2026 – Canada

Took the hotel shuttle across the (very wide) Bow Valley to Whitehorn Mountain Ski Area. Given the choice of taking a closed gondola or a chairlift up, we chose the chairlift for the stunning 15 minute ride up. The area was lush and green with tons of wild flowers blooming. We enjoyed lunch on the…

We took a beautiful, semi-strenuous hike 8 kilometers (round trip) up from the lake through pine forests past Mirror Lake and on to Agnes Lake with beautiful views down to Lake Louise. We ate lunch on the porch at the tea house there. Back at the hotel we rewarded ourselves with a soak in the…

Once we left the Jasper Fire burn area we found ourselves in an area of head-exploding beauty: the Columbia Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise. The drive traverses Jasper and Banff National Parks and follows 5 river valleys: the Athabasca, Sunwapta, North Saskatchewan, Mistaya and Bow. Our first stop was the spectacular Athabasca Falls where 250,000…

Finally, a leisurely morning and it was a gorgeous, sunny one! It was a long walk from our “cabin” to the main lodge and the property, on Lac Beauvert, is beautiful. The dreadful smoke from yesterday had been cleared out by the rain. Time for working out, breakfast, catching up on email then it’s already…

We made it on to the train for the trip to Jasper. Yay! Super comfortable and roomy seats upstairs in a glass dome car, dining room below. It was a lot like being on a cruise with an unlimited drinks package – mimosas; lovely, leisurely breakfast; drinks; lovely leisurely lunch; drinks, snacks, more drinks, cheese…

Did I say “train adventure”? Due to wildfires closing the tracks our train day became a bus day and our white tablecloth lunch with wine became A&W Root Beer and Teen burgers. (If you know, you know). Very disappointing, but small in comparison to the impact on people living in the path of these fires.…

After a lazy morning we headed off for an audio tour of Granville Island, exploring and lunching at the very fun GV Public Market. Then took one of a cute little Aquabus up False Creek. Took the excellent metro back to the hotel and had happy hour/dinner at the Club Room before packing for early…

Headed to our next hotel where the train trip organizers are putting us up for two nights. Took the shuttle to the spectacular, very bouncy, Capilano Suspension Bridge (450 feet long, 230 feet above the river). Back in town we embarked on an audio tour of the Gastown area which we cut short after spending…

Visit to the beautiful VanDusen Botanical Garden. The place is huge with lots of things in bloom: “a 55-acre oasis in the heart of Vancouver with over 7500 plant species and varieties from around the world”. From there we walked to Queen Elizabeth Park for excellent views over the city and distant mountains as well…

Photos Summary Up and out of the house early for an uneventful flight to Vancouver. We were headed there for the “Rocky Mountaineer”, a train and bus trip through the Canadian Rockies. We arrived around noon and, after dropping our bags at our hotel, had lunch overlooking the harbor. Then took a long walk to…