Trains and Grizzly Bears, A Canadian Roadtrip - Rocky Mountaineer Day 1

Monday, September 2 – Vancouver to Kamloops

The alarm went off at 5:45 AM which was much too early for us.  We got ready and went down to the lobby and out to the bus and found we were the last ones on, I guess we should have gotten up just a little bit earlier.  It was a short ride to the Rocky Mountaineer Station where we found the station full of people waiting to board.  The guide on the bus told us that it was an unusually large train of 25 cars and there were 815 passengers on this trip, lucky us.

Before we get going, here is some information on the Rocky Mountaineer.  It is a privately owned luxury train that has three main routes through British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies in Alberta.  The train stops every night and passengers stay in a hotel for the night so you don’t miss any of the beautiful scenery you travel through.

We are taking the Grand Circle tour, which is a round trip from Vancouver, Canada, through the Canadian Rockies before returning to Vancouver.  This trip combines two routes, the first of which is called The First Passage to the West that will be take us from Vancouver to Banff National Park.  The train does not go from Banff up to Jasper so we will be taking buses for that segment of the trip.  From Jasper the final segment of the Grand Circle will be another of the train routes called Rainforest to Gold Rush.  Luckily, most of the 815 passengers on board will only be taking The First Passage West segment of the trip so there will be far less people after that.

The Rocky Mountaineer Grand Circle Tour.  The numbers in the diamonds are the number of nights spent at each location.

Yesterday we had a taste of the excellent service that the Rocky Mountaineer prides itself on and it continued this morning.  Despite the large amount of people, everyone in the terminal was helpful, calm and cheerful, and provided coffee, tea and juices as well as entertainment while we waited.  It was soon time to board so we made our way to our train car.

The train is ready to go.

An extra long train of 25 cars and 815 passengers made for a crowded station.

We did have some entertainment while we waited for the "all aboard".

Finally it was time to board.

We were piped aboard as we looked for our car.

There are three levels of service and we chose the Gold Leaf, which is the top level.  One of the advantages is an upgrade to better hotels, but the best advantage is the train car itself.  The car is a double decked dome car with very roomy, luxurious seats on the upper deck with large windows offering great views and a downstairs dining room where breakfast and lunch are served.  There is also an outside viewing platform on the lower level.

After finding our car and getting settled in, we were welcomed aboard by the attendants and got underway.  Each domed car has four attendants with two working upstairs providing commentary and information, as well as serving drinks and snacks all day long.  The other two attendants are downstairs taking our meal orders and serving.

Val is happy as we start out on our adventure.

We're finally underway as we leave the train yard.

After getting under away, they started the breakfast service which was broken up into two seatings as there wasn’t enough room for the whole car at once.  Before the call to breakfast, everyone was given a hot towel to clean and refresh with; they felt great.  We were lucky enough to be in the first seating, so we made our way downstairs and were seated.  As on most trains, all tables are for four so you are always seated across from another couple.  In almost all cases, it is an enjoyable experience and this morning was no exception.  We met a very nice couple from the Austin, Texas area and had a nice conversation throughout breakfast.  Breakfast started with a basket of croissants and then we had a choice of five entrees.  Coffee, tea, juices or water were also served.  Breakfast was excellent and lived up to the Rocky Mountaineer reputation of serving gourmet food in the Gold Leaf service.

The culinary staff prepares our breakfast.

After breakfast, Val and I hung out on the observation platform taking pictures and enjoying the views.  Picture taking is very difficult because you are always moving at various speeds and there is more often than not, trees or other obstacles flashing by and getting in the way of the picture you want to take.

After a great breakfast, we spent some time out on the observation platform.

There was quite a bit of room, but when we were passing some particularly interesting spot, it got quite crowded.

We noticed that the Rocky Mountaineer always drew waves when we passed by homes or even people waiting at railroad crossings.

I won’t go into detail on everything that happened, except to say that lunch was even better than breakfast and was more like a dinner.   When we weren’t in our seats relaxing and being served snacks and drinks, we were out on the viewing platform watching the scenery go by.  We followed the Frasier River in the morning and then the Thompson River in the afternoon through some beautiful scenery.  I couldn't begin to describe everything we saw today, so I will show you our day with the pictures below.  Some of the pictures were taken through the dome car windows so that's why the pictures have reflections or light patterns in them.

This is known as Hell's Gate.

 

It was a long day on the train, but it went by quickly and we arrived in Kamloops around 5:30.  Kamloops is in a dry, almost desert like region and as we got closer and closer it got hotter and hotter.  When we arrived, the temperature was in the mid to high 80's, which while warm wasn’t uncomfortable.

When we got off the train, we were handed our room keys and then taken by bus to our hotel.  After a short bus ride, we went straight to our hotel room and settled in.  There aren’t any high-end hotels in Kamloops, but the one we are in is comfortable and adequate for our needs.

After getting settled in, we decided to go for a walk as we are in the center of town and near the river park.  We had a nice walk, but after spending the day eating on the train, we weren’t really hungry for dinner so we came back to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and went to bed early again as we have to get up at 5:00 AM tomorrow for another early start.  Our destination tomorrow is Banff National Park.

Val gets her picture taken with the Kamloops Mounted Patrol.