Canadian Holiday
- Day 8 : Monday 15th September
After leaving Golden, the scenery went quickly back to the spectacular, as the route took us through two National Parks. The first was “Glaciers” National Park, and the route took us through Rogers Pass, which had a rest area and museum telling the story of the pioneers who established the pass. There were quite a few avalanche protection tunnels, where the road was covered over. The second park was the Revelstoke National Park. We were able to stop twice and do a bit of walking close to the main road. One walk was on a boardwalk, taking us through well-signed vegetation, including redwoods. The other was a rocky path in a large loop, showing us how first moss and lichens, then more advanced vegetation, would grow on rocky surfaces; we saw one large rock with a small pine tree growing on the top, taking advantage of the moss and lichens that had grown on it first. At one point on this walk we saw a small rodent, which we later found was called a pika – apparently, if you go into the Canadian woods you’ll be within 3 feet of several of these creatures, but few people ever see one.
We stopped for a picnic lunch by yet another turquoise lake; behind the lake was a steep hillside, with two rocky outcrops, and through the two outcrops ran the railway line; and while we were watching, a train came out of one tunnel, beside the lake, and into the next one – and as the train was far longer than the lake, there were several minutes where we saw train!
Then it was a long drive down to the Okanagan Valley and Kelowna. After leaving Revelstoke, the landscape became far less rugged, and farming was increasingly evident. The Okanagan Valley, we knew, was a noted area for fruit farming, and the closer we got the more fruit farms we saw. Eventually we came into Kelowna, and with very little difficulty found Phil and Mabel Johnson’s apartment, where we were welcomed warmly, and with whom we spent the evening, before crossing the bridge to the west bank and finding our B&B.