June 2: Banff to Jasper

I had reasonable time to check out from the International Hostel in Banff. The bus departure point was just up the road outside a larger hotel. The “bus” in question was a smaller tour bus rather than a coach, which picked up six of us travellers.

We headed north, along the same road through Banff National Park I’d been on for my inadvertent Icefields tour. Again, we stopped at Lake Louise Village. (This time, I knew where to buy the faster snacks.)

We did stop at the Athabasca Falls further on. This a powerful waterfall where the water roars through tight channels into gulleys and tunnels below.

As we got closer to Jasper, we noticed large sections of forest with denuded trees.

Shortly afterwards, we arrived in Jasper. Like Banff, it’s an alpine town and tourist spot. I got set up at the local hostel, then had a look around.

One thing I noticed immediately was a whole mountainside of denuded trees. Jasper was one of the towns caught in the huge Canadian fires in January and it still bears the scars.

Over the railway tracks towards the outskirts of town, temporary housing and remnants of the fire were still around.

Had a drink at a nearby pub, but I was only here for a night, so I got back to the hostel, read a bit, then went to bed.

June 3: Jasper to Prince George

Even more reasonable time to get ready, pack and leave the Jasper hostel.

Down at the railway station, I checked in my case, then got on board the Scenic Adventure Route to Prince George.

The train took the usual moderate-to-ambling speed like its eastern counterpart. Travelling through the Rocky Divide, we saw mountain forests and lakes under sunny skies.

Once or twice, a train attendant would yell “Bear on right window!” or “Deer on left window!”, but, of course, by the time you looked, you were past that spot.

Another great feature of the train was the Dome Car, where you could get an aerial view.

The disadvantage of all this is that it’s a long journey, and there’s not Internet access for most of it. Fortunately, I could rely on my ripped DVDs; I watched The Road to El Dorado and started on the first two episodes of Clannad.

As with the earlier train trips, this one ran late, mainly due to having to stop the train for several minutes every so often so that a freight train could come the other way.

I got into Prince George after 7:00pm (again with emails from VIA Rail announcing arrival would be late). The sky by this time was looking doubtful, so I called a taxi to take me to Bon Voyage Inn. This and the rest of my stays on the trip will be in motels and inns because I couldn’t find many hostels in this part of British Columbia.