Another day and another move to a new destination, this time Golden on the Kicking Horse River. Along the way we stopped to have a look at the the spiral tunnels which take the Canadian Pacific Railway trains on a spiral journey through the mountains. It was pretty cool to see the train making its way through, I’m sure a train spotters dream!

Another stop to break up the journey was at a waterfall and then further along at Lake Yoho where we embarked on a 5k walk around the lakes edge. It was nice to stretch the legs and the sun was warm so very pleasant. A few brave souls even took a dip in the icy waters!

We arrived in Golden, picked up some provisions and set up camp at the edge on the river as well as the main Pacific Railway route, good job we packed some ear plugs, those trains are over 100 carriages long! The group of lads decided to cook an Asian inspired dinner which was pretty awesome and we had an early night, white water rafting is why you come to Golden and that’s tomorrows plan.

Through Wet ‘n’ Wild and with safety instructions observed and standard issue wet suits adorned we boarded an old school bus and headed to the start of the rapids. For 75 CAD we were to be flung down a level 3 section of the river with an option to take on the level 4 if we desired. Both of us found the level 3 pretty straight forward and wanted more so we stayed on, moved further down stream to miss a level 5 and started again minus three of our comprades. This was more adrenaline fuelled, but again we wanted more, maybe we should try it again in the rainy season. David even piloted / steered us through a level 3 which was good fun. Upon paying for the extra session it was 25 CAD each so a total of 100 CAD each, which we felt was a little expensive, but not as much as we were expecting.

After three hours of rafting we were all pretty tired so it was great news to hear that the tour guides, Eric and Zak, had decided to cook us up an all American BBQ! A real feast… stuffed. A quick lesson and after no time about eight of us were all playing some poker, matchsticks as coinage, which was good fun, especially when some people thought they had a great hand, when in fact they had nothing! Hehe sorry Wym!

Up very early again the next day for our long journey to Vancouver at 7.45am. We stopped at a Redwood Forest as well as an area called Skunk Cabbage, but this was closed as a family of Bears had moved in. Another stop in Hope, famed for the filming of Rambo, was a surreal experience. A 7.5hr van journey saw us arrive in the Vancouver area and set up camp for the very last time (on our intrepid tour!), followed by a visit to a pizza restaurant.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX5 processed in Lightroom 3)

We had an early start with showers, packing and breakfast at the hostel before meeting the rest of the group and our tour leader at 8am. In total there were 10 of us in our group with 6 lads and 4 lasses plus Eric who was to be our tour leader for the next 2 weeks, we knew from the start we would be in line for a few good laughs along the way. After introductions and a little bit of where we’re from and why we booked the trip, we collected our things and found the van, our solid companion for the next fortnight outside in the car-park. Another group led by Zak were also doing the same route as us for the first 2 weeks so we would be bumping into them along the way.

Our first day in the van was very long, we were in it for around 9 hours and with no head rests there was a lot of head bobbing going on. We took a few stops along the way including a grocery shop when we were an hour or so away from Wells Gray. The cooking teams were put together and along with both of us Marian joined us and we were cooking for the first night. Or rather it was grab some wraps, a roast chicken, bits of salad and so on.

For the first night in Wells Gray we stayed at a cowboy ranch with log cabins, not luxury one’s but basic wooden shack’s with benches and mats, we had access to showers and both groups were staying there. We cooked up our snacky dinner, and chatted before an early night. We had all arranged to go on an overnight canoe trip the next day.

The following morning we went on a hike to a nearby waterfall, it was a pretty dull day – our dullest yet having been spoilt with the fine weather! Following on from this we set off with an over night bag and met Fred who would be taking us on our canoe trip across Lake Clearwater . Both groups went out for the trip and when we arrived at the lake we found ourselves each a canoe, and packed in our gear, of which we had so much! But if you’ve got some big bits of tarp these canoe’s can really take some weight!

The journey over to the Island took around 2 hours and it was a little chilly. When we arrived we set up camp and began the fire and BBQ. This consisted of lots of sausages, some salad and veggies along with quite a few beers going around and finally marsh mellows and s’mores. Some of us ended the night light painting on the beach and others took a guided midnight canoe with Fred. This was our first night in bear territory so we packed our snacks and toiletries in the bear bins provided around camp.

Up fairly early the next day and after packing down our tents and eating breakfast most of the group went on a 2 hour steep hike up to the peak above where we spent the night. The views at the top were very rewarding and we could view all the way down the lake and across to the surrounding mountains. We chatted to Fred a fair bit along the trek and the night before learning about the park and the wildlife that inhabits the area. The canoe back to mainland was beautiful, and far warmer and sunnier than the previous day. We canoed back at a record pace which we think must have been wind assisted. When we got back to the dock we packed up, but the boats away and went back to the cowboy ranch. As we were back in record time we had an extra hour or so to explore some nearby crashing rivers and waterfalls in the area, the waterfall being the 4th largest drop in Canada!

For our last night at the ranch and after some well-earned showers we all ate to the restaurant at the ranch which was fairly over-priced and not very satisfying. Dave and I felt we didn’t have much choice on the food option as ‘everyone’ was eating there and there are no other places to eat in the area, we could have set up the stoves but this would have been food from the kitty, so we decided to share one vegetarian meal for the same price as the meat option which was $20! The service was pretty poor so with a 10% service fee plus 12% tax we felt ripped off even though we only had one meal between us! The lads were even more unimpressed with the portion sizes. Most people felt this place was a bit of a tourist trap and perhaps unnecessary for Intrepid to use.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Today we would start our Intrepid tour of the Canadian Rockies, although the first night of this was to be spent in a hostel in Seattle. We got our bags together and left a few items with Kirsten and Danny, a huge thanks to them for letting us do this! We took the number 7 bus into the International District and checked into Hostelling International at The American Hotel. We weren’t expecting to be going into separate sex dorms for the night as this wasn’t set out in our Intrepid itinerary, they lost points before we even began! So separate dorms it was and after a while we met a few others who were joining us on the trip.

Marie was first to join Helen in her 4 dorm and so the 3 of us went out to a local Chinese night market right outside the hostel. There was quite a bit going on for a small market place with live art performances, gifts, crafts and food along with a Capoeira group who did a really fun and vibrant performance, they really got the crowd going! We followed our Seattle cultural experience by eating at a very authentic Chinese restaurant just around the corner from where the night market took place. This really took us back to China, the place was full of Chinese people and the atmosphere and food really felt authentic.

When we got back Helen’s dorm was full and we met her fellow room mates Rhiannon and Marian who along with Marie would be joining us for our trip to Canada.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)