Book it!
MOUNTAIN: DAVID SUCSY/GETTY; RIDERS: KAMLOOPS MOUNTED PATROL
Above: Castle Mountain
in the distance
Left: A warm welcome
from the Kamloops
Mounted Patrol
second last spike. The first one was
bent in the installation so someone
had to haul out another). We trundle
through Revelstoke, named for
the British banker whose money
helped keep the dream of a national
railway alive.
And what a magnificent dream it
was. The Rocky Mountaineer winds
along rivers, raging through the mountains, passing through tunnels that
were blasted through the rock. We hold
our breath as we descend into the
sudden blackness of the Connaught
Tunnel in Rogers Pass. When we
emerge eight kilometres later, we gasp
and cheer when our host cracks a joke:
“Why is it called the Connaught tunnel? Because we cannot see!”
Post-tunnel, we see so much that our
collective jaws drop. Mountain goats
perch on the rock above us. Someone
shouts “Deer to the right!” A woman
standing sideways in the car shouts
back excitedly, “Which right?” Someone even spots a bear. The sighting is
over as quickly as it’s announced, but
a few lucky passengers are happy to
share their photos of a blurry creature
in the bush.
We’re back in the domed car when
we reach the Continental Divide,
one of the highest points in North
America. Nearly the entire train stands
to celebrate the point at which rivers
flow either west to the Pacific or east to
the Atlantic. As cameras click, I quickly
lose count of the “wows” heard in the
crowd. A young American woman says
to no one in particular, “Well done,
Planning a Rocky
Mountaineer journey?
Stay on the right track with
advice from AMA Travel:
1-844-771-1522
AMATravel.ca/
RockyTrain
Canada.” I can’t help feeling a little
patriotic pride.
About 35 kilometres down the track,
we learn that the gorgeous castleshaped mountain we’re admiring was
renamed Mount Eisenhower after
the Second World War to honour the
American general who commanded
the Allies. But before the Americans
on board get too excited, we’re told
Ottawa changed its mind 30 years later
and reinstated the original name,
Castle Mountain.
As the train arrives at the restored
rail station in Banff National Park, we
collect our things—the books we didn’t
bother opening, new friends’ business
cards. We also collect our thoughts.
Those of us who have travelled through
the Rockies many times before share
another little smile. We thought we
knew what to expect on our journey
through the mountains. Turns out, we
only had an inkling.
AMA INSIDER
SUMMER 2016
43