Don and Sharon Hazle
Port Matilda Pa.
dah@psu.edu
I had always thought that I would like to take a vacation that involved some extended time on the rails. Previously, time had limited my wife and I to tourist trains and a few overnight trips on Amtrak from Altoona to New York or Pittsburgh. In 2002 we were able to take one great ride on the Zephyr from Denver over the Rockies to California. In 2003 my Sharon, son Kevin and I had taken the spectacular train trip to the Copper Canyon in Mexico.
With my upcoming retirement and the kids still at home to watch the house it seemed like the right time to plan that extended retirement trip. Our goal was to combine as much train travel as possible in Canada and the US with a trip up Alaska’s inside passage, ride on the Alaska railroad and cruise back to Vancouver. Glacier Bay, The Yukon and White Pass Railroad. A glacier helicopter tour and a float plane trip were also on my wish list. Cost was going to be a factor. From very early on it was obvious that using the North American Rail Pass in the off season was going to save us a pile of money. At present that pass is $543 per person which gets you almost unlimited rail travel in coach class for 30 days in the US and Canada. In our case when I priced the total rail cost, using the standard coach fares, it was near $1500 per person not including accommodations on the train. So my advice is to do this trip while you can. Not only may the rail pass disappear, but if our government has its way, so will the long distance trains in the US. I intended to depart and return to home by train. However, this pass limited my vacation to 30 days and required that we complete travel before June 1. Since we planned to visit Alaska I scheduled that trip as late as possible (April 26 to May 25) in that time window to take advantage of warming temperatures.
Sunday April 24, 2005
I had wanted the first part of my rail trip to be from Altoona to Toronto a 6 hour drive from my house. However, I soon discovered that it would take and extra 2 days to complete that segment by rail via New York and Montreal. Therefore we decided that we would have my daughter drive us to Toronto 2 days before the departure of the Canadian. We stayed at the Victoria Hotel which has nice yet inexpensive accommodations when compared to the bigger hotels downtown.
Monday April 25, 2005
We took the hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Toronto for $28 each which covers several miles. This is an excellent way to see as much of Toronto as possible in one day. Make sure that you get off at Casa Loma which is the former home of the person that owned the first electrical power system in Toronto. It is very worth seeing for the small admission that goes to the Lions Club. I wanted to go up the CN Tower and eat a meal in the revolving restaurant. At first it looked expensive and we had decided not to get the meal. Then our bus driver explained that the meal cost included the elevator ride. The meal was much better than we ever expected and the view was great. Out side the wind was howling at a steady 50mph. I could not resist going outside to see what it was like. If you have the nerve, stand on glass floor that allows you to look straight down. Though I knew an elephant could stand on that floor without it breaking, I was still uneasy.
Tuesday April 26
We head for the Toronto Station and our train The Canadian http://www.viarail.ca/. In our early planning stages my wife and I were just going to sleep on the train in the coach seats from Toronto to Jasper. When making my reservations I found the rooms on the Canadian are very expensive and frequently sold out. However, the cost of a section on the Canadian with fold down seats that make into upper and lower berths was a very reasonable $190 per person for 2.5 days and 2 nights. This put us in the Silver and Blue class with all meals included and gave us access to the dome car at the rear of the train. It also gave us access to the Blue and Gold lounge at the Toronto Station where we were provided with couches, comfortable chairs and free refreshments. Note that if you eat all meals and have dessert in addition to gaining weight you will spend about $50 per person per day. This in effect lowered the actual cost of the beds for the 2 nights to around $40 per person. Since I am 6’2” and 240 pounds the bonus for me was when our car steward told me that the section beds are the largest on the train.
Meals on the Canadian are a real treat. I love to eat and I never was dissatisfied with a single meal. The staff seemed very willing to fill special requests. You will also find out that train travelers are very friendly and easy to engage in an interesting conversion. The trip from Toronto to Jasper was beautiful and relaxing. It was off season and there were almost always seats available in the dome car. There is something special about sitting in the front seat of the dome watching the scenery come at you from the front. Refreshments and light snacks were available in the observation car most of the day. Others seemed to like sitting in the rear seats with a 270º view of what we had just passed. Surprisingly many passengers remain in their sections or rooms with only a one side view. In northern Ontario a heavy wet snow had made a fairyland-like landscape. The sun came out and combined with crystal blue lakes surrounded by the snow covered landscape.
- Wednesday April 27, 2005
Going west to Winnipeg and Edmonton the scenery changes to endless prairies and farms where from the dome care you could see the towns coming 15 miles away. We were running on time and therefore the train made several stops where the passengers are allowed from10 minutes for a stretch up to a full hour to walk to the nearby towns. By this time I was starting to understand how truly relaxing a train trip can be. For 40 years I had been the driver and therefore missed some of the beauty that passed along the road. This was very different.
Thursday April 28, 2005
By the time we got to the Canadian Rockies the skies were clear and the dome car was full of passengers looking at the mountains and spotting wildlife. Passengers were all cooperating by taking turns going to the front window of the dome car to take photographs. The Canadian Rockies seemed to grow from the flat lands as we approached. On some of the mountains we spotted herds of mountain goats. Even the travelers that normally seemed to be reading were up and taking photographs. In Jasper we departed the train with most of the other passengers continuing on to Vancouver. The Skeena did not leave until the next day. Therefore, we had chosen to spend the night in Jasper rent a car and drive around the park. The weather was beautiful and during the last week in April there are no crowds. Frequently we found that we were the only people at the major attractions. Our host at the motel said that it is her favorite time of year given that the ski crowd is gone and the summer tourist season does not start until the middle of May. We took the tram to the top of the mountain above Jasper just in time to watch the Canadian snake up the valley towards Vancouver. At times were found ourselves driving though herds of elk that seemed almost oblivious to our presence. We hiked along the side of several thundering waterfalls and crystal clear mountain lakes.
Friday April 29, 2005
The follow day we boarded the Skeena which is Via Rail’s train that runs three times a week from Jasper to Prince Rupert. The train is scheduled to run during daylight hours and consists of one passenger car and a dome observation car. There were only 19 of us on the first leg of the trip from Jasper to Prince George. Therefore everyone could potentially have a seat in the passenger dome. Light meals were served in the downstairs lounge. The train is so short that from the dome you can always see the front and watch the wild life cross the tracks in front of the train. Since there are few roads and grade crossings, every time you heard the engineer sound the horn, you would likely see a moose or bear at the edge of the tracks. Our conductor was always present to describe what we were seeing. This is part of the same route that the Rocky Mountaineer follows during some of its excursion. The ride on the Skeena with the same scenery was costing me about $100 per day in including my B&B compared to the Rocky Mountaineer at around $900 per day. But I will have to give the Rocky Mountaineer the edge in service and meals. If I had the money I would ride it in a New York minute. At Mount Robson the train slowed while the conductor opened the top part of the split doors for photographs. After May 15th there are 2 classes of service on the Skeena. So after that date if you want a seat in dome car, you will pay more. That is another reason to travel early. At Price George everyone gets off the train and spends the night at the accommodation of their choice. We stayed at a bed and breakfast for around $60US. There were also several inexpensive motels with waking distance. Note that it is your responsibility to book the room.
Saturday April 30, 2005
Then next morning we boarded the Skeena for the second half of the trip to Prince Rupert. Now there were only 14 of us on the trip. The scenery was just as good on this second half of the trip as the first. There were more small towns and ranches to see. During the last part of the trip the train runs along the Skeena River which is very wide fast flowing. Some of the rapids were generating waves that had to be 7 feet high. We had a local crab fisherman on board that who told of having friends that lost their lives in the river. During crab season he told of fishing in the open ocean on a 36ft boat just like we had watched on the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch. After a delay caused by freight train that had one of its couplers break we arrived in Prince Rupert shortly after dark. The train station in Prince Rupert is out by the Alaska Ferry terminal the therefore it was necessary to take a cab to downtown. We stayed at the Pillsbury Guest House http://www.princerupertlibrary.ca/pillsbury/ which was build by the railroad and is the oldest house in town. It and sits on hill overlooking the harbor were we could watch the freighters come in from Japan to load logs. The locals tell us that the decision has been made to make Prince Rupert the 4th deep water port on the west coast of North America because Seattle, LA and San Diego have all run out of capacity. How that will change the railroad and town is a big consideration. My recommendation is to see the town before this all takes place. It will never be the same.
Sunday May 1, 2005
It was a short walk to town and the historic area of Cow Bay. There you will find flower gardens and quaint shops and places to eat. We hiked the trail from Cow Bay to the Seaplane base which runs along the bay on an abandoned railroad. It was during this hike that we discovered just how many eagles there are in this part of Canada. That day and next morning before we departed with had seen around 50 with 14 in one tree near a fishery. My wife got a good laugh as I attempted to photography and eagle about 100 yards away. She just pointed to the one sitting on a pole 30 feet over my head. Being that this was a weekend and early in the tourist season, the museum was closed which turned out to be our only penalty for going in early season during the entire trip.
Monday May 2, 2005
On Monday morning we boarded the Alaska Ferry to Petersburg. The ferry sails some of the same route and the cruise ships. Most of the people traveling with us were locals and were more that willing to tell us what we were seeing. Even the passengers from the lower 48 were interesting. We met Yuka, a young Japanese girl that had decided to travel in Canada and Alaska. We had seen her on the Skeena but not introduced ourselves. We offered to treat her to a meal on the Ferry and she accepted our invitation. |
