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Alberta- BC
Section
Yes Virginia,
there is a Lloydminster, Sask, and a Lloydminster,
Alberta living peacefully, side by side. That
causes a kaffuffle when daylight saving time rolls
around. The town's Antique Museum honors England's
Barr Colonists, and when later on, you see an
onion-shaped dome or giant Easter
egg on the horizon, you know you're in Little
Ukraine. Vegreville is home of the Ukrainian
Pysanka Festival, with its fly-in breakfast and 3
solid days of food and fun.
At Elk Island
National Park, a thatched-roof dacha houses the
Ukrainian Folk Museum. There's a fenced preserve,
where over 400 buffalo roam, sharing the rolling
hills and meadows with moose, mule deer and elk.
Poplar, spruce, aspen and birch line a network of
hiking trails, and the lakes and sloughs teem with
waterfowl. Sandy Beach recreation area has a 9-hole
golf course. Alberta's emblem came from the wild
roses, which grew in this area along the old
Victoria Trail.
Poetry:
Little Mocassins by Robert W. Service
Edmonton:
City of Big Shoulders: How
can one help but love a city that jump-started his
career. For me it all began at the Edmonton
Journal, one of Canada's great newspapers. No place
I know has such energy, or capacity to seize the
moment. Edmontonians have always been a cocky lot,
from their sports dynasties and oil czars, to
politics. Even the location is cocky -- perched
regally on the North Saskatchewan cliffs; its Upper
Level bridge reaching from Alberta's Legislature to
the University area. And who else has the audacity
to build a shopping Mecca that rates seven mentions
in the Guinness Book of World Records? Speaking of
highs and lows, Edmonton's river valley, from Old
Fort Edmonton to the Conservatory and beyond, is a
tourist destination all by itself; golf courses and
picnic spots.
Get out and stretch your
legs; this is the largest greenbelt of any major
Canadian city. Edmonton as a boomtown? -- its
archives tell of fur traders, riverboats, a
Klondike boom, a railway boom, a land rush, and
black gold that blew things sky high in '47.
Legendary bush pilots, who opened up the North live
again at Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.
By the way, if you love to
shop, or hanker for genuine Alberta Prime Rib --
there's no provincial tax. And if I recall the
jingle, "Your credit is fine with Irving Kline."
Beyond the outskirts is Lake Wabamun (try saying
that with your mouth full), a popular camping spot.
Edson and Hinton are major stops en route to Jasper
National Park.
Rocky
Mountain House National Historic Park (side
trip)
Talk about thriving on
competition; the first Rocky Mountain House was
raised in 1799. Weeks later, a distant relative,
James Bird, helped HBC erect a rival fort. Explorer
David Thompson trekked to the Columbia River from
here in 1807, and for generations Rocky was the
Northwest's richest fur-producing area. The series
of forts that stood on these hallowed grounds are
remembered by two stone chimneys. Other exhibits
include a York boat, Red River cart and fur
press.
 Jasper
National Park
I first experienced this Rocky Mountain
playground by train, sprinting off for souvenirs
during a station stop. Ever since it's always been
on wheels. By car you can seize the moment, cooling
off under a waterfall, standing bug-eyed at a
viewpoint, or catching every photo op. Allow at
least an extra day for this Rocky Mountain high.
Why? --Jasper Park Lodge, the Whistlers , Punchbowl
Falls, Pyramid Lake, Henry House, Jasper Lake,
Skyline Trail and Pocahontas for starters. My
choices are Miette Hot Springs -- hottest water in
the Canadian Rockies, and Maligne Lake, a portrait
of serenity.
Our first lodging was a war
surplus tent; the most recent was at Jasper Park
Lodge, where the waiter brought dinner by bicycle.
Near the mouth of Rocky River, a cairn marks Jasper
House National Historic Site, where a supply post
was built by the Northwest Company in 1813. The
park is a wildlife sanctuary, where deer and
antelope play, bighorn guard the peaks, and bears
are everywhere.
Allow at
least an extra day in the Jasper area , and enjoy a
Rocky Mountain high you'll never forget.
British
Columbia
 Heading
westward, you approach the Continental Divide and
Mount Robson Provincial Park, home of the tallest
peak in the Canadian Rockies. Near Tete Jaune Cache
and Valley of a Thousand Falls, the Yellowhead
develops a split personality; one branch swings
south along the North Thompson and Skeena; the
other ambles westward to the Fraser-Nechako
junction. The first BC. community on our great
Yellowhead drive is McBride,
in the beautiful Robson Valley.
Prince
George is a gateway to
paradise for wilderness adventurers. Former Mayor
John Backhouse beamed with pride when I mentioned
The University of Northern BC., the city's newest
newest prize. While tourism is booming, PG's
economy is forest industry-based. Centrally
located, it's a key junction for BC Rail's Cariboo
Line and Via's Skeena Run.
At Vanderhoof, a side trip
leads to Fort St. James, founded by Simon Fraser,
the explorer in 1806. At Fort
St. James National
Historic Site, B.C.'s oldest inhabited community
salutes its fur trading past. History lives on at
this authentic Hudson's Bay Trading Post, with
furs, trade goods, and staff in 1890s attire. One
of the west's oldest fur warehouses, a clerk's
residence and a fish cache remain.
From Vanderhoof to beyond
Smithers,
it's lake country -- Fraser, Burns , Babine,
Rose, Bulkley, Kathlyn and Tyhee Lake to name a
few. Smithers, in the heart of the fertile Bulkley
Valley has taken on an Alpine theme, and
Hazelton
on the Upper Skeena is "Totem Pole Capital of the
World." At K'san Village, tribal houses feature
paintings, screens and carved interior poles, and
dancers perform Indian rituals. Historic sites dot
this heartland of the Tsmishian, Kitsumkalum and
Gitskan, where Emily Carr made many of her
sketches. Beyond Terrace, the Skeena, called River
of Mists by the Gitskan, widens into a broad lake,
meeting the Pacific at Port Edwards, site of the
1889 North Pacific
Cannery
I first saw
Prince
Rupert from the deck of
The Princess Louise, a CPR ship that plied the
Inside Passage to Alaska, just 64 km upcoast. The
harbor was alive with canneries, fishing fleets,
coastal ferries, deep-sea ships, and a huge grain
elevator. Today, you can take the world's second
steepest gondola ride, enjoy an archeological boat
tour, or board BC Ferries' Queen of the North for a
15-hour cruise to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island.
The Museum of Northern BC has totem pole carving on
site, and 10,000 year old works of art. Outdoor
activity abounds in some of the wildest country on
the continent.
 Canada's
Galapagos: So you
think you've conquered the Yellowhead, right?
..Wrong!---
there's still a short trip by sea to the Haida
Gwa'ii, our
Western Mile "0." From ..Prince
Rupert your voyage to the "Misty Islands" is a
salty experience. These fog-..shrouded
waters of the Haida Gwa'ii or Queen Charlotte
Archipelago teem with finny ..fare
-- salmon, herring, halibut, rockfish, mussels,
crab, starfish, sea urchin, octopus. Armadas of
Gray, Humpback and Killer Whales skip along the
surface.
Seabirds abound, and near
Cape St.
James, sea lions romp
and play. Isolation from the mainland has given
rise to a unique subspecies of wildlife. Gwa'ii
Haanas National Park Preserve is also called South
Moresby. Since the park has no roads or facilities,
visitors must be self sufficient. Anthony Island's
abandoned village, Ninstints, is a UN World
Heritage site. There are over 500 archeological and
historical Haida sites.
Now
you've earned bragging
rights: We
hope your pictures turn out great, especially the
wildlife scenes (nudge, nudge). As the sun sets on
the Haida Gwa'ii, and your kayak rocks gently on
the tide, we'll turn off today's movie and bid
good-bye. If you take the trip, send us a postcard.
We're sure you'll savor every moment -- and are
likely
to plan many happy returns!
Check our
Air Highway Supermap: Why not consider a ferry trip
to Port
Hardy on
Vancouver Island and back to the mainland via
Victoria or Nanaimo?
Contact
Yellowhead Highway Association, Edmonton: 403 426
5078, or the Canoe Network (705)-647-207
Click
to
continue:
Yellowhead
Highway: Manitoba-
Saskatchewan Section
Visit
the Yellowhead Trans Canada Highway Web Site:
http://www.transcanadayellowhead.com/main.htm
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