Western Canadian Rockies (WCR) – Day 11 – Back to Vancouver

Our last travel day and final destination for the tour is Vancouver and we should get there by 4:00 this afternoon.  It is still raining, but we hear that the weather should clear by tomorrow.  As we go through some of the passes, we go by several platforms for the avalanche canon emplacements.  In the winter, a canon on the platform is used to fire on the snow to force an avalanche so no one gets hurt.

Between the rain, low light and water on the windows, we take very few pictures today.  As you can see, the clouds and fog are denser then yesterday.

As we near the town of Hope, we cross the Coquihalla pass and another avalanche "tunnel" for the roadway.  This one is a little longer than others we have go into the past yesterday.

Along the way, with the amount of rain we have had, the rivers are swelling and there are a number of waterfalls coming off of the steep mountain faces.

We had our farewell dinner tonight.  We have made such good friends, it is sad to say goodbye.

Everyone is having a good time, but the trip is ending.

Some, like Helen and Charlie, the two in the front, will head home tomorrow.

Others, like Carmen and myself, will continue with a cruise up to the Alaskan inside passage.  Tomorrow we are staying in Vancouver and plan on seeing a couple of sights.

We had a small but great group of people.  In addition, Art, the tour director and Adrian, the bus driver were exceptional.

 By the way, if you haven’t heard, Canmore, Alberta has flooding.  We were in Canmore two days ago when we went on the helicopter ride.  Today, the area is flooded and the roads are blocked because of the rains they have had for the past two days.  Looks like we made is out of the Banff area just in time.

Just to let you know we will be on a ship for the next week and may not have access to the internet.  So if you do not see any other postings for several days check back in about a week. 

Here is our group photo for the trip.  Everyone is pictured in front of the Maligne Canyon shortly after our cruise on Maligne Lake.
  - I am in the back row, third from the right and Carmen is right in front of me.
  - Mabel is in the front row, holding the bear, on the right side.
  - Rita is sitting to the right of Mabel.
  - Adrian, the bus driver is standing on the left side of the group.
  - Art, the tour director - and a good one I might add, is standing on the right side of the group.
  - Minh Luu is just to my right and his wife Thu is in front of him
  - Bill Ellis is to Minh's right with Barbara, his wife, in front of him.
  - Charlie Buzzell is standing in the back row third from the left and Helen is in front of him.
  - Orlando Otero is standing, back row, second from the left and Elisa is in front of him.
  - Clive and Sue Ogilive are sitting, on the far right between Mabel (sitting) and Art (Standing).
 
If you read this and would like to let me know where you are sitting/standing either email me or make a comment to this posting and I will add you to the list - Thanks.

Bob and Carmen.