After a wait of about an hour at Golden I got on my Greyhound for the next leg of the journey, through Banf and Canmore to Calgary to Edmonton. For the next few weeks I'll be on the prairie, but got a good blast of mountain views out of the bus window between Golden and Canmore.
On the highway side of the Kicking Horse River is the mainly tourist oriented commercial district (most local services and homes are the other side of the bridge). One of less obtrusive spots in the touristy area is Taps Bar, where I had a cold one after my walks and, in this photo, while waiting to go to the bus terminal to continue on my journey. You can see my baggage leaning against the wall near the door. I am living out of those two bags for five weeks! Friendly staff, acceptant locals, nice dark beer, good memory.
In the days before steel construction, covered wooden bridges were an essential part of life in these cold climes. Now they are mainly tourist attractions. The Golden community built this one over the Kicking Horse River in about 2001. It is Canada's largest single span wooden bridge and was an excuse for a national convention of those that have the skills to build them. It took 24 days to put together and will last a couple hundred years (uncovered wood bridges last about 20). It is also very functional, providing a safe pedestrian walkway linking the two main parts of the town.
Golden lies at the confluence of the Kicking Horse and Columbia rivers. The Columbia is a mighty river, forges a valley through these magnificent mountains. That valley was the path of initial european intrusion into this land, and now forms the path of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Even in winter it is a busy arterial route for long haul freight. I heard this one behind me as I returned towards town from the river junction. It is crossing the the flat steel bridge over the Kicking Horse River. I saw some with up to five locomotives in front and one behind!
Continuing the walk, was surrounded by beautiful vistas like this one. Unlike most pictures I've taken in the mountains, it actually captures something of both the isolation and the grandeur of the the surrounds. The peak in the sunlight in the background just took my breath away when the sun first struck it! As the day wore on and the clouds slowly cleared from the surrounding slopes I was seeing scenes like this with every step.
The trail wound between the railway and a strip of woodland on the edge of town. Here's a picture of me in my clobber, taken with the camera timer. I found it interesting how the snow doesn't seem to be evident anywhere where there's plants of any real size growing.
The trail passes around the back of town and alongside some sidings of the transcanadian railroad. A couple trains were waiting there, headed by this contraption. Canada might have a tory government these days, but it's more thanks to machines like this that the trains run on time!
Always keen for a new adventure, I put aside my fear of being caught in a blizzard or charged by a bear, kitted up into my newish Blundstone boots and went for a hike.
I awoke on my first morning in Golden to snow falling and a white landscape. If you can make out my expression, I don't look too certain about the whole thing! The cold coming up through the ugg boots didn't help either.
I went for a short walk past the western outskirts of Golden shortly on arrival. Here you can see what defines the town; mountains and mills. An interesting cross of tourism and primary industry, with a main service stop for the Canadian Pacific Railroad and artistic subculture makes for an interesting place.
After my meal in Chinatown things got distinctly seamier as I found myself in 'Gaslight Town' - where all the junkies emerge with the night. A bit wary, I cut back through to the edge of Chinatown and came across this!
After my excursion across the harbour I continued on foot through the pot zone and into Chinatown. I got there after 5pm and it was basically shut down, about the only part of the city to do so at that civilised hour. Says a lot about the Chinese!
On my last day in Vancouver, after leaving the motel, I had over twelve hours to kill before catching my bus to the west. So I went for a ferry ride across the harbour to Vancouver North and watched the birds for a while. At first I thought their seagulls were rather large, then realised they were albatrosses and some kind of sea eagle. This guy was the dominant one of the flock.
Vancouver is Canada's busiest port, and one of the busiest in North America. You wouldn't guess that from this view over the yacht marina from near Stanley Park. Downtown is just visible to the right, North Vancouver is out of shot to the left.
On my second night in Vancouver realised just how beautiful the city is, even when it's raining. This is another view from my balcony, looking down Robson St, one of the main downtown shopping strips.
About 10m off the main track in the park one could feel that was in a primal forest. This picture was taken with my camera on a timer. If you can see my expression I look totally chuffed with the world. That's exactly how I felt!
My first day full day in Vancouver resulted in me going for a bit of a walk through part of Stanley Park, total trip of about 8km the way I went. The park actually felt very 'special', was no surprise when came across these modern totem poles. I took some photos of a chinese couple on their camera, they took this of me.
I got to Vancouver on March 17, time to celebrate St Pat's second time around (I had crossed the dateline). Wandered up through town where they were dancing in the streets, got to bed reasonably late. The next morning, this is what I saw from the balcony on my tenth floor motel room.
