Riding the Rails

The next part of this Canadian adventure is a trip on VIA Rain’s Canadian from Vancouver to Sioux Lookout. 

Our 'cozy' cabin

After using the train systems in Spain, Portugal and France we wanted to experience our Canadian rail service, so we decided to take the train back from Vancouver rather than flying so we purchased tickets on VIA Rail’s Canadian, which is a “Full” service train providing sleeping and meals. The other option was the famous “Rocky Mountaineer” but it does not provide sleeping accommodations just meals, and it is much more luxurious (and expensive). The Canadian is transportation where the Mountaineer is more ‘tourist tour’, so they stop overnight so you do not miss the scenery in the mountains. We wanted the full “Train” experience so chose the Canadian. 

We boarded the train right on time and found our way to our “Comfy” berth, Cabin F in train 211. The cabin features two movable chairs, a little sink and a bathroom. The two chairs are ‘moveable’ because you have to fold them up to pull down the two sleeping compartments. The train also has fancy “Elite” class accommodations with full sized beds and an on-suite with a shower, but we were unable to book one of these. The other options are tiny rooms with two seats opposite each other where the entire room becomes a bunk bed, or a simple seat that can be folded down to sleep in. For the four day trip we opted for the actual cabin with folding beds and a bathroom. 

The Observation Car

After experiencing the modern European trains (many of which are built by the Canadian company Bombardier), the VIA Rail cars were a little long in the tooth; everything worked fine, but they had a very 1960’s feel and the looked a little worn. A fellow passenger from Switzerland said to me “The trains are VERY old here!”. The tracks are old as well, still running on wooden ties rather than the concrete and rubber ones that most of the European rail systems have moved to. The result is that compared to the smooth high speed rail travel we experienced in Europe, the ride here through the rockies is rough with the train swaying and bouncing along on old rail beds. 

The ride did not bother us and it actually rocked us to sleep last night and we have developed our “train-Legs” and we are managing moving around the train quite well. The food is delicious and the views through the mountains have been spectacular. 

Hell's Gate

Early Morning Misty View

Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Helicopters

Our "chariot" arrives!

We flew out here to the west coast on Air Canada, we plan to come back east on a VIA Rail train, we were chauffeured around by family and friends while here; all means of transportation we have experienced previously, but to get from Vancouver Island over to Vancouver city, we got a chance to experience a new form of transport, Helicopter. 

This trip out to the West coast was planed originally for spring of 2020, and we all know what happened to travel plans then. We were going out to visit my sister and then take an Alaskan cruise, and she suggested we take a helicopter from the Island over to Vancouver City, as the helicopter terminal is right beside the cruise terminal. Regis was not too sure about this as she is a bit of a nervous flyer, but I thought it was a great idea. 

Tight quarters

The cruise got cancelled but this year we decided to still go visit the west coast sister for a couple of weeks, but we would instead take VIA Rail’s Canadian back east. My sister again suggested the helicopter as an option to get us to Vancouver and after a couple of friends assured Regis that it would not be TOO bad she agreed and booked us two seats on the Helijet to Vancouver. 

So on a Tuesday morning we arrived at the Helijet terminal in Nanaimo and checked in for the helicopter flight across the strait. We watched the shiny blue & white helicopter come in across the water and very gently touch down on the Helipad. Our luggage was all taken to be stowed away because there is no “Carry-on” at all due to the size of the helicopter and 10 other people were booked to go with us leaving no extra room. Even my cane had to be stowed away in luggage.

No backing out now . . . .

Now a helicopter is no commercial aircraft. The pilot and co-pilot are right there sitting in clear view, and you are belted in not with a seat belt but a three point harness. There was a pocket on the back of the seat in front of me containing safety information of the Sikorsky helicopter, but there was no entertainment system or fold down tray for food and drinks. In fact there were not even armrests between the seats. If you thought Economy seats on Air Canada were cramped, welcome to Helijet. 

Everyone belted in and the short safety chat completed, all doors were securely closed and

Flying into Vancouver

the engine started and slowly built up speed and sound - they do suggest and provide free hearing protection. The actual take-off is really very undramatic; rather than the sudden thrust forward as a jet tries to build up enough speed to overcome gravity, the helicopter very gently lifts off the ground and once in the air, slowly shifts from upward lift to forward propulsion. The actual flight is quite smooth. The helicopter vibrates and shakes slightly, due to the massive engine and propellor being right over your head, but the flight itself is smooth with no turbulence. At the end of our 20 minute flight, the helicopter slowed, turned and gently set us down on a helipad in Vancouver harbour. 

In my opinion, it was a pleasant but different way to travel, but you might want to ask Regis her opinion. I purposely did not tell her about the helicopter crash in Ottawa the day before. 

Landed safely in Vancouver

Elk Falls

Although many hikes or walks are just a chance to get out and enjoy the outdoors in the natural elements in the area you are visiting, It is nice when you have an attraction to look forward at the end of the trail. Our hike to Elk Falls was one of those, with the anticipation of a spectacular waterfall and a suspension bridge our goal. 

You can always tell when a waterfall is going to be a good one when you start hearing it well before you can see it, and this was very true of Elk Falls. Well before we arrived at the falls we could hear the roar of the falling water. 

Historical photo of the wooden pipes

The trail to the falls leads through typical BC forests with the tall trees we have enjoyed on the previous walks, and across a construction site where old wooden Penstock Intake pipes which once carried water from the lake down to the hydro plant had been replaced with underground modern pipes. Pictures of the original wooden pipes show how impressive they must have been. The trail then entered a heavily wooded area with some huge trees and started sloping down to the waterfall, which although clearly heard was still a long way off. The trail switched back and forth down the hill until we finally reached a viewing area where you could see the falls still a distance away. The trail

Lots of stairs

then became a series of steep metal steps to get down to the top of the gorge where a nice modern steel suspension bridge crossed the gorge. There was a viewing platform before the bridge where the falls could be seen, but the best viewpoint was from the middle of the suspension bridge hanging over the deep gorge where the water plunged down into. When you walk across the bridge to the viewing platform at the other end where you can’t actually see anything you realize that the best views are from the bridge itself. 

The location of this lovely waterfall makes it very difficult to actually get a good view, so the BC Hydro have wisely built the suspension bridge to make viewing safer for the public. The gorge the water lunges into is steep and deep, and apparently tourists have slipped and fallen to their death in the past trying to get a better view of the falls. My Nova Scotian friends will be familiar with this situation in our famous Peggy’s Cove lighthouse rocks where the same thing has happened many times. 

Elk Falls Provincial Park surrounding the waterfall has campground and many other hiking trails along the river and through the woods, and once we had our fill of the falls, we did walk a couple of kilometres of the trails, discovering massive trees that survived forest fires leaving them still growing but with blackened hollow insides large enough to walk into. 

Another wonderful adventure in the BC outdoors and no elk actually fell (As far as I know).

What do you do with an old gas station?

I am always up for a trip to another interesting pub or brewery, and I have managed to sample a few nice British Columbian brews while out her on the west coast. Today we went to the Gladstone Brewery in downtown Courtney for lunch. The brewery is on the site of an old service station and it has made an interesting place to eat and sample another beer. This lunch involved two of my brother-in-law’s sisters who were enjoying a day trip out from their senior’s home. One cannot see and the other has mobility issues, but both were keen for a trip to a brewpub for drinks and lunch and many laughs were shared by all. 

The Brewery is built from a converted old ESSO service station. The brewery and the bar are located in the old service bays and the patio is out where the pumps and parking used to be. I did not realize it was a gas station at first but once I was told I found it fascinating how well it worked and what a nice brewpub they made out of it. It is in an ideal location right on the main street of Courtney and on a busy corner, and it was very busy on this Father’s Day weekend. 

Now to be honest, the tool box flower pot, the wrench clothes hanger in the washroom, the wall paper made form old car adverts, and the shelf of old car parts should have given me a clue, but duh . . .  I was enjoying me beer.

Walking in the River

Today, we drove out of town for another adventure in the British Columbia outdoors, this one to the Trent River, but rather than taking a trail that followed the river, this time we actually walked in the river. This trail was not an established, well maintained trail, there was a narrow twisting trail that led quickly down to the river bed and then we walked directly along he edge of the river or in the river itself. 

The Trent River runs through a deep river gorge but the river itself runs over the bedrocks and is shallow enough that you can actually walk back and forth across the river on rocks or high points in the river bed. Although I was lent a pair of “water shoes”, I did not have to actually use them until late in the walk; I was usually able to find ways to jump from dry spots to dry spots without wetting my sneakers. There were areas where the river bank was too steep too rocky or too slippery, but then you just found a path across the river to the opposite bank. 

Apparently the eroded banks of the river contain many prehistoric fossils and the area is popular with fossil hunters and my sister located a couple to show us, but we mostly just enjoyed the hike in the river. 

I suspect that with heavy rain or in the early spring this hike might not be possible due to higher water levels, but on this day, it was a very pleasant walk along the river. 

Walking in the river

Riverbank Ferns

Flowers along the river

Lots of rocks

An old rusted water pipe

Walking in the river

OK, now where did this engine & transmission come from?

Walking the Woods

Regis and I have been keeping up our walking routines while out here in British Columbia and we have discovered the beauty of the local wooded areas. The city of Courtney lies in the Comox valley where three rivers, the Puntledge, the Tsolum, and Brown’s converge to run into the Straight of Georgia, and these rivers have been used to effectively provide some beautiful recreational areas for local residents. Over the past week we have explored a couple of lovely trails along the Puntledge River. One day we started out by the Fish & Game Protective Association area and walked the River Trail. This one was a bit of a worry because a sign at the start of it also linked to the “Bear Bait” trail and we had been told stories of frequent black bear sighting in the area, but the bears never did make any appearance on our walks. A few days later we drove out to the other end of this trail where we walked through Nymph Falls Park to explore the falls and hiked the other end of the River Trail which follows the path of the Puntledge River. The second “hike” was done with my sister’s grandchildren, so not as much
distance was covered, because they were more interested in playing in the river than hiking.

These trails wander through beautiful second growth BC forests. The forests here in British Columbia are really much different from our lovely Nova Scotia forests which I am used to exploring back home. The first thing you notice is the size of the trees which are way taller than we get in Nova Scotia, stretching way up into the sky, and the dense green canopy of these giant cedar, douglas fir and hemlock, leave the forest floor open and easy to walk through. There are few trees growing in the undergrowth, and there were no hardwood evident at all, so it is mostly taken up by lush Spanish moss and old man’s beard hanging from the trees and ferns covering the floor, creating an almost rainforest environment. 

This forest is “second growth”, meaning the the area was heavily logged many many years ago and the large tall trees we walked through are surrounded by massive even bigger rotting stumps from the original old growth trees. As you walk by these huge remnants of the original forest giants it is possible to imagine what this forest must have looked like hundreds of years ago. 

The trail systems are extensive, and provide trails for hikers, bikers and equestrians, and are clearly marked as difficult, moderate and accessible, so anyone can enjoy the forests. We were able to wander along the river, or weave through the forest higher up the valley.

The actual Nymph Falls was a popular site and even though the water was still cold from the glacier run-off, brave folk were already enjoying the pools and rapids in the area. We watched a couple of children who found a slippery rock that allowed them to enjoy a natural water slide powered by the river. The falls also featured a fish ladder created to allow the salmon to make it past the falls, and a bald eagle waited patiently in a nearby tree for any fish who might try to use the ladder. 

My cape Breton Larchwood walking stick and I look forward to exploring more that British Columbia has to offer. 

Fishing Forever

You may recall that I wrote about fishing back when we visited our daughter in Northern Ontario and I actually caught fish. On this trip to British Columbia I was once again involved in a fishing adventure of sorts. 

My brother-in-law Pete informed me that I was “Volunteering” to help out with the Courtney & District Fish & Game Protective Association’s annual “Fishing Forever” event. This is a week long event that introduces people to fishing or allows people who might not be able to go fishing, experience it. On the day I was volunteering two senior, assisted-living centres were bussing interested residents out to go fishing. The Fish & Game centre has a wheelchair accessible fishing wharf built so anyone can get out into a pond stocked with thousands of hungry trout just waiting to be tempted by bait cast into the water by the seniors. 

This event was very well organized by the centre with a trailer full of fishing gear all set up for
use, so all I had to do was carry the baited fishing rods down to the wharf waiting for the fisher- people to arrive. We had more than enough volunteers so I tried to stay out of the way and limited my help to carrying tangled gear back to the trailer to be untangled by volunteers who actually knew what they were doing, allowing the actual knowledgable volunteers to handle the actual casting, catching and fish cleaning involved. 

Some of the participants could do things on their own, but some were guided by the volunteers who did the casting and allowed the participants to reel in the line. The range of volunteers was interesting as we were all seniors and one was using a walker and one was 84 years old, but everyone had a great time, and the volunteers seemed to really enjoy helping the participants and the excitement of catching fish was shared by all. 

At the end of the morning the participants had a lunch and then as they were loaded back onto the bus to go home they were all awarded with a medal to hang around their neck to go with the happy memories of a day out fishing.

Guns . . .

The opinion on guns run from extremes, to some in the USA who feel that everyone should be able to openly carry weapons any time you want, but others feel that all guns should be completely banned. I am somewhere in between, feeling that walking around with a firearm strapped to your hip is a bit unnecessary, but that guns do serve some purpose and are a useful tool in some circumstances. 

As a teenager living on a 250 acre farm, I had a single shot 22 caliber rifle that I used to practice with down by the river on a nice deserted pasture. I was never a very good shot however, probably due to thick eyeglasses and extreme astigmatism. Once we moved to the city, I have no idea what happened to that gun and I never had any further opportunity to develop my gun skills.

That is, until this trip to visit my sister on Vancouver

Dang, those things are hard to hit

Island. My sister Linda and her husband Pete are lifetime members of the Courtney Fish & Game Protective Association, a beautiful facility on a lake overlooking a glacier and the spectacular BC mountains, and they were holding an open house the day after we arrived. As a way to encourage new members, all of their gun ranges were open to guests and many were free. They had a skeet shooting range, a black powder area and a recreated western town called Boomtown with rifle range and pistol shooting in a western themed setting as well as a range for modern firearms. I decided to give some of the gun ranges a try. 

My first stop was the skeet shooting range where for $5 I could shoot six 12 gauge shells at flying orange clay targets. After a short safety chat and instructions I discovered that hitting a little orange target with a shotgun is quite difficult, but I did manage to destroy one of the elusive things. 

Loading black powder

Next I went to the Black Powder range where you could shoot old fashioned rifles. The first one was an old fashioned flint-lock where the loose powder was inserted and packed in followed by a big lead bullet packed in with a long rod. This rifle packs a punch and is loud, firing with a big cloud of smoke, but I was unable to actually hit anything. Next I was invited to try another black powder rifle with reloaded bullets; don’t know what the difference was but with this one I actually managed to hit a few targets. 

OMG, I think I hit something

Finally we went down to the Cowboy Action in Boomtown where I learned how to miss every target with a six shooter style pistol, and left with a powder burn on my thumb for holding my hand too close to the barrel of the pistol. I could have gone to another range where for $30 I could have experienced a modern 9mm handgun with 30 shots to waste on missing targets but after hitting so few targets I did not
want to embarrass myself further.

All in all, it was a fun experience and I enjoyed it, but I don’t think I will bother applying for a gun licence just yet. 

No targets were harmed during this adventure . . .