Paddy Whacked in Vancouver
Trip Start
Sep 08, 2005
1
3
36
Trip End
Nov 29, 2005
Vancouver,
British Columbia,
Canada
Monday, September 26, 2005
And so our trek comes to an end...
After leaving Banff we made our way to Jasper along the Icefields Parkway which was absolutely stunning! Most of us walked on the Athabasca Glacier which was really cool. Our guide was called Bernard. The best line of the day was when he pointed to the big well that we were all looking at and said "if you fall down there, the only thing I can do is say bye-bye because I only have 30 meters of rope". Yikes!
Camping in Jasper was great - apart from the scary elk that just wandered about the place
Elk in the campsite!
. Every time they came in to the camp we had to give them a wide berth.When we left Jasper, we headed to Wells Grey NP and to Clearwater lake where we canoed 10Km to get to a very remote campsite. Amazing. Tracy and I headed out on the canoe that evening to have at fishing. We didn't catch anything but it was great craic all the same. The next day, we canoed back to shore before heading to the Bison/Buffalo ranch at Trophy mountain. En route we stopped at Bailey's Chute to see some Salmon leaping and also visited Helmcken Falls (3 times higher than Niagra!). Amazing.
The Buffalo ranch was really cool...we actually got to sleep in proper beds!!! James and Tim went out horse riding that afternoon and saw a mother bear with her two cubs. Had Buffalo burgers and sausages that night. Sweet.
The campsite in Vancouver was by far the best (thanks uncle Ron). The weather that day was great. The site actually had a hot tub, a pool, a gym, and a games room - so what is the first thing everyone does when they get there? Strip off and sunbathe!
Ron then took some folks out to top up the beer supply. It must be pointed out at this stage that I was not along on this trip, so Ben in his wisdom got a few different beers - one of which was called Paddy Whack. It stank. Nice choice mate (ha ha).
The last night was spent at the Mongolian BBQ. Mixed feelings.
The next morning was very emotional as Susie and us said our goodbyes to everyone. Just like to say a huge thanks to everyone who was on the trek - it was amazing and we look forward to seeing you all again at our renunion!!!
