestors awing before the power of nature. Now came me, a young, new visitor to spread its grand name.
Go 30 miles further towards Jasper, the road expanded greatly and on the left side, appeared an enormous ice field. That was Columbia Icefield, 325 square kilometer in coverage and up to 1000 feet in ice depth. The part we could explore by hiking, was just a small part of it -- the Athabasca Glacier. Warning signs were all around on the path ways, but that didn't hinder us to hike to the upper limit of hiking trail. When we made the top, everyone was so excited that Ping directly lied down to get maximum contact with the most gigantic ice block she ever saw :D.
Monday morning, we set out for Jasper, another national park 100 miles to the north. Along the Banff-Jasper highway we met Bow Lake, which was feed by the Bow Glacier and was the headwater of Bow River. The lakeshore was a bit tilted to its feeder, like a bow cord. My guess was this was how the lake got its name.
Continue going north, about 15 miles more, was Mistaya Canyon. Water fought rock heavily and cut deep scars over its face. Standing at the edge of the canyon, the book of millions of years' natural history was clearly shown before us: the potholes witnessed how rapid swirls washed over, and the wave line on lime rock told how water rushed by into the downstream Saskatchwan River. There must ever be dinosaur wading through, elephants drinking and our far far away ancestors awing before the power of nature. Now came me, a young, new visitor to spread its grand name.
Go 30 miles further towards Jasper, the road expanded greatly and on the left side, appeared an enormous ice field. That was Columbia Icefield, 325 square kilometer in coverage and up to 1000 feet in ice depth. The part we could explore by hiking, was just a small part of it -- the Athabasca Glacier. Warning signs were all around on the path ways, but that didn't hinder us to hike to the upper limit of hiking trail. When we made the top, everyone was so excited that Ping directly lied down to get maximum contact with the most gigantic ice block she ever saw :D.
[r] Canada Story(4): Lake Marion and Lake Louise
The next morning, we went to Banff for sightseeing. In my eyes, it was quite European, no wonder someone named it as "North American Switzerland". I especially like the cute Bear Street, fence walls on street were painted with various colorful bears, and all kinds of bear souvenirs were sold in the gift shops.
After lunch, we drove to Trailor Campground, which was at Lake Louis, about 30 miles northeast of Banff. As planned, that afternoon, it was the visit to Lake Marion.
Lake Marion was uphill, about 3 miles away from Trailor Campground. The emerald water was fantastic, I had seen the water of JiuZhaiGou[*], but the water there was colorful, and here it was pure; I had also seen the water of SanYa[#], but the water there waved jazzily, and her it was so peaceful like a gentle virgin. In a word, it was something special and unique in the world. There were two easy hiking trails, one was up a small hill about 220 feet high at the west side of lake; another was along lake side till to its feeder creek. We took both of them.
Back to Trailor Campground, it was already dark. We had a little problem: there was only one shower place in this campground, and from the map, it seemed to be half miles away. I volunteered to go first as scout and went with a small flash light. The scouting proved to be quite unsuccessful: it was such a dark night, that I took nearly a hour walking there and another back, and lost my way on the return:). This happened on Saturday, August 15.
August 16 was a Sunday. That day belonged to Lake Louise. Hollywood fans should be familiar with the Chateau of Lake Louise, as it was one of the favorite place for the stars and their well-dressed parties. The lake rest in great harmony in the arms of its feeders -- the Six Glaciers. The scene was so beautiful and it appeared on hundreds of Canadian post cards, and even the old twenty Canada dollar bill. The trail along lake side finally connected to the trail to the Six Glaciers plain, which was 3.5 miles hiking distance, and 7,000 feet in elevation. We made it to the end, which was a wearing-out hiking but absolutely worthy. The view of glaciers were gorgeous: in millions of years the ice moved slowly but continuously, carved big valley upon the snow mountains. And for our awesome mother nature, this was just a small game of its 5 billon years of land shaping!
[*] Natural park in China's Sichuan province, famous for its water and forest views.
[#] "Oriental Hawaii" in China's Hainan province, which has the best tropical beaches in China.
After lunch, we drove to Trailor Campground, which was at Lake Louis, about 30 miles northeast of Banff. As planned, that afternoon, it was the visit to Lake Marion.
Lake Marion was uphill, about 3 miles away from Trailor Campground. The emerald water was fantastic, I had seen the water of JiuZhaiGou[*], but the water there was colorful, and here it was pure; I had also seen the water of SanYa[#], but the water there waved jazzily, and her it was so peaceful like a gentle virgin. In a word, it was something special and unique in the world. There were two easy hiking trails, one was up a small hill about 220 feet high at the west side of lake; another was along lake side till to its feeder creek. We took both of them.
Back to Trailor Campground, it was already dark. We had a little problem: there was only one shower place in this campground, and from the map, it seemed to be half miles away. I volunteered to go first as scout and went with a small flash light. The scouting proved to be quite unsuccessful: it was such a dark night, that I took nearly a hour walking there and another back, and lost my way on the return:). This happened on Saturday, August 15.
August 16 was a Sunday. That day belonged to Lake Louise. Hollywood fans should be familiar with the Chateau of Lake Louise, as it was one of the favorite place for the stars and their well-dressed parties. The lake rest in great harmony in the arms of its feeders -- the Six Glaciers. The scene was so beautiful and it appeared on hundreds of Canadian post cards, and even the old twenty Canada dollar bill. The trail along lake side finally connected to the trail to the Six Glaciers plain, which was 3.5 miles hiking distance, and 7,000 feet in elevation. We made it to the end, which was a wearing-out hiking but absolutely worthy. The view of glaciers were gorgeous: in millions of years the ice moved slowly but continuously, carved big valley upon the snow mountains. And for our awesome mother nature, this was just a small game of its 5 billon years of land shaping!
[*] Natural park in China's Sichuan province, famous for its water and forest views.
[#] "Oriental Hawaii" in China's Hainan province, which has the best tropical beaches in China.
[r] Canada Story(3): Heading to Banff
The next morning, another friend of Wei -- Ping came and soon a busy day started. We bought the food and snacks, packed the car, and consulted people who just went back from Banff. Just as the Chinese proverb said, "three is always better than one". All were done quite efficiently.
On the morning of August 13, four travelers set out from Vancouver. Our route was along the trans-Canada highway -- Canadian One, roughly 700 miles to Banff town. British Columbia boasted it as "beautiful B.C.", and that was proved true along the way. Conifers thickly covered the mountains and valleys; Waterfalls appeared from time to time, and often unexpectedly; Ice cones topped remote mountain tops. It was late summer, so the greens were still greens, not as colorful as the Midwest foliage view in the fall. But lighting was fantastic, together with depth of scenes, so you would still feel God as a great artist, painting everything with his magic brush and palette.
We took two breaks on the way that day. One was lunch at the hot noon on roadside. Another was at the town of Revelstroke. The town was not big, but being a must-pass on trans-Canada, there were lots of visitors on its streets. I especially like the road signs to the city centre, which always said "follow this sign till you see the bears". Of course, I finally met the bear statues and gave them big hugs.
Continue going east, roadway became narrow and winding, forecasting our approaching the famous national park. For some places, the road was so narrow that walls were built along its side to avoid possible vehicle falling down the hill. The uphill and downhill added up together was about 30 miles, then all of a sudden, before us in the basin of snow mountains, appeared Banff town.
It was midnight already. Mist rose off on the road and the town was in quiet sleep. Slowly drove along the church, gift shops and old pubs, we were like a group of fairies sneaking through. The campground, village two, was uphill about 2 miles from town. Setting up tent, everyone soon went sound sleep after a long journey. Till next morning I got up early and took this picture of our site.
On the morning of August 13, four travelers set out from Vancouver. Our route was along the trans-Canada highway -- Canadian One, roughly 700 miles to Banff town. British Columbia boasted it as "beautiful B.C.", and that was proved true along the way. Conifers thickly covered the mountains and valleys; Waterfalls appeared from time to time, and often unexpectedly; Ice cones topped remote mountain tops. It was late summer, so the greens were still greens, not as colorful as the Midwest foliage view in the fall. But lighting was fantastic, together with depth of scenes, so you would still feel God as a great artist, painting everything with his magic brush and palette.
We took two breaks on the way that day. One was lunch at the hot noon on roadside. Another was at the town of Revelstroke. The town was not big, but being a must-pass on trans-Canada, there were lots of visitors on its streets. I especially like the road signs to the city centre, which always said "follow this sign till you see the bears". Of course, I finally met the bear statues and gave them big hugs.
Continue going east, roadway became narrow and winding, forecasting our approaching the famous national park. For some places, the road was so narrow that walls were built along its side to avoid possible vehicle falling down the hill. The uphill and downhill added up together was about 30 miles, then all of a sudden, before us in the basin of snow mountains, appeared Banff town.
It was midnight already. Mist rose off on the road and the town was in quiet sleep. Slowly drove along the church, gift shops and old pubs, we were like a group of fairies sneaking through. The campground, village two, was uphill about 2 miles from town. Setting up tent, everyone soon went sound sleep after a long journey. Till next morning I got up early and took this picture of our site.
[r] Canada Story(2): First day at UBC
I planned my days off to be Aug. 11 to Aug. 22. The first and last days would be in Seattle, and the eight days in between would be in the lovely north neighbor country. All the routine stuff went smoothly, soon my travel case was filled up with everything: visa, sleeping bag, air bed, tripod, cowboy apparel, ......
The day of Aug. 11 came finally, that noon at Cheese Cake Factory in the basement of John Hancock[*], people in lab held a farewell luncheon for Chrissie's leaving, Derek's vacation to California, Tiffany's vacation to Minnesota and my vacation to Canada. In the best wishes I left Chicago at five.
Made a connection at Salt Lake City and arrived Seattle at midnight. It was really a hot night, the temperature, together with my excitement, made me twisting around on the hostel bed and fell sleep till two.
Morning came. After a short walk along the nearby Pike Place Market[#], I went to the airport, picked up my powerful horse -- a Chevy Equinox SUV, and started going north. Blue sky, white clouds and a not-packed highway #5 then became the scene, together with Dido's White Flag:
And when we meet Which I'm sure we will
All that was thereWill be there still
I'll let it pass
And hold my tongue
And you will think That I've moved on....
All those made the 120-mile trip delightful and easy. At 5, the knight and his horse were already at UBC campus. Time for surprise! Push open the door of apartment 3301, Wei's familiar smiley face showed up again: "Supper is ready."
This was the first time I got to Canada, UBC, and the Thunderbird residential hall. But anywhere with an old friend was not strange. Around the table, we talked a lot about life in North America, the old days in the city of Chengdu, and our friends. I also made a new friend, Ran, who was going to begin her Ph.D. in economics. After dinner, three of us walked to beach, sat there till sunset. We talked and laughed a lot at that time. Though most of the contents already couldn't be remembered, the scene became one of my best memories.
[*] Second highest skyscraper in the City of Chicago, which has a nice observatory for the city and the lake.
[#] The crowded but pretty nice market started since 1907.
The day of Aug. 11 came finally, that noon at Cheese Cake Factory in the basement of John Hancock[*], people in lab held a farewell luncheon for Chrissie's leaving, Derek's vacation to California, Tiffany's vacation to Minnesota and my vacation to Canada. In the best wishes I left Chicago at five.
Made a connection at Salt Lake City and arrived Seattle at midnight. It was really a hot night, the temperature, together with my excitement, made me twisting around on the hostel bed and fell sleep till two.
Morning came. After a short walk along the nearby Pike Place Market[#], I went to the airport, picked up my powerful horse -- a Chevy Equinox SUV, and started going north. Blue sky, white clouds and a not-packed highway #5 then became the scene, together with Dido's White Flag:
And when we meet Which I'm sure we will
All that was thereWill be there still
I'll let it pass
And hold my tongue
And you will think That I've moved on....
All those made the 120-mile trip delightful and easy. At 5, the knight and his horse were already at UBC campus. Time for surprise! Push open the door of apartment 3301, Wei's familiar smiley face showed up again: "Supper is ready."
This was the first time I got to Canada, UBC, and the Thunderbird residential hall. But anywhere with an old friend was not strange. Around the table, we talked a lot about life in North America, the old days in the city of Chengdu, and our friends. I also made a new friend, Ran, who was going to begin her Ph.D. in economics. After dinner, three of us walked to beach, sat there till sunset. We talked and laughed a lot at that time. Though most of the contents already couldn't be remembered, the scene became one of my best memories.
[*] Second highest skyscraper in the City of Chicago, which has a nice observatory for the city and the lake.
[#] The crowded but pretty nice market started since 1907.
[r] Canada Story(1): From here it had a start
It was a late July afternoon in Chicago. Looking out of my office window on 13th floor, everything looked so nice -- yachts scattering Michigan Lake, sea gulls flying around, future lawyers, business men and doctors walking in and out Northwestern courtyard -- a typical and wonderful summer scene along lake shore. Yet my mind was not there right then. I was planning to visit Wei, one of my old friend, who was graduating from UBC and then busily preparing her thesis.
With a nice beep Wei logged on MSN.
- "How are you, Wei?"
- "Pretty good, almost done with it. So how are you?"
- "Can't be better. I earn a paid vacation for 10 days. We will be having happy hours in Vancouver."
- "Well, you said before let me handle all the itinerary for you. I made a little change and am sure it will be better -- you will see -- instead of wondering around Vancouver, let's go Banff."
- ......
So all was decided in five minutes. No 'why's and no 'how's, as I knew Wei was a professional traveler and trip planner. O.K., then I knew the destination was Banff. A place I did heard of on Backpacker magazine, but only limited to the one-page story written by a Eiffel Peak[*] hiker. This time I was going to explore it myself. I started to imagine all the wildness, snow mountains and glaciers. Two weeks later when I came back, I found all my dreams about this Canadian National Park came true, and even better.
[*] a 10,120 feet ice mountain peak in Banff National Park, Alberta.
With a nice beep Wei logged on MSN.
- "How are you, Wei?"
- "Pretty good, almost done with it. So how are you?"
- "Can't be better. I earn a paid vacation for 10 days. We will be having happy hours in Vancouver."
- "Well, you said before let me handle all the itinerary for you. I made a little change and am sure it will be better -- you will see -- instead of wondering around Vancouver, let's go Banff."
- ......
So all was decided in five minutes. No 'why's and no 'how's, as I knew Wei was a professional traveler and trip planner. O.K., then I knew the destination was Banff. A place I did heard of on Backpacker magazine, but only limited to the one-page story written by a Eiffel Peak[*] hiker. This time I was going to explore it myself. I started to imagine all the wildness, snow mountains and glaciers. Two weeks later when I came back, I found all my dreams about this Canadian National Park came true, and even better.
[*] a 10,120 feet ice mountain peak in Banff National Park, Alberta.
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