Aug. 5th, Vancouver Garden Visits

This morning we drove from Kamloops to Vancouver. Interestingly this section felt more mountainous compared to driving through Jasper. There was a descent near Hope into the Coquihalla valley (I believe) which definitely surpassed everything I have seen in terms of highway ascents/descents in Europe: Very steep, very long going down into a narrow gorge with cars and trucks in back to back fashion on both lanes and even signs indicating that this section was also open for bicycle riders (we did not see that endangered species ...). Anyway, we arrived at the end in Vancouver and meet Barbara (one of my sisters) in a Sushi place (Kamei Royal Sushi). Judging from this place Vancouver has decent Japanese food at reasonable prices.

Barbara and me in a Vancouver Sushi Place

In the afternoon we embarked on an initial gardening tour. First stop was the Nitobe Memorial Garden located at the UBC campus. This is the best Japanese garden I have seen so far in NA and Europe. During our visit the weather was a bit misty/moist which added to the allure.

Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver

Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver

Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver

Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver

The 2nd garden we visited was also located at the UBC campus: UBC Botanical Garden. This garden is really a collection of multiple different gardens: A tree/canopy type section and across the road a collection of vegetable, stone and Carolingian gardens. I liked their vegetable/herb garden. My own basil never grows as plentiful and lush compared to the one I've seen there ...

UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver: Canopy Section

UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver: Canopy Section

UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver: Vegetable/Herb Section

UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver: Vegetable/Herb Section

Basil Pot in UBC Botanical Garden

UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver: Stone and Desert Garden Section

UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver: View from the Stone Garden towards lower Garden Sections

The last garden we visited was the VanDusen Garden. This is a modern and very large garden. Actually supercool. Vancouver is blessed to have this garden. We walked pretty much through all its parts until sundown.

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver: Insect Eating Plants

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver: Barbara and Margaret

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver: Labyrinth

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

VanDusen Garden in Vancouver

As it happens there is yet another large garden beside the VanDusen Garden but there was no time left for a visit. The Queen Elizabeth Garden has to wait for another visit. We had dinner in the evening at Vij's Ragnoli (an Indian restaurant) which was a fitting conclusion of the day. Vij's is quite a popular place. Full marks for their samosas. The rest of the food was also very decent. The meal was a fitting conclusion of the day.

Vij's Ragnoli Food

Vij's Ragnoli Food

Aug. 4th, Edmonton to Kamloops via Car

We arrived a bit ahead of schedule in Edmonton about 6:15am in the morning. I was up the skyline car again from about 5am onwards. My initial impressions of Edmonton: Somewhere an hour from the estimated train arrival time there are suddenly green-field and expansion construction projects going on everywhere. And this type of activity continuous until the huge freight train yard is reached. Oil refineries burning off gas can also be seen. While the oil prices have come down in the last 12 month the ongoing construction projects are continuing. The ViaRail station in Edmonton is by comparison tiny. Fallowfield train station in the outskirts of Ottawa is probably larger and offers more amenities compared to Edmonton. Edmonton did have WiFi, which does help.

Driving to Jasper

Our drive to Jasper was smooth. The ViaRail train station and rental car company were all located on the main highway going out of town towards the Rocky Mountains. I had to add pressure to a tire. The rental car folks certainly appeared a bit in a conundrum in the morning because most of their cars were returned the holiday before and were not serviced yet. Someone clearly did not check the tire pressure before passing us the car.

The first 100 to 150km are mostly uneventfull driving through forested areas. However between Edson and Hinton the scenery gets more interesting and the Rocky Mountains start to show of their beauty after Hinton.

We decided to go for lunch in Jasper at Kimchi House which turned out to be a decent Korean restaurant.

My very good Cold Korean Noodles

Also favorable mentioning to Patricia's Deli where we picked up some very delicious subs for a later road side snack. When looking for our lunch place we walked through most of the touristy parts of Jasper. Jasper draws an obvious comparison with Banff: It is maybe not as upscale in terms of shops and brand outlet shops but everything looked clean, relatively new and a decent amount of "cool" shopping places for gear, food and restaurants exist. There were plenty of people in town as well. Maybe one difference between Jasper is that the CN/ViaRail train station is an integral part of the town center while in Banff the CP train station is about a 1 to 2km away from the town center and a bit more out of sight.

After lunch we drove onwards with the goal ultimately to camp overnight in Clearwater BC. On the way we had a longer break at the Mt. Robson Provincial Park visitor center. I was interested to inquire about the Berg Lake trail details and campground reservations. The weather at this particular time was very good and Mt. Robson was fully visible and staggering. If we did not have already a firm reservation for the WCT and with my sisters I would have decided right then and there to do the Berg Lake trail (4 or 5 day trip). We will have time for the trail after the WCT or during another trip to the Rockies. My appetite for this trail is definitely wetted ...

View of Mt. Robson from Visitor Center

View of Mt. Robson from Visitor Center

Afterwards we continued our drive. The weather worsened and by the time we arrived in Clearwater BC we opted to continue to Kamloops and stay overnight in a motel and stay dry. Some impressions from the drive:

• The section from Valemount to Clearwater with its narrow valleys/gorges feels more mountainous compared to the wide Rocky Mountain valley around Jasper.
• Clearwater and its associated provincial park feels like an interesting place to have a closer look when plenty of time on hand. There are canoeing and hiking options galore. Clearwater is the local hub in that area. Valemount also has some infrastructure.
• The towns at the North Thompson river are relatively small.
• The scenery completely changes when approaching Kamloops. The river valley widens and irrigated agriculture reigns: Plenty fruits and vegetable. The hilly parts look like Silicon Valley to me: Dry and arid. Everything relatively brownish and similar plants like in California. A number of sections experienced forest fires. Also several areas were ravaged by mountain pine beetle

Some Forest Fire or Mountain Pine Beetle affected Areas between Clearwater and Kamloops.

View from the Car between Clearwater and Kamloops

Aug 3rd, ViaRail Winnipeg towards Edmonton

I was sitting in the skyline car all the time right after leaving Winnipeg soaking in the gorgeous and agricultural bountiful areas west of Winnipeg reaching for into Saskatchewan. I like the green and gold-brown hues of the grain fields, the yellow of the canola and the blue sky with the horizon far far away. Dotted by small and larger villages and farms here and there looking mostly prosperous. I already liked it 3 years ago when taking the bus to Banff and now the scenery is the same again in the skyline car with the additional view of the blue sky above.

Manitoba Wheat Field West of Winnipeg

Manitoba Canola Field West of Winnipeg

Manitoba Rye Field (I believe) West of Winnipeg

Old Style Grain Elevator

Fish Pond? or Water Reservoir or simply Water kept away from the Fields?

Rivers MB: typical Small Town Street Layout

Rivers MB: Typical Example of a Small-Town Trainstation and Grain Elevator (Old Style)

Rivers MB: Typical Example of Houses along the Road running parallel to the Railway.

Canola Fields in Saskatchewan

Wheat Field in Saskatchewan: Very similar to Manitoba west of Winnipeg

Rye and Canola Fields in SK

More Grain Elevators (Melville SK)

More Small Town Train Stations: Melville SK

We even managed to cross a fleeting path with Zandra and Steve when our train was going through Goodeve SK and they watched us going by and Margaret saw them.

Goodeve SK: This Cell Tower Base was the exact Location where Zandra and her nieces and nephews were supposed to stand! However they were about 30m to the left and I focused so much on the Tower Base that I missed seeing them. But Margaret saw them! Good eyes!!!

Some more evening impressions from Saskatchewan:

Wheat Field in Saskatchewan

Late Evening Impressions

The Assiniboine Valley deserves some special mentioning for its beauty (some of it is due to its wilderness and floodplanes being preserved somewhat). Unfortunately the pictures we made are all bit scrambled.

Crossing Steve's and Zandra's path at the end of their trip (Link to their Trip Page) was definitely a high-light despite me missing them because I focused so much on the base of the tower ;-). And here Zandra's view of our train standing at the cell tower in Goodeve:

Our ViaRail Train passing Goodeve SK.

Aug. 3rd, Winnipeg during a 3h Stop

Some early morning impressions from the skyline car. I was up in the 5am to 6am area.

Manitoba: The grain field are starting and the trees are less.

A Sunflower Field on the Way

We arrived about 7:30am local time in Winnipeg and a 3 to 4h break at our hand. No problems about what to do. Their market area called "Forks" is a 100m walking distance from the train station with plenty of stands and restaurant, bistro, coffee places to pick and choose from. Around the market hall is a gorgeous park right at the river and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights with an iconic architecture.

Approaching the Train Station in Winnipeg

The Park around the "Forks"

The Canadian Museum of Human Rights 

 

 

Our Breakfast Place

 

Now again back to the train. No more time left for more.