After a good night’s sleep, we were back on the train at 7 am this morning. The sun was bright red in the sky through the smoke.
As we left
Kamloops we passed through an area of Hoodoos.
Hoodoos were formed after the end of the ice age.
As glacial ice retreated large amounts of sediment was deposited in the bottom of the lakes.
When the lakes retreated erosion began and 10,000 years later the pillar-like hoodoos are the result.
For quite some hours there was little to see in the distance because of the smoke. This was a bit of a shame as the
Shuswap lake area would have been stunning.
The countryside is green and forested again.
The lakes area is a popular holiday spot and
Sicamous (at the eastern end) is apparently the houseboat capital of Canada.
After
Sicamous we travelled along the
Eagle River towards
Revelstoke, passing through
Craigellachie where the last spike was driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway. From the
Eagle River, we followed the
Columbus River to
Revelstoke and then on through
Glacier National Park.
After passing through the 8km
Connaught Tunnel we were into more mountainous country
and eventually entered the
Kicking Horse Canyon and the beginning of the
Rocky Mountains.
This valley is amazing
with many of the peaks above tree level (many still with snow on them – and in some cases glaciers).
Once we had crossed the divide we were in Alberta and on Mountain Time. Clocks forward another hour. From here we pretty well followed the
Icefield highway through Lake Louise,
Banff,
Canmore and on to Calgary. After
Canmore, we left the mountains for flatter farming country. Saw quite a few deer close to the tracks.
Around 9 we arrived at the station right in downtown Calgary about half an hour early. As we had told Charlie and Wendy (
Couchsurfers we were staying with) the train would not be in until 9:40 we had a bit of a wait. Home to their place in Queensland (sounds familiar) and some soup and a chat before bed.
