May 15th, 2024 – Another wonderful day on the Rocky Mountaineer from Kamloops to Jasper!
As we left for the train station, a man from the back of the bus came running up to the driver and guide to tell them that his wife was not on the bus. The bus stopped and let the guide out who ran back to the hotel while the bus circled around the block. I immediately thought that when it comes to group tours, there is always someone who is late. It turned out, she was on time, she simply got on the wrong bus and was safely headed to the train. We ended up sitting with that same couple at lunch, they are from Oxford, and both very nice people.
The glass domed cars are great but pictures can end up with glare or reflection off of the glass. One the lower level, next to the dining area, there is an open air section which is great for taking pictures or to go outside and for fresh air. I was regularly looking for the mile markers along the side of the track and marking the times on the map so that I had an idea when the next point of interest might be so that I could be downstairs to take pictures. I wasn’t the only one doing that and began to notice that if you didn’t get their early or if they made an announcement, you may not get a good spot!
That morning, I also noticed that there was something going on with the Music, by mid-morning, we had heard IZ’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” at least six times in the first couple of hours. When I first heard the song in the morning, I thought to myself that I would expect to hear it when visiting Hawaii, we were in Canada looking at snow covered mountains, it felt out of place, when I heard it for the sixth time, I knew that something was up with the entertainment system, a handful of songs including John Denver’s “Country Roads” were playing over and over again. I wasn’t the only one who noticed it. I think someone finally said something because after lunch we heard completely different music.
As we continued our journey, the guides pointed out wildlife. We saw bears, longhorn sheep, bald eagles, Ospreys, deer and elk. Passengers would also call it out when they spotted something. The guides also talked about the local history including native history and railroad history.
The one thing that I was fascinated by was that amount of large cargo trains witch cars that were double stacked. I don’t think our tunnels in the US could accommodate cars with two containers on it. I had no idea just how busy the railways systems are.
As the day progressed, we went from dry terrain into heavily wooded terrain. As the altitude went up, the temperature went down. As we pulled into Jasper, we saw a couple of elk roaming around in the back yards of a couple of houses. We were warned, elk can be aggressive, especially this time of year when they are getting ready to have calves and to keep our distance.
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