Up at a reasonable time in the DoubleTree Inn in Kamloops. No need to get bags out early, just leave them in the room and the bell team will come get them later -- because the bags don't travel on the train, they go by truck to our hotel in Jasper. They get there long before we do. Train travel may be fun but it's not fast.
In the rail yard, our departure is viewed by an osprey in its nest. Fun fact -- the power company puts up these platform poles, taller than the normal power poles, for the birds to nest on. This is to prevent the birds from nesting on the actual power lines, which isn't good for either the birds or the power company.
In the Silver Leaf cars, travelers eat in their seats as in airline travel. In Gold Leaf we have a separate dining room. I guess that's better.
Wave off
We're rising from the desert into the mountains.
RM promises gourmet dining in addition to great sightseeing. Breakfast and lunch are provided each day, so we didn't have to find something like an Egg McMuffin before boarding the bus to the train. This is an example of lunch. Before the entrees are presented, here's little something while you wait. Prosciutto, bread, cheese, fruit, and pickled vegetables (with something HOT added to them). And there are only tables of four so you have conversation partners for these meals. All done on white linen.
Pyramid Falls
Here are the seats in the upper level, with a dome that allows you to see all the way to to the top of the mountains. It's also tinted to keep the sun from roasting you. Add in the leather seats and the swaying, rhythmic clacking of the wheels on the rails and it's tough to stay awake for the scenery.
A monument to the soldiers and train men who died in a crash at this spot in 1950. 21 people died.
To get from the observation seats down to the dining area you had to negotiate this spiral stairway. For those who couldn't make the stairs there was an "elevator of shame". We had one person on this trip who required it.
Mount Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.
It's at this point that we shift from the North Thompson River back to the Fraser River we were on as we left Vancouver.
Our arrival in Jasper is met by the Sleeping Chief in the mountains above us. (The dark spot on the top of the ridge - eyes on left chin to the right- is the face and the body is to the right. His hair/headdress surrounds the head.)
Our room, one of four in the cabin, is to the left.
The view from our room of Beauvert Lake.
And from the seats outside our room, a great view of Mt. Edith Cavell.
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