Today is moving day. We’ve had a wonderful time here at the Blaeberry Lodge, in Golden, and in all the national parks. Now it’s time to move on. After checking out with Rainer(Blaeberry Lodge co-owner) we head on out to Route 1, and head west. We’ll go through Glacier NP and Revelstoke NP on the way.
The scenery just keeps on going. Wows abound. There are not many ‘sights’ to see in Glacier and Revelstoke, but there is still plenty to see. This is avalanche country. Evidence is all around. I now recognize areas where avalanches occur – they are the places without trees that are usually not ski runs! Clearcuts by mother nature!
We stopped at Rogers Pass Center in Glacier – and got a history lesson in how the railroad was built through the mountains. It is truly incredible what people can endure. Needless to say it was quite a feat. There I also saw the smallest electric train I have ever seen. They had a scale model of that part of the mountain, showing primarily the train route – and a tiny train traveling across the model. Tiny. Another thing that caught my eye was a quote from the early 20th century that illuminates the attitude at that time that bringing the train had turned a place fit only for wild beasts into a useful, civilized area. Unfortunately this attitude is still around today, and only slowly are we beginning to realize the effects of the drastic changes we make to the environment.
There are three boardwalks along the route – one through a Hemlock rain forest, one through a Cedar forest, and one through a wetland area. These were all short walks, and we did each one. The Hemlock and Cedar emphasized the importance of old growth trees to the survival of the forest –and pointed out that most of the old growth had been destroyed when the train track was constructed – burned. The wetland, called Skunk Cabbage, is primarily a bird sanctuary. Of course, both Jake and Woody had to ‘slip’ off of the boardwalk and into the swamp!
We also stopped at Rogers Summit, to view the monument to the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway. You’ll find pictures of the coat of arms for each province on Flickr. Not to forget, through all of this are majestic mountains, glaciers, and wonderful scenery.
Then we were in Revelstoke, the town, and it was time for lunch. We found the Main Street Café, which was highly recommended in our book of information, and it was all we could have wanted. Great food. Service was a little spotty. The building is for sale (!), not quite sure what that means for the restaurant. Gassed up, and on down the road.
There are no more stops to make – it is already late – around 3, and Hope is a long way off. The clouds are building, we’ve had a little rain already, and in general, the rest of the day is just going to be a drive. One thing to note, we went by a big lake – big because we just kept driving and the lake continued to be there. It’s one big lake, and Sally-Heath told me it claims to be the houseboat capital of the world. I can believe it – they sure have the room!
We found Hope. We found our motel, right in downtown, and right across the street from the only eating place recommended by our resource. When I checked in, the motel owner asked me ‘why’ were we staying in Hope 4 nights, as though no one ever does that! I guess we’ll find out – but we think there are hikes and interesting things to see here. Our room is nice, clean, and adequate – but quite a step down from the lovely remote cabin we had the previous 6 nights! (a bit less expensive too….) We went across the street to eat – tried to order soup and a sandwich, but the soup had been closed down. Allowed others to go ahead while we made another decision, tried to order a sandwich, but the deli had been closed down. It was 8:30, and the deli closed at 8, taking soup and sandwiches with it. They did have pre-prepared things, so we went with that. It was good, and we will go back.
It’s raining fairly hard again – forecast has rain for parts of the next couple of days. We’ll see. It’s late. Goodnight.
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