winnipeg and jasperYesterday, we climbed a mountain. Well, okay, we took a tram up most of the way. But we did climb the rest. Well, not quite the rest. The summit was snow and mud, so we didn't go up there. But we climbed most of the way up a mountain. And it was cool. I haven't been able to get Internet access to my iBook, so updates haven't been happening. I've been able to check email once or twice, but that's about it. I'm writing this on the train (currently in Kamloops, BC), hoping I'll be able to upload this in Vancouver. The train has taken some getting used to. Three-to-four hour trips back home hadn't prepared me for spending over 30 hours on the train. I have to remember to get up and walk around occasionally. There were a few points in northern Ontario where I wanted nothing more than to get out and just find a crappy motel or something. Not that I would have had much luck finding one in northern Ontario. Not unless the beavers have branched out into the hospitality industry. (And we did see a few beavers from the train up there. No moose, though). Winnipeg was nice. We stayed with Eric's aunt and uncle, who went out of their way to be amazing hosts for us. I think we exhausted Winnipeg's tourist opportunities: the museum (featuring the googly-eyed cow, oh and some ship or other), Portage and Main, the commodities exchange (~20 guys standing outside their cubicles looking at boards showing prices for four types or wheat), the Forks, Golden Boy (shiny), the Mint (where all the money comes from!)... Eric's uncle took us out to dinner at Alyssia's—John Candy's favourite restaurant (in Winnipeg, at least), apparently. Good perogies. We took the train straight across the prairies overnight. It was dark, and I slept through most of Saskatchewan, so I didn't get to experience the supreme flatness. Aproaching the Rockies on the train was something else, though. Alex's enthusiasm is contagious. I took about 100 pictures of mountains as we were coming in. We've just left Jasper a few hours ago. The first night we stayed in a cabin in the woods which, despite the lack of running water, was really nice, actually. The first night we hiked along Maligne Canyon, and I got to find out just how out of shape I am. It was, though, pretty fabulous. I like hiking. Jasper doesn't seem as concerned about keeping people out of places as most parks I've been to. We got to trudge along riverbeds and muck about on waterfalls (the latter may not have been terribly prudent...). We climbed the aformentioned mountain the next day. I passed on the hot springs. And we generally stood in awe of nature. We stayed in a hostel converted from an old-style ski lodge last night. Meaning a big dorm with bunk beds. It was full, which was surprising. While we were playing cards in the common room, Yukari, a Japanese tourist, showed up and asked what we were playing (she had only played Poker before, and was in awe of all these strange Canadian games). She eventually joined us for a full-fledged game of Hearts, which was kind of cool. I didn't get much sleep last night, though. Too many people moving around. I don't think we have any more dorm-style hostels for the rest of the trip, which is a good thing. I did make friends with Tanner, the hostel's live-in dog, though. We saw tonnes of deer and big horn sheep around the park. A few elk and caribou. One black bear cub on the train on the way out of the park. I've got lots of pictures, and I'll post some later, one way or another. Hopefully I'll be able to update about Vancouver and Victoria from Vancouver or Victoria. If there's any free wifi in this country, it's out there. comments:This post is archived. Comments are disabled. Feel free to send me email if you have something to say. | |
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