View Journey through the Rockies Aug 19 - Sept 27 in a larger map
Another four weeks have passed and it seems like I have arrived here in the Rockies just yesterday. As I had expected, being with Brian and Annette, my two wwoofing hosts at Quantum Leaps Lodge, proofed to be a spiritual experience that taught me a lot of things about myself. It has been the calmest and deepest time in my life, full of spiritual moments, meditations and being present in the now.
The surrounding landscape helps a big deal to get into this special state of mind. Located in the Blaeberry River (a Celtic word for Blueberry) and framed with the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Purcell Mountains to the west, the lodge provides the guests with an amazing view on the river itself and a big rock in its back that stretches steep into the sky. Lodges, cottages and tippies are spread throughout the property, centered by the garden and the greenhouses.
Besides finding relaxation at this beautiful spot, there had been some work to do, of course. My main task that I, as sad as it is, could not finish was the preparation of wooden logs, basic material for building beds for the guests. I started to peel the trunks to get off the bark. After that I had to grind them, in order for Brian to cut the end and start to stick them into each other. In that way I prepared a lot of wood but other tasks prevented us to finish the beds.
Anyway, in between working with wood, I helped constructing the new greenhouse and cleaning the boat for a rafting tour on the following weekend – a tour that I could not join.
I stayed with them for almost a week and did a hike to three waterfalls right around the corner – unfortunately (or maybe not?!), without seeing a bear.
After this experience I hitchhiked back into town and waited to get picked up by Martina and Michael, a young Swiss couple and who wwoofers like me, who drove me to Golden Wood Lodge, my second wwoofing stay in Golden. The owners of the lodge are Swiss, as well! So besides being surrounded by Germans, my trip through Canada became more and more “swissified”! Anyway, in this particular case, I doubt that I would find other hosts that are as welcoming, charming, helpful, friendly and open-minded as Barbara and Andy!
I had a really great time on their lodge that is similar to Quantum Leaps as far as housing and accommodation (
www.goldenwoodlodge.ca).
Martina and Michael stayed for another two days before moving on to the U.S. to continue their travels. Unfortunately, in the meantime we got news of them telling us that their car broke down in the southern Rockies near the U.S. border. I hope that you two enjoy your travels by public transport though!
Regarding work on Golden Wood Lodge, I really liked the variety of the tasks: chopping wood, building a roof-covered camp fire, picking fruits and vegetables from the garden, taking down the Tepees (hard work but very interesting because you get a clue how they are constructed!), etc.
But most of all, I loved the food!!! Barbara is such a fantastic cook; her chocolate mousse is the best I have ever tasted! And Andy makes the best bread and buns…soooo crunchy!
I hope that my Italian Salmon filet with crunchy ham and baked tomatoes on bean puree made it up for all the great meals I received.
Again hiking has been an issue at this lodge, as well. We climbed on top of Mount 7 which is called after the remaining snow on top in spring/summer that forms the number 7. We took the motorcycle to get to the viewpoint where we admired the great scenery over Golden. Then we hiked an elevation of about 600 meters to the top, accompanied by wind, snow, rain and sunshine!
However, the story of Golden Wood also came to an end, sad as it is! I just stayed there for one week, even though I would have liked to stay for longer but I decided to be back to Vancouver by the end of September.
However, before I left, I gained the deepest experience in my life so far. I went back to Quantum Leaps Lodge because Brian and Annette had invited me to join their fire walk seminar. And that is what happened: First the whole group (about 10 people) met in the Tepee along the Blaeberry River to hear about the origin and myth of fire walks celebrated by the Indian tribes. After that we had a short meditation in which we were asked to think of an animal, no matter what kind, and to just “see” what this creature of nature had to tell or show us in our mind. Mine was a bold eagle, first just sitting on a branch at a huge rock. Then out of a sudden, I became the eagle and immediately jumped off the branch and into the air, towards the ground. Close before hitting the earth underneath, I spread my wings and in the same time opened my eyes.
With his or her own image in mind, each of us drew a picture on a wooden board, a picture that, from our point of view, should show the main reason for our self or for humans in general that prevents us in some situations from doing the things we really would like to do, which leads to suffering. So my picture showed a man facing a pitch black hole right in front of him. From out of the hole a dark claw grabbed his head and tried to keep his attention on the black spot. In this way, it was impossible for this man to see the gate behind him, a gate that is made out of light and that opens up the way to a better future full of happiness and joy.
So, my drawing was the pictorial representation of the fear that tries to lead us away from happiness. It is the fear of fear itself, the fear to lose the safety and comfort of our secure and scheduled life that prevents us sometimes from doing things that might lead to a new kind of life, completely unknown to us but which in fact can cause more happiness than we had before.
Anyway, after trying to express our thoughts, we turned the board to write down all the things, emotions, activities, etc. that we would like to give to the fire in order to get rid of them and those things that we like to take out of the fire, things we really want.
Then we surrounded the huge campfire and each and every one of us started to split his/her board in twice (by hand!!!), just focusing our mind and energy on this activity only. It was unbelievable how much power and strength we all released just by using our minds. We threw the pieces into the fire, the same fire we would soon enough walk on.
The next task was the most dangerous one: to bend and to break an arrow without using our hands or legs but by pressing it against the soft part of the throat. The other end of it was pressed against the hand of a person in front of us. By focusing all the energy of our body in that particular part of the throat, we stepped forward still with the arrow stuck between ourselves and the counterpart. The crack of the wooden shaft marks the end of this deep and spiritual experience that again proofed the power of our own body. For me it has been amazing and overwhelming to see what is possible in life when you just imagine yourself doing the thing you want to do and then to do it in reality without thinking of consequences and without the slightest doubt or thought of failure.
The final exercise - what a surprise - was the fire walk itself. We spread out the glowing coals on the ground so that it formed a pathway of shimmering light and hotness of about 3x1 meters size. Again we surrounded the fire, played the drums and just waited for the right moment to come and then walked over the coals. I can neither describe the feeling inside that tells you "You are ready right now!", nor the state of mind I was in. Some inner voice made me approach the fire and I just walked over it to the other end. I didn't know what to expect it would feel like when walking over the fire but let me compare it to the sensation you feel when you let in warm water in a bath tub and your foot touches the surface of the water for the first time. The warmth that you feel at that moment is exactly the same that you feel when you step on the coals, I would say. We couldn't stop walking over the fire over and over again until at the end we even danced on the coals like being crazy!
This experience completely changed my way of life and my thinking and will be deeply anchored in my memory!
But of course, I had to continue following my path. So I wanted to leave Golden to go further east, further into the Rockies when I received a message from Anna, a German girl I met while couchsurfing in Vancouver in summer. She told me that she was on her way through the Rockies at that time, as well. Finally, we met up in Golden and tried to continue on Highway 1 to Yoho National Park. I can tell now that it is so much easier to hitchhike alone compared to be two + the huge backpacks we had with us. We desperately tried to get picked up but had to accept the miserable situation we were in, after all.
Frustrated as we were, we walked to the next gas station to get a coffee when unexpectedly, almost every truck driver passing by asked us if we needed a ride. Unfortunately, they were all on the way west towards Vancouver, all except for one! Tom, a Persian truck driver, offered us a ride to Yoho National Park. We got into the truck and rushed eastwards with a breathtaking speed of 50 km/h!!! ;)
Admittedly, Tom tried to make the ride as comfortable as possible and so we enjoyed Persian black tea and dates while pushing the truck up the mountains.
We jumped off at Yoho National Park and walked along the road that leads to Whiskey Jack Hostel where we intended to spent a night or two. The only problem was that it was pretty late at that time and darkness spread out quickly. No car was passing at that time anymore and there were still 14km ahead of us!!! I already prepared myself to spend the night along the road, hopefully not be eaten by a hungry wild animal. My bigger concern however was the cold. At that time and being in the heart of the Rockies, temperatures dropped under 0°C!
The knight in shining armor appeared out of the darkness and from the
top of Yoho National Park. Joe/Joel (?) was driving down the mountains in his car and when we stopped him on the road and explained our situation to him, it took him only seconds to decide to take us back to the hostel where he just came from.
The hostel is pretty neat and highly recommended. It is part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Wilderness hostels (some of them even without hot water or electricity). We were tired when we arrived there, made some quick dinner and went straight into bed.
The next morning, we met Amelie and Xavier at the breakfast table, a couple from Montreal. They went all the way from their hometown (3,000 km in total!!!) with their bikes and intended on riding further on to Vancouver and down to San Francisco! We spontaneously decided to go for a hike together that day, a hike along one of the most difficult and challenging but also most beautiful trails of Yoho National Park: "The Iceline Trail". 22 km long, it starts very steeply through forest and bushes and finally leads along several glaciers with a phenomenal view into the valley. From there it loops back to the hostel, passing by Takkakaw Falls, the second-highest water fall in Western Canada.
Back at the hostel we spent the evening playing card games like asshole or shithead :D
The next day was the day to move on to Lake Louise. The question we had to answer again was: How to get there?
Anna's charming personality got us in contact with two Australian travelers who where on their way to Banff with a stop in Lake Louise where we finally got off and immediately walked to the hostel to check in. First we restocked our supply of groceries in the only store in Lake Louise. You can imagine the prices - just to give you an example: a small pack of cream cheece = 7 $!!!
After eating we hiked up to Lake Louise and the Chateau, a huge block made for the hundreds of tourists visiting the lake. When we walked up further to Lake Agnes and the tea house right next to it, the number of tourists still hiking the trail decreased with every meter of elevation.
We had a delicious hot chocolate and chai tea on the top in a neat tea house that has hundreds of teas and self-made cakes to offer.
The next day we had planned to go for another hike to Moraine Lake, so we had breakfast in the morning and were ready to leave as a woman suddenly asked us in German if we were Anna and Ronny. First we were a little confused and mixed up about that but after a moment we remembered that we had asked for a ride to Banff on the black board of the hostel. Anita and Andrea offered us the ride with a stop at Johnston Canyon for a hike. So we had to make a decision whether to stay in Lake Louise for another day but to run the risk of not getting a ride to Banff or to head off to the town right away without seeing Moraine Lake. We decided to do the latter (which ended up being one of the best decisions of our journey), although it was sad not to see the lake. Look at some pictures online and you have an idea of how beautiful it must be up there. Anyway, we were happy to get a ride to Banff.
We stopped at Johnston Canyon, halfway between Lake Louise and Banff and hiked along the river in the canyon that was pretty small and not more than a rill. On the top we felt quite good, at least good enough to move on, so we continued to the Inkpots, a group of several small basins filled with clear water. From underneath spring water is brought up and colors the water blue-green which is why these basins are called Inkpots.
After returning to the car we drove to the Banff HI hostel where Anna and I moved into one of the dorms. Anita and Andrea decided to reserve an own cabin for a really decent price. We spent the evening together cooking a delicious meal!
On the next day we went for another hike. Originally, we had chosen the trail on the peak of Sulphur Mountain to enjoy the fantastic view from above. But since the weather turned rapidly into pouring rain, we decided to walk to the Bow River Hoodoos and to the Sundance Canyon instead.
Unfortunately, the rain did not stop but we still enjoyed the walk and returned to the hostel, our jackets and pants soaked with water.
After changing clothes, we went into town to be tourists and pop into each and every shop. Out of a sudden the rain turned again...this time into snow!!! And as the rain didn't stop that day, it did not cease to snow either. The next morning the whole town was covered in 15cm of snow. Unfortunately, it did not even survive until noon.
That day was quite lazy and marked by our continued shopping tour. In the afternoon we sadly said goodbye to Andrea and Anita, before they left to Calgary.
Anna and I were returning to the hostel to spent another night. The next day we tried to hitchhike again...this time more successfully - at least at the beginning. So here is what happened:
Our plan was to get to Jasper that day - which was a pretty tough task because the distance between Banff and Jasper is about 300km!
We got picked up by a local couple from Banff. They were on the way to Lake Louise which was as far as they could take us. So we squeezed our self into this really tiny car and were dropped off at Lake Louise. From there we got another ride from a couple on their honeymoon. The ride lasted for exactly two minutes!!! It basically was the distance from highway 1 ramp in Lake Louise to highway 93, better known as the Icefields Parkway. This was a smart step because we were dropped off at a rancher's office where all the cars entering the Parkway had to stop to be checked about a valid parks pass.
That was when Larry entered the stage. He is an American traveling around the U.S. and Canada in his camper van for a few months. He was really nice, friendly, helpful, relaxed, hilarious and slow!!! We were driving with an average speed of 50-60 km/h. Anyway, he did stop at every viewpoint which was great because in that way we have seen a lot of the scenery. The mountains, forests and lakes along the Icefields Parkway are amazing and impossible to describe by words.
Larry told us he would spent the night at Saskatchewan Crossing and move on to Jasper the next day. Since we had to be in Jasper on the same day and in Edmonton on the day after that, we tried to move on by hitchhiking to finally reach Jasper. But by the time we hit the Crossing, it has been pretty late and again no cars where driving by to pick us up.
We tried to find out how much it would cost us to get a room in the nearby motel. Since we didn't want to spent 90 bucks for a room that night, we started thinking how to prevent us from sleeping outside. Anna suddenly came up with a surprising as well as refreshingly shocking idea: She asked this man from London who visited the country with a friend and whom we asked for a ride earlier, if he was willing to share one room with us. She added with a big and innocent smile on her face: "Then it would be cheaper for all of us!". Although she was right with this conclusion, I could not stop laughing about this weird question. Fortunately, this British guy found it as funny as I did, went out to the car to tell his friend about the situation (I still wonder how his face has looked like after he heard about our request) and came back. His friend however was not amused about all that and denied to grant us asylum! But when he heard us talking about the nearby hostel, he offered us a ride to that spot.
That day we ended up spending the night at another wilderness hostel at Rampard Creek.
The next day we got up early, checked-out of the hostel got a ride from two German guys who stayed at the hostel as well. Funny as it might seem, they took us back to the Crossing where we just came from the day before. And here is why: Since we had to get to Edmonton on that day (our host from couchsurfing awaited us), we decided it would be too far to get there by hitchhiking. That's why we tried to get whether to Red Deer or to Jasper to catch the greyhound bus to Edmonton. In Saskatchewan Crossing we had the possibility to get in both directions.
So we stood along the road to find someone to pick us up. You cannot imagine our surprise and joy when out of a sudden Larry drove by in his camper van! With a big smile on his face, he offered us the ride to Jasper. And again we passed many beautiful lakes and mountains. One of the most amazing things we have seen on that part of the icefields parkway was the Athabasca Glacier, a huge mass of ice and snow. But as huge as this glacier might appear, it is in fact only a tiny part of a whole system of glaciers and ice on top of the mountains called the Columbia Icefield.
After our arrival in Jasper that evening we went straight into the next greyhound office to get the tickets for the ride to Edmonton. Since we had some time ahead till the departure of the bus, we enjoyed Jasper's souvenir shops and of course the Brewery in town! ;)
We said goodbye to Larry and five hours later we crossed the city limit of Edmonton where we immediately (by that time it was almost 1 am!!!) headed to our couchsurfing host Paul. He took us on a little guided tour through Edmonton (quite frankly the city has not much to offer).
Later that day we went on a gloom stick party with some of Paul's friends and played a game called "flip cup" (a really funny and fast drinking game).
We got up the next morning and I prepared my resume and cover letters to apply for some jobs in Edmonton. I decided that the time has come to end the current journey through western Canada for a while and start working for a couple of months. Although I definitely preferred Vancouver for work (regardless of the fact that this city is damn expensive), I rather would accept a job in Edmonton than not to work at all.
After finishing the papers, we got off to a Quidditch game in a nearby park. Yes, I am talking about the same Quidditch as described in the Harry Potter novels. The players run around with broomsticks between their legs, trying to get a ball into one of three goals at each end of the field while the defenders try to hit the attackers with different balls to prevent them from reaching the goals. It is a physically challenging game and lots of fun!
If you are interested in more, I suggest you to visit the website
http://www.internationalquidditch.org/.
The next day we went to the West Edmonton Mall. Once the biggest mall in the world, today still the biggest in North America, it contains over 800 stores, an indoor amusement park, the biggest water park in the world and 325,000 light balls (not sure if this is an interesting fact to know).
On the same day's evening I said goodbye to Anna, who took her greyhound all the way to Toronto. At 6:30 am the next morning, I it was time to leave Edmonton to Vancouver where I arrived after a 16 h drive.
This marks the end of my 1.5-month road trip through the Canadian Rockies. What did I learn? Well, I learned a lot about hitchhiking, that's for sure! It is a nice and adventurous way of traveling but if you don't have the time to spent half a day or even a whole day trying to get from one place to another, than an own car is the better alternative, especially when you want to be more flexible in moving around.
The time I spent in the mountains also told me a lot of things about myself, including the fire walk experience. Working at the Bed and Breakfast and the two lodges was fun, too.
Back in Vancouver, I couldn't find a couch to surf on. Fortunately, Maai, a fellow couchsurfer who just moved in to her own place, read my post on the CS group by chance and invited me over for a couple nights.
So this is where I am at at the moment. Next step? Of course, looking for a job in Vancouver and finding a room to live in temporarily. I will keep you updated about that pretty soon.
