June 26-27: Train Ride to Jasper
After spending all day (12 hours) on an excursion Saturday and then having the great evening with Dave & Heather where we closed down the restaurant, we were more than happy to use our "free day" in Vancouver to relax, repack for the nearly-week long train/bus adventure, and watch some Netflix television ("The Vikings"). We left via taxi for the rail station about 6:15 pm and were checked in by 7 pm....boarded at 7:30 and pulled out before 8 pm. We had a sleeper deluxe cabin for two which was two chairs and a picture window by day and two bunk beds by night. We were very excited to have this adventure of staying overnight on the train!
There was little to see by shipping yards until dusk when I got a nice shot of the sunset behind the mountains framed by a bridge. Sleeping on the "rocking & rolling" train was an interesting experience and while we wouldn't say we had a great night's sleep, it was fine. And we were very happy to have finally had this experience - and would recommend it - but we won't do it again :) As dawn broke we found ourselves in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Breakfast was provided on the train and after eating in the dining car we spent the majority of the morning in the domed glass-topped car viewing the scenery. But to be honest the real good sights didn't start until about 10 am. Around that time most of the good photos were to the right side of the train, which was the direction of our personal cabin's picture window so we moved downstairs.
When we were in the domed car our guide/bartender told everyone that at about 11:30 we'd be passing Pyramid Falls and this is only viewable by rail or air. Luckily it was on our side of the train and we got a great video and photo of it!
Now we were in the heart of the mountains and from this point until shortly before we arrived in Jasper our trip was VERY similar to the first day in Alaska where it was continual "ooooh" and "ahhhh" vistas.
Our lunch was the "second seating" and as we approached the dining car we were invited to join one of the couples on the tour who are from Great Britian who we'd talked with a few times. We enjoyed lunch, during which we got to see Mount Robson - the highest peak in all of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. We were told it's summit reaches nearly 13,000 feet and that that you can only see the entire peak about a dozen times a year!
We arrived in Jasper about 4 pm, picked up our luggage and we were combined with another tour group (without a representative of our tour to guide us!) and headed to the Jasper Park Lodge. What a view off our balcony!
Video Highlights From VIA Canadian Train Trip
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