Eastward bound – the Canada journey begins

Vancouver

First Nations long-boat racers on Burrard Inlet

(More pictures below)

Vancouver was wonderful. We spent four days visiting and seeing the sights of the city. A highlight was a several-hour walk/sit along the bank of Burrard Inlet on the Saturday of Canada Day Weekend. Several First Nations were holding a day of long-boat (extra long, slim canoe) races, and we got to see several heats, as well as youth races. Paddling these boats for speed in teams of four or more is a grueling, dangerous, impressive task. The crews rowed out maybe half a mile before circling a buoy and coming back. At least four boats capsized on the turn, and getting them righted was no easy feat! Further down the shore, after passing the dog beach full of wet, sandy, gleeful canines and their people, we greeted cousin Melissa’s youngest, Mitchell, who was lifeguarding at the people’s beach. A little further on, we chanced on a citizenship ceremony where about 50 new citizens were taking the oath in English and French, and the local MP encouraged them to be the best of Canada – a place where all people are valued. Finally, we circled back through the First Nations festival, and feasted on some traditional frybread before heading back to the car. 

 

The intersection of so many cultures and languages and traditions was a real joy, and illustrates how Canada has rejected the “melting pot” idea of everyone becoming the same, to embrace the “quilt” image of a beautiful thing made up of different colors and shapes. Everywhere we go here, we see this variety, and it is a beautiful thing. 

 

It hasn’t always been this way. We have heard stories of indigenous people being forced off their land, mass graves of Native children being found at forced “Indian Schools” created to disrupt culture and indoctrinate acculturation. At a roadside marker in eastern B.C., we learned of Canada’s forcing of Japanese Canadian men during World War II to labor on the trans-Canada highway. The marker expressed the Canadian government’s regret at the practice, and a promise to not let it happen again.

 

On the road again

 

After a fond goodbye and promises to visit again soon, we left Vancouver on Monday. The rest of the week was devoted to nature: the snow-covered mountains of British Columbia that extend up from Washington’s Cascades, then the steep, dry hills that eventually climb to become the Canadian Rockies in Alberta – craggy, rugged peaks jammed together and marked by huge glaciers and marks of past landslide and avalanches. We decided at the last minute to go north to Jasper National Park, near the 53rd parallel, rather than straight to Banff, and boy, was that the right decision! Jasper was beautiful and welcoming and easy to navigate. Much less crowded than Banff, it offered beautiful mountains, a gondola ride to the top of a mountain, and glacier-fed rivers and lakes, including a spectacular boat ride on lake Maligne. We saw bears, elk, mountain sheep, a wolf, and pica, and shared a campground with marmots – the whistling, slimmer cousin to our groundhog. Rather than just passing through as we originally intended, we spent three days in Jasper before heading south. The timing was good, as smoke from B.C. wildfires had settled over the park on our last day there.

 

The drive from Jasper to Banff on the Icefields Highway was one gasping view after another, even with the haze from the fires. As sprinkling rain settled the smoke, the glacier-topped mountains opened up before us. The three-hour drive took us more like five, as we stopped to see every overlook and view. 

 

Our luck turned a bit then. The campground my research had showed would have space for us turned out to be closed for renovations, and every other campground in Banff was full, with no overflow or other options. As hunger from a delayed dinner made us (me) increasingly anxious, we continued south out of the park and ended up in a rather seedy, overpriced RV park with grubby bathrooms and lots of construction vehicles for the men and women working the road construction project that had delayed our trip by almost an hour. We decided not to go back to Banff, and will head toward Calgary and a largely unplanned itinerary in the morning. One stop Melissa is sure we’ll enjoy is Dinosaur Provincial Park in Lethbridge, south of Calgary, “a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its rich fossil resource, extensive badlands and riparian (riverside) habitats.” 

 

After that, we’ll let heat and smoke forecasts and signs beside the road guide us gradually home over the next month. If you have a suggestion, let us know! 


PHOTOS


Vancouver


Cousin bonding


New Canadians



On the Capilano suspension bridge






































Jasper National Park 












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