Friday, January 20, 2023
Costa Rica Day 1
On the road again. Couple of flights yesterday and we arrived in one piece. Our luggage even arrived with us.
We arrived at our hotel, and met Andres, our Tour Director. Got to our room, and discovered my sneakers had fallen apart (again). Careful readers (Paul) will note these sneakers fell apart in Montana last summer, and I had to buy new sneakers. I fixed the old ones when we got home, but decided to take the old ones with me this trip, as they are more comfortable. Oops, bad idea. The bottoms were falling off again, at least this time from a different place. The old Shoe Goo was holding up.
So we tried to walk across the street from our hotel to a mall. Bad idea. The roads here are nice, but the Costa Ricans don't seem to believe in traffic lights. Cars were zipping by with no idea about letting us by. We finally got across, but this was almost a repeat of our Xian adventure.
No Shoe Goo at the mall, but we found some Super Glue which seemed to work. Getting back was a bit easier, and we found the entrance to the elvated walkway over the street!
So on to today.
We met our group at breakfast. Mostly experienced travellers also. Retired lawyers, professors, and others we haven't fully met yet. Seems to ge a good bunch.
Onto the bus for our first adventure. We went to the Irazu Volcano Park, the remnants of a volcano (duh) that last erupted 50 years ago. We were <supposed> to be greeted with a breath taking view of the lake inside the caldera, but.... As we climbed to 12,000 feet, we went into the clouds, and thats all we saw. And it was pretty cold and windy. We tried to wait out the clouds for 15 minutes or so, but no go. Down we came.
Lunch was a "typical Costa Rican meal" of juice of papaya, mango and other stuff, followed by rice & beans, potatoes, plantain, salad and some meat. I had beef; Ann had trout.
After lunch we went to the Basilica of Los Angeles, originally built in 1639. Pretty wood, but it's a church. After that we went to a people's shopping mall with zillions of little shops.
Not the greatest first day, but we're not here for the cities. The one natural wonder was obstructed by natural events. Oh well. More manana.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Monday, July 11, 2022
July 11 Jasper
Another long day.
We went to Maligne Canyon, which is the connection between Maligne Lake and Medicine Lake. This Canyon is about 5-10 feet wide, and has about a 450 foot drop for the river. It is VERY impressive. The river has cut down up to 50 feet from the surface. It may have been an underground river and the ceiling collapsed. We walked the trails and crossed the river multiple times to see the power of the river cutting through the limestone. Then we hiked back up to the top. Huffing and puffing.
Driving from the Canyon, we saw some elk grazing by the side of the road. Cool
We went onto a boat on Maligne Lake which took us halfway out to a little outcove called Spirit Island. The views here were spectacular, even more so than previously. A little hike (much less than before) gave some great views.
On the way back, we passed the remnants of an old fire from 2003. The burnt trees were still standing, but you could see the new growth coming behind. Interestingly, fire is needed in this area. It seems the pine cones are covered in sap that only release their seeds when exposed to high temperatures (as in a fire). Thus, previous fire suppression activities was actually harmful to the forest.
After lunch, we went on a tram in Jasper to a magnificent overlook. There was another 3/4 mile hike to the top, which both Ann and I passed on.
Dinner on our own was actually pretty good. Most of the food has been meh - adequate but not much to write about. The restaurant, Fiddle River, was an exception. My appetizer was Bison Meatballs which was very good. I had the Western Trout, which was pink. Glen (one of our tour mates) had a meat loaf of a combination of bison, elk, and other local fauna.
Tomorrow to Banff.
Sunday, July 10, 2022
July10 Lake Louise to Jasper
Busy day.
First stop: Lake Louise. First discovered by Europeans and named Emerald Lake, it was renamed after Queen Victoria's 4th daughter. The original First Nation's name was Ho-run-num-nay (Lake of the Little Fishes). As you can see from the picture, the setting is spectacular. The lake itself is not huge,but the color and surrounding mountains make it. The color comes from the glacier runoff called "glacier flour" from the fine silt of the ground up rocks and dirt from the moving glacier.
Back on the bus to the Columbia Ice Field, the source for the largest glaciers in North America. First lunch, then onto other busses to the base of the Abathasca glacier. We boarded a kind of snow tractor to take us up on the glacier. See the picture for the size of the tires. Once there, we walked 50 yards up. Of course, it was slippery, and I became the support, as Ann had left her walking stick on our original bus down in the parking lot. It was a LOT colder, and she had bought new sweat pants. The glacier has receded about 250 yards since the early part of the 20th century.
Another 2 hours on the bus to Jasper, a cute little town, also on the railroad line. Our hotel room overlooks the station. We'll see how noisy it is overnight.
Back to Canada
We said goodbye to Steve as we piled onto the bus (although I've been told it's more properly called a Coach because of the bathroom in the back). We will meet Darcy->Ann->Warwick when we get to Lake Louise.
Long bus ride to Lake Louise. Crossing the border into Canada was not without drama. 4 of our group were randomly chosen for Covid testing. They had to be "guided" over a video link (with a needed appointment! ) so the governmental people could be assured they were testing properly. PITA
We met Warwick, the #6 guide. We <think> he'll be with us for the rest of the trip, but we'll see. He is also very outgoing and personable, so it should be OK.
Early out tomorrow for the lake and a glacier walk. You can tellby these pictures that these mountains are MUCH more impressive than in Montana.
Saturday, July 9, 2022
Whitefish
Art by the side of the road
Steve and Miles
What the bear grass is supposed to look like
Inside the museum
July 8 Whitefish, MT
Slowish day. We took a short hike outside of town for about a mile in the woods. Some nice flowers, but no wildlife. We had seen a bear back in St. Mary, but I couldn't show the picture as it is in a camera inaccessible to the internet.
We were <supposed> to go up a ski lift of the local mountain, but it down for repairs <today> . So we wandered around town like tourists. While waiting for the bus to take us back to thehotel, we saw a sign for an Amtrak Museum. This had old stuff from the early days of Whitefish, and pictures from all the tree stumps after they cleared the land for the town and railroad. It was jokingly called Stumptown, and there are Tshirts proclaiming that to still be the case. Back to the hotel for a short rest, and were going back into town for lunch. My sneakers were making a funny squeak, and I discovered the sole was half off. No place to get Shoe Goo, so now in the market for new sneakers. I did find a pair from Hoka, which I'd never heard of, but what do I know?
So we had a little cocktail reception courtesy of Steve, the 3rd guide. We had heard earlier that our new Canadian guide who we were supposed to meet in Lake Louise, Darcy, was being replaced by another guide, Ann, because of Covid. That was cool; tour guides Steve and Ann. But the new news was that Ann was being replaced by Warwick, who was flying in from Newfoundland! We'll see how that pans out, but we are now on guide #6, and it's only 5 days into the trip! We are praying for Miles, the bus driver.
Longish day tomorrow as we head back to Canada. We had to fill out more travel documents for the Canadian government. Blecch.
Friday, July 8, 2022
July 7 Glacier
We piled into the Jammers. These are old elongated bus-like things that look like something from the 40s. And they're sort of a burnt orange with a canvas top that rolls back.
We drove into the park on Sun Road. This should have taken us all the way to the other side of the park, but the Pass is still blocked by snow, and they are plowing. They expect to get it cleared by July 15, which would make it the latest opening ever. So the pass will only be open for 3 months before it closes again when the snows come in September or October. So we could only drive 14 miles in and had to turn around. The views, though, were spectacular. Even though the glaciers are receding, there are still some left. They estimate they will be gone by 2030, which isn't too long from now.
So we had to turn around and go back to our hotel at St. Mary and drive for the afternoon all the way around the park to Whitefish, Montana to our next hotel instead of going all the way through on the Jammers. Of course, the ski lift ride we were supposed to have taken was closed today (only) for repairs. But at least we got through a full day without losing a guide or a guest!
Thursday, July 7, 2022
July 6 - St. Mary Lake
Miles, the bus driver/tour guide got us out this morning to get into Glacier National Park. First to Many Glacier. No one was exactly sure why it had that name. Note it is singular. The view was spectacular. There really isn't much glacier left, but the mountains and the reflections on the lake were outstanding. There is an old Alpine lodge, built in the 1920s by the railroads to foster tourism to the area.
We then went to a little boat tour of St. Mary Lake. These lakes are the remnants of glaciers (Duh) that cut through these mountains 50-100,000 years ago. Interestingly, we are at a tri-continental divide. One lake drains west to the Pacific; one south to the Mississippi system to the Gulf; and one east to drain to Hudson Bay.
The mountains showed many layers of sediments, with harder granite based rock between. We saw the red coloration of the Iron containing rock, and the blue-green of the calcium based rock. There was multi colored lichen as well.. I had to later correct our boat driver when he called lichen " bacteria". I had to let him know it was actually a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae. I gave him the name of a reference book, "Entangled Life".
We stopped for a short hike to alittle waterfall.
After lunch of sandwiches, Ann went to art installation of teepees from the Blackfoot tribe who were the native Americans here. I stayed back to read, as I was tired. Afterwards, we went to the Visitor center to see amovie about the Blackfoot people, and a whitewashed version of how the railroads civilized the place.
Back at the hotel, the next disaster struck, as the entire town had a blackout. No lights, no AC, no internet. It was only down for 45 minutes or so, but it screwed up the kitchen who had to restart the entire food process. Plus, their computers were on the fritz, so they wouldn't even pour a drink. Eventually, we got some food.
At the end of the meal, in walks Steve, our new tour guide. He had driven 10 hours from Idaho after getting the call from Odyssey's. He had just finished a trip to Greece, but he stepped up to help. He's experienced, and a long time guide with them. Because of government rules, he can't go to Canada with us, so we'll get another there. Miles will get us there. And since there's now another Steve, I may now go by Rocky.
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
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