Canada (British Columbia & Edmonton)

Prolog

In July 2019 we spent a wonderful time in Canada, traveling with my cousin Lea and her husband Gil. At the end of the trip we were talking about a longer trip, next year, where we will explore British Columbia and spend more time in Alberta, especially in the Canadian Rockies.

The Pandemic arrived in the early 2020 and we couldn’t realize our dream only until the fourth quarter of 2021, when the Prime Minister of Canada announced that Canda’s boarders are opened again for tourism.

We started planning our itinerary and made the necessary reservations for a trip that would start in late September.

9/26/2021

Las Vegas

Our first leg of the trip was Las Vegas. We found out the there is a non-stop flight from Sin City to Edmonton for about one third of the cost, with West Jet Airlines.

Our reservation was for the Venetian Hotel We spent the afternoon and evening there.

9/27/2021

Edmonton

We landed at around 2:00 pm but it took us about 90 minutes to go through Immigration, Custom and the Health Department. Lea and Gil were waiting patiently and we embraced each other at around 3:30 pm.

Lea prepared a feast to honor us and invited all of her family. Weather was perfect and we sat around a long and large table in their backyard.

9/28/2021

Yoho National Park

We woke up early and started our trip. Omer & Ya’ara provided us with their own vehicle for the trip. The Ford Exhibition was comfortable and powerful!

We drove through Calgary and Banff National Park. The weather was perfect with blue skies and comfortable temps. We entered British Columbia and arrived to our first destination: Yoho National Park, in the early afternoon.

The park is located within the Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered by Kootenay National Park to the south and Banff National Park to the east in Alberta.

The word Yoho is a Cree (North American indigenous people) expression of amazement or awe, and it is exactly the expressions we had on our faces when we entered the park and saw the spectacular landscape and mountain peaks, which rank among the highest in the Canadian Rockies.

We arrived to Emerald Lake, the largest lake in Yoho National Park. Known for its signature green color and reflections of surrounding peaks of President Range and per Gil, it is the top attraction in Yoho National Park.

We hiked around the lake for about an hour. Rain was falling there a couple of days earlier and some of the hike was inside the mud. The views were amazing though and we had lots of fun.

The next stop was at the Natural Bridge. This was a nice quick stop on the way to our next destination, Field. We saw the lovely Kicking Horse River flowing through. The Natural Bridge is a unique rock, which has been gradually carved out over time by the powerful river to resemble a bridge, with a variety of waterfalls flowing around it. It is a magnificent work of nature and an impressive natural wonder.

Dinner was at Truffle Pigs Bistro, located in Field, not far from our Airbnb.

The food/service/atmosphere was fantastic and the presentation was First Class.

We checked into our Airbnb. It was a comfortable and a clean house.

9/29/2021

When we woke up we realized how great of a location our Airbnb was. It was a beautiful morning with clear and sunny skies. You could hear the water flow in the Fraser River close by.

Our first stop was at the magnificent Takkakaw Falls in Yoho National Park. We drove for few minutes and arrived to the parking lot, right next to the falls.

The first thing that we learned was that the name Takkakaw means in the Native Language “It’s Magnificent” and when the fall appeared, after a short walk, we understood why the falls were called so.

We spent few minutes admiring the scenery and then noticed in the far distance the range of mountains where one of them looked like a Cathedral. We viewed the 10,700 foot Cathedral Mountain. The mountain’s shape and structure conjures up a resemblance to a gothic cathedral that has inspired many artists,

Our next stop was at the Marble Canyon, where we hiked for almost 2 hours. The canyon's name comes from the brilliant limestone of its walls.

It was lunch time and we took our icebox out of the trunk and prepared a picnic style lunch.

We drove to Numa Falls, located in Kootenay National Park. The rushing water was beautiful to see as well as the rock formations and all the nature this spot has.

We arrived to Golden and found an inn away from the city and hidden from the main road of the forest. The name of the place was Alpine Meadows Lodge. We went out for dinner at Rock water Restaurant and then visited the small but gorgeous bridge that is on the river, in the middle of town and connected the town’s center to the residents’ homes.

When we returned to the inn, around 10:00 pm, all the other guests were already asleep and at least one of them woke up and asked us to be quiet. We moved from the lobby to the dining room and continued to converse and 10 minutes later the same guest returned. It appeared that her room was just above our table.

9/30 /2021

Breakfast at the inn was great and we were lucky NOT meeting the guest from last night, during breakfast.

The highlight of today was next: The Golden Skybridge. The 426 feet suspension bridge is above the expansive canyon, engulfed by the Columbia Valley. The epic views took our breath away.

We spent over an hour and had a fantastic time over there.

We arrived to Radium, checked into a lodge and drove to the nearby Hot Spring but the doors were already closed.

Gil promised that we will visit an even better hot springs tomorrow.

We decided to have dinner and call it a day.

10/01/2021

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day.

Our first stop was at The Dutch Creek Hoodoos. We hiked a couple of miles on a trail that was leading to the amazing Hoodoos and then saw them. They were magnificent.

We learned that a Hoodoo is a tall and thin spire of rock that sticks out from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. As you can see in the pictures, they were fantastic to view.

The next stop was a quick one at Lake Columbia, which is the primary lake at the headwaters of the Columbia River, in British Columbia. It is fed by several small tributaries.

We continued to Lussier Hot Springs. Located in the gorgeous Kootenay Mountain, in White Swan Lake Provincial Park. We parked our car at the top of the canyon, changed our cloths to bathing suits, put a robe around us, wore our sandals and headed down to the springs.

We found a family friendly Hot Spring that is free to the public. There were in total three pools that were all natural rock walled and gravel bottomed that flows into an adjacent river. The temps at the pool were around 104 degrees Fahrenheit but the water in the flowing river nearby were no more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

We enjoyed the hot water for about an hour and then climbed back to the top of the canyon and continued to the nearby Swan Lake Park where we stopped for a few minutes to change our wet cloths to travel gear and enjoy the scenery.

Our next destination was 6 hours away. We arrived to our Airbnb at Nelson Ainsworth at Lake Kootenay, at around 9:00 pm. The Airbnb, an attic that was converted to an apartment, was not comfortable but we managed and tried to enjoy what we have.

10/2/2021

We woke up and breathed in the fantastic morning and the views of the lake. After a quick breakfast we travelled to the city of Nelson, looking for the Tourists Information Center, where we got some recommendations from the helpful crew at the center and walked to the nearby Farmer Market and then walked to downtown and the town’s center to find a place to have lunch. We found a fantastic place called The Outer Clove and had a fantastic meal.

When we walked outside we encountered a couple of hundreds demonstrators against the Covid Vaccine. The police arrived and they were asked to go home, which they did!

We were told, at the Tourist Information Center that Nelson is a center for Murals and that many of them were painted throughout the city, They gave us a city map with all of those locations and we started to hunt them down, Some of them were really good.

In order to take a good picture of the entire lake, Gil navigated the car to the top of the mountain where we found this perfect spot for photo opportunities.

We said goodbye to Nelson and started to drive to our next destination. We passed the charming Christina Lake and arrived in the evening to Osoyoos.

Lea & Gil have already visited the city before and they wanted to return to a nice Greek restaurant. We followed their advice and had a great meal.

Our Airbnb for tonight was in the middle of a farmland.

10/03/2021

Our Airbnb last night

After we woke up, we strolled around the fields surrounding our last night Airbnb and were impressed with the location.

We then stopped at a nearby fruit stand and had a conversation with the farmer about his crop and skills.

We found a perfect vista spot to view Osoyoos Lake and took some beautiful photos.

Spotted Lake was our next stop, but before arriving there, Gil and Lea demonstrated their skills and told us these magical facts: In winter and spring, the lake located northwest of Osoyoos in Okanagan Valley looks just like any other body of water. But as most of the water starts to evaporate in summer, hundreds of huge briny pools are left behind, leaving a polka-dotted landscape of yellow, green and blue spots. The CBC calls the appropriately named Spotted Lake "the most magical place in Canada." The Spotted Lake is sacred to the Okanagan First Nations people and known as Klikuk. Osoyoos. They believe it has healing powers.

No one is allowed to approach the lake except for the First Nation People but Gil knew a spot where we could get close enough to view this magical lake.

The Wineries Tour was next, as we entered the Wine Country Path.

We started at the Burrowing Owl and then continued to look, learn and of course taste wine at the following wineries: Church & State, Nostalgia and Tinhorn Creek where we had a delicious lunch.

We stopped at another Fruit Stand, mainly apples, located right next to a beautiful apples orchard.

We started to head towards our next destination and passed through Kaleden where we strolled around Skaha Lake, historically known as Dog Lake and, prior to that, as Lac Du Chien. It is a freshwater lake located along the course of the Okanagan River in the Okanagan Valley.

We drove through Penticton and arrived to our next Airbnb at West Kelowna.

10/04/2021

The day started with a visit to Quail Gate Winery, situated on the bank of Lake Kelowna. The views of the winery and the lake were breathtaking.

Our next stop was Myra Belleview Provincial Park, We used one of the many trails to hike for 4 hours and explore. What an incredible experience. Breathtaking views from the well maintained trail. W crossed a couple of bridges and at one point we entered a Tunnel and it was so magnificent. There were many evident to the 2003 fire: In Mid-August of 2003 a lightning strike in Okanagan Mountain Park started a rapid growth forest fire. The massive fire burned for nearly a month consuming 270 homes and 26,000 hectares of forest and parkland, including 12 of the wooden trestles, while damaging the two steel bridges, the trail itself, rock faces and many amenities built up over the past ten years.

We also learned that in 1907 a railway project was completed here, which connected Vancouver and the North.

Gil told us about a restaurant, owned by an Israeli not far from the park but when we arrived they were closed due to the Pandemic.

We found a Fat Burger Eatery in the nearby city and a great late lunch!

We started our way to the city of Vancouver. The way to the city was amazing with so many photo opportunities.

We arrived to our Airbnb at 10 pm. It was a huge with a fantastic potential but we arrived in a middle of a renovation and some cleaning. Nevertheless, it was comfortable and spacious.

10/05/2021

Our original plan was to take the Double Decker bus for a city tour but because of the Pandemic they were not operating (Too bad that the website did not mention this important fact!). We decided to take the free shuttle to Capilano Suspension Bridge and arrived twenty minutes later to find a fantastic place to explore.

The 450 ft bridge reaches 230 ft in height, has thrilled visitors since 1889. While the wobbly bridge and stunning location is a Vancouver landmark, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park offers an all-encompassing BC experience.

History, culture and nature are presented in unique and thrilling ways with knowledgeable staff providing information.

We crossed the valley walking on the bridge and then arrived to Treetops Adventure, which takes guests 110 feet into the mid-story of a coastal rainforest on seven suspension bridges attached to old-growth trees.

We returned to the base, using another bridge and then walked to the The newest addition to the park, Cliffwalk, which follows a granite precipice along Capilano River with a labyrinth-like series of narrow cantilevered bridges, stairs and platforms. With only 16 anchor points in the granite cliff supporting the structure, Cliffwalk was both environmentally sensitive and adrenaline- pumping!

We returned with the free shuttle to Canada Place and then walked to Gastown. This area was Vancouver's first neighborhood and was named for "Gassy" Jack Deighton, a Yorkshire seaman, steamboat captain and barkeep who arrived in 1867 to open the area's first saloon. In 1886 the town was incorporated as the City of Vancouver.

Today, Gastown is a mix of "hip" contemporary fashion and interior furnishing boutiques, tourist-oriented businesses (generally restricted to the main hub, Water Street), where we found restaurants, nightclubs, poverty and newly upscale housing. In addition we saw law firms, architects and other professional offices, as well as computer and internet businesses, art galleries, music and art studios, tattoo parlors, and acting schools.

We walked up and down this beautiful Water Street and arrived to the famous Steam Clock. This clock fits right in with its surroundings. It stands a little taller than a person on the corner of the street. It was built in 1977 at the corner of Cambie and Water streets to cover a steam grate, part of Vancouver's distributed steam heating system, as a way to harness the steam and to prevent street people from sleeping on the spot in cold weather. It whistles to tell the time, the clock produces a puff of steam from its top on the hour and is very quirky. We loved it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We spotted a café that is known for its best cheesecakes in the city. I have to admit that their cheesecake was one of the best I have ever eaten!

We headed back to Canada Place and took a water-taxi to the other side of the city. The views of Downtown Vancouver skylight from the other side were unbelievable.

It was time for dinner so we headed to Chinatown. To our disappointment the neighborhood deserted with only few businesses opened.

While we were on the Water-Taxi we befriended a nice woman who had mentioned that the best Chinese Restaurants are now located in the city of Richmond (about 30 minutes away). We used this information to drive to Richmond and look for Roni Kitchen as Lea & Gill had visited in the city of Edmonton and enjoyed the food a lot. We were not disappointed. The place was amazing and packed with many Chinese people (we were the only white persons in this place!).

Before we retired to our rooms, I made reservations for tomorrow’s Ferry ride to Victoria.

10/06/2021

We headed towards the Victoria Harbor Ferry terminal to take catch our ride to Victoria on Vancouver Island..

Once we and our car were onboard, we headed to the restaurant to have our breakfast.

The scenic sail on BC Ferries was 1 hour and 35 minutes to Victoria’s Swartz Bay terminal.

Our first on the agenda was the Butchart Gardens site.

Once we entered the beautiful site we were overwhelmed by its breathtaking beauty. We were able to visit the entire site including all possible different gardens and realized why this place is also called: “The most peaceful place on Earth” and understood why this was a must stop, while visiting British Columbia.

As we were visiting at the beginning of the autumn season, we witnessed fall in all its beauty as the Gardens transition in a stunning array of red, russet and golden maples. It was also the perfect season to visit the peaceful Japanese Garden with fewer crowds and a kaleidoscope of color ahead of the winter season.

We visited the following in the next 4 hours: Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Italian Garden, Mediterranean Garden, Ross Fountain, Tacca the Bronze Boar in the Piazza, Rose Carousel, Totem Poles and Dragon Fountain.

We headed towards City Center, enjoying the Empress Hotel, Governor House and the Harbor.

When it came time for lunch Tova & I remembered the great lunch we had in Victoria in our last visit: Barb’s Fish and Chips. We decided to walk to Fisherman’s Wharf and although it started to rain, we enjoyed every minute of the walk and were rewarded with a fantastic (late) lunch!

It was time to head back

10/07/2021

We decided to have breakfast at a Jewish Deli and found Max Deli not far from the Airbnb and had a wonderful meal. We then started our way to our next destination.

We arrived to Whistler about two hours later. If the name sounds familiar is because it hosted the Winter Olympics in 2010.

When we stopped at the Tourists Information office in town we asked for the best attractions in town and the surrounding but could not understand the attendant (and I thought I have a terrible accent…), so I walked to the nearby Bus Terminal and asked one of the driver the same question: “What are the best attractions here?” Luckily, a native (Canadian Indian) was sitting at the bus stop and he volunteered to answer my question.

So now that we had an itinerary for the day, we looked for a hotel and found one that was very comfortable and close to the city’s center.

We decided to visit 2 attractions today and 2 tomorrow. The weather was good: Cold (46F), clear and crispy.

The first attraction was Lost Lake, burrowed in old-growth forest on the lower reaches of Blackcomb Mountain. This serene and relaxing lake is actually only a short walk from Whistler Village and Upper Village.

The lake had crisp and clear water to swim in and a floating pontoon to jump off! The park has BBQ facilities where we saw visitors cook food with friends after throwing a Frisbee around. What a gem of a lake it is. The lake has a beach and is very popular in the summer.

We walked around the lake (approx.2 miles) to take photos and enjoy the nice weather and the surroundings.

Our next stop was Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The falls hurtle a sheer 59 meters (194 feet) over a cliff formed by eruptions from the nearby Garibaldi Volcanic Field, and chiseled into a deep, sheer-walled canyon by the erosive power of Brandywine Creek and the constant freeze-thaw cycle. The falls were best seen from the viewpoint but Gil and I got closer to the top of the fall (we broke few laws for doing this) to take dramatic closer photos.

It was one of the best Waterfalls I’ve ever seen!!!

We returned to town and strolled in the Olympic Village to pose next the Olympic rings and do some windows shopping.

We decided to have dinner at a very popular eatery in Canada: The Keg. We made reservations (a must for this restaurant) and at around 7:00 we showed up there. The food was really good and the service was superb.

10/08/2021

We made our own breakfast at Lea & Gil hotel room and then headed to our next adventure.

We arrived to Nairn Falls located on the Green River adjacent to Highway 99 and the Canadian National Railway line just south of Pemberton and less than twenty minutes north of Whistler. We hiked on a mile trail to reach the viewpoint and found a gorgeous fall that was so powerful it was impossible to describe and compare to anything else.

We spent about an hour there and then headed to the village of Pemberton where we shopped in the local grocery store and also had a delicious organic coffee.

We then started our way north with mountains, lakes and forests at the roadside, arriving to the town of Lillooet, famous for a town during the Gold Rush in British Columbia (1858-59), during which it was reckoned to be "the largest town west of Chicago and north of San Francisco". The town is at the bank of Fraser River.

Lillooet is an important location in Aboriginal history and culture and remains one of the main population centers of the Stʼatʼimc (Lillooet Nation). Today it is one of the southernmost communities in North America where indigenous people are the majority. Just over 50 per cent of the people in Lillooet and area are Stʼatʼimc.

We continued to drive and arrived to Williams Lake at 8:00 pm. Dinner was at The Laughing Loon, a local pub! The pub owner used to be a history teacher and told us about the place’s history: The city (Williams) was famous because of the Williams Lake Stampede, the second largest professional rodeo in Canada (after only the Calgary Stampede). It was established when gold diggers came here to search for wealth but after falling in love with the lake and the surroundings decided to start life here.

10/09/2021

We left Lake Williams after breakfast and stopped for a fie minutes at the banks of Mckeese Lake to breath in the beauty of the area.

The views on both sides of the road were breathtaking.

We passed through Port George and arrived to Ancient Forest, a rainforest, which is 500 miles away from the Pacific Ocean; The farthest distance of any rainforest from any ocean in the world. The park protects a portion of the only inland temperate rainforest in the world. We hiked the trail looking at trees that were more than a thousand year old and a rich biodiversity of plants, mosses, lichens and fungi. The 450 meters long universal access boardwalk provided us the opportunity and abilities to experience this majestic area. Another mile and a half of boardwalk provided us access to magnificent Big Tree, the Tree Beard, Radies Tree and a beautiful cascading waterfall.

Rain started to fall when we were at the half point of the trail, but we braved the rain and continued the entire trail. (Actually we had no choice but to continue!) We found cover at the parking lot: a large structure with tables & chairs but more importantly a roof. We changed our wet cloths and had lunch (peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and hot fresh coffee!).

We headed to the last stop of today and as the evening approached we arrived to Jasper, Alberta and the Canadian Rockies. We found room for the night at a cute (but not comfortable inn) and then went hunting for dinner.

10/10/2021

Today started with a ride to The Valley of the Five Lakes in Jasper National Park. Fresh snow that fell overnight was at the roadside and top of the mountains. Temperatures sank to near zero degrees (Celsius) but the skies were blue.

We started the 3 miles hike and discovered the 5 lakes in order. The five lakes each vary in beautiful shades of green and blue that naturally appears this way because of the glacial rock dust that colors all of the lakes and rivers in the area, along with special algae and other contributing factors. The lakes are considered one of Canada's natural wonders. The Third and Fourth lakes were the the highlights of the hike, though each one of them was beautiful.

Gil suggested that we should have lunch at another lake called Pyramid Lake. We drove for about 25 minutes and arrived to this beautiful lake, which is nestled at the base of Pyramid Mountain, which overlooks the town of Jasper. Pyramid Lake is one of 20 small lakes left behind by retreating glaciers in what's known as the Pyramid Bench area.

Once we were done with our picnic we drove to the downtown area of the city of Jasper and walked the streets, windows shopping and having a great hot chocolate.

The best part of the day and the best highlight of our entire trip came next: We drove to see the fresh snow that poured last night up close. We headed to Maligne Lake.

As we started ro ascend the mountain with the car, the scenery and temps changed dramatically. The thermostat, in the car, showed minus 2 degrees Celsius and the snow was all around us.

It was around 6:00 pm, time for the wildlife to show up, looking for dinner. We saw elks, moose and rams. At one point it was like a Christmas scene and as we arrived to the lake it was half frozen with beautiful colors.

The road itself was like it was taken from a storybook. We hiked for about 30 minutes, playing in the snow like young kids and having the time of our lives.

It was time to leave to our next point of interest and we started our journey to the town of Hinton.

10/11/2021

The day started with a visit to Bathtub & Jarvis Lakes for a stroll around the lake and then continued to Grand Cache for some directions for the main activities of today: Sulfur Gate and Eaton Falls.

Sulphur Gates is the intersection for 2 rivers Smokey River and Sulphur River. The main attraction of the Sulphur Gates is the beautiful and awe-inspiring views, from a 220 feet high rock, after getting around the paths, stairs, and boardwalks which let you see the confluence of Smoky & Sulphur Rivers and the massive vertical bedrock narrowing the flow of the Smoky River from various angles.

The view was unbelievable!!!

We then started a long hike (4.5 miles each way!!!) inside Willmore Wilderness Park towards Eaton Falls, which included some slight elevation gain. It was difficult but it was worth it once we reached this amazing waterfall.

Gil, Lea and I dared the dangerous and slippery path and reached the base of the falls. The views of this one of a kind fall were amazing.

Once we reached our car, we headed to Edmonton and as we approached the city we received a phone call from Rotem (their daughter) to look up and find a surprise in the sky. Minutes later we encountered one of the world marvels: Aurora Lights (or Northern Light). It was a sight I will never forget!