Unfinished Business

Sunday 31 July 2011

Two summers ago we went to the central section of the Rockies, last year we did the southern section and here we are in the northern section. It's unfinished business. We flew into Calgary, drove to Banff, which was heaving as it's a holiday weekend, to discover our log cabin had been booked for August 30 - not July 30, and there wasn't room in any of the inns until we came upon a bed and breakfast which proudly advertised it was established in 1947. This wasn't repro; it was the real deal. But everyone was nice and the cabin people were mortified and could take us the next day and as it had become a 22 hour day we were happy just to get some food and sleep.

There are 37 B and Bs in Banff and we are now where we should be: Banff Beaver cabins. It's a Heritage Site and the cabins were built in 1914. In 1928, Parks Canada let people use "backyard developments" to absorb tourist demands and by 1937 there were over 400 backyard cabins for tourists. Then cabin construction was stopped in 1939 and the Beaver cabins are one of the few remaining. And we'd wondered why the place last night had Wendy houses in the garden. That's why.

So, Day One we went to Lake Minnewanka (fnarr, fnarr) then to the must-see Johnston Canyon which I am sure would have been wonderful if no one else had been there, but it was hard to appreciate nature's silence surrounded by so many people and so many languages, but then we came upon Marble Canyon in British Columbia which was completely wonderful and I will try and upload some pics but the iPad isn't quite as flexible as the laptop.

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch

The Bar-U was Canada's first corporate ranch and is now a historic site. (As a by the way, in 1919 Prince Edward the abdicator visited it and loved it so much he bought the one next door).
It was quite a community, with some of the ranch hands out with the cattle living in wagons -which have now been restored and are on site - while at the ranch itself the other men were working in the smithy, fixing things, mulching the grain, harvesting hay - all kinds of agricultural stuff. And everything has now been preserved.
It was also the biggest breeder of Percheron horses. When we went into the stable, there were all the right horsey noises and smells, so imagine our surprise to see the horses were cardboard cut outs! Then we went into some other stables and, again, there were all the right horsey noises and smells and we thought, "Not going to be fooled again" and these ones were real!
There was a cookhouse where all the men ate, and upstairs a dormitory where they slept. There was even a post office on the ranch. Only the manager could have his wife with him, but fortunately there was a brothel nearby.
Everyone who works at the Bar-U now is so enthusiastic and full of it all, it really was a fascinating thing to do and some photos are here on a slideshow. I think you'll like them.

Medicine Lake

This is a weird one: it's a lake with holes in its bottom. So, rather like a bath when the plug's not quite in, in summer when the water run-off from the glaciers fills the lake more quickly than it can drain away, you get a deep, expansive lake. But in winter, when the run-off slows right down, the lake shrinks to a small stream. The water flows out through the holes into an underground cave system, re-emerging 10 miles downstream. In the 1950s people tried to plug the holes with sandbags, mattresses and bundles of magazines! So that's where all those council magazines went.

Glacier National Park

In 1850 there were about 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park. Now, thanks to global warming, there are only about 26 left, and it's reckoned they'll all be gone by 2030. Wonder if they'll have to change the name.
It's 1600 square miles with, essentially, one road running through it so lots of trails and tracks for walking and exploring. We did a great ride, just five of us. All these stables have different rules, regulations and attitudes. This one, you had to sign and initial pages of waivers, basically agreeing that riding is a dangerous and rugged sport and you understand that you might die. No cameras allowed, but if your horse stops to pee you should stand up in your stirrups and alert the wrangler to halt the ride by calling out "Potty break!" As you can imagine, Steve said very firmly that was something to which he could not agree.
We also had a boat trip on Lake Macdonald in a 1920s wooden boat in the most wonderful weather. The lake is ten miles long and 4 1/2 miles wide. It's all very big here.

Sunday 31 July 2011

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