More pictures


This is the official Jasper bear near the visitor's center and train station.	We've a long ways to go to Montreal!	The abbreviated consist of the wintertime Skeena train is parked at the Jasper station. Dad and I have taken this train from Prince George to Prince Rupert in the wintertime.	The Jasper Park Lodge sits behind a frozen solid Lac Beauvert.

I had to capture this because I've never been in a room with rates this airy. This is a long way from the Super 8 stays with which we're more familiar.	One of the guest cottages at the Lodge.	We hiked up to a bluff overlooking the Athabasca River. With some imagination, you can pick out the peak to which the Jasper Tram runs in the background.	Mildred Lake, near the Lodge, frozen over with a cleared patch for ice skating and hockey.

Ice skaters on Mildred Lake, with some light snow now falling.	Ice skaters on Lac Beauvert right in front of the Lodge.	Inside the Jasper Park Lodge as we wait for our trip up the Maligne Canyon.	Sheep spotted roadside in Jasper.

Elk (Wapiti) not too far from the Lodge.	Looking across Pyramid Lake towards the mountain that is its namesake. Check out the snowman (iceman?) on the frozen surface.	Our tour guide Chuck tells about the formation of the Maligne Canyon. (Pronounced en Francais as Mah-leen, or you will irritate the locals.)	The falls running through the Canyon are frozen solid. This is unusual scenery for Western Washingtonians, so I have lots of pictures of ice.

After driving up the Canyon to Maligne Lake, we got out for a view.	It was as cold and breezy as it looks. The wind is whipping up fresh snow on the lake surface.	Our group split into a couple of vans to make the trip up the Maligne Canyon.	What a treat! While they're just dots in this picture, they're unmistakably wolves! We counted about six members of the pack, with only the juveniles venturing out onto the roadway. After they looked us over, the young ones returned to the pack and trotted back into the woods.

That's me taming some wildlife in the Lodge. Whenever I see these things for sale, I wonder how you're supposed to get them home.	Max Frye (math teacher!) explains the Fibonacci Series to Mo, and examines the cone to see this mathematical series play out in nature. Dad - do you recognize the Bethlehem Steel note tablet - we're still using them!	After boarding the train in Jasper about noon, we roll through Edmonton in the early evening. The trip from Jasper to Toronto takes about 54 hours, so we hop off at each opportunity to stretch our legs.	There's enough space in the bedroom to work the hair dryer and otherwise put ourselves together for the day.

VIA's double bedrooms have upper and lower bunks. Mo always assigns me to the upper bunk. We sleep pretty well on the train.	The bedrooms have a toilet and sink in the corner of the room. While there's not a lot of extra space, there's enough room to do what needs to be done!	By day, the beds go back to the wall/ceiling, and chairs allow good viewing. We spent most of our daylight time in the dome car anyway.	The Western half of the Candian's run ends at Winnipeg. Many people travel only from Vancouver through Jasper to Winnipeg so they can see the Rockies. Riders were scarce East of Winnipeg - I'd estimate only about 25 sleeping car passengers total, with 16 of those belonging to our group!

Just across from the Winnipeg station is the Forks Market, with numerous open food and merchandise booths.	Some retired rail equipment marks the way to the Forks Market.	Trains pull completely under cover at the Winnipeg station - a nice touch given the potentially severe weather.	We passed many ice fishing huts on frozen lakes as we passed through Northern Ontario.

A brief evening stop at Sioux Lookout, Ontario. That's Frank Bauman from Portland standing with Mo.	Mo calls into City Hall to check on the new sanitation services contract from Sioux Lookout.	It was fitting that our sleeping car was the Douglas Manor, named after David Douglas, for whom Douglas-fir was named.	Me with the Douglas Manor car at Capreol, Ontario.

The Capreol station during a brief stop for a leg stretch.	We gravitate toward any four-legged creatures available. This is Jenny, out with her master for a walk to the Capreol station on this sunny winter day.	Upon arrival in Toronto, we checked into the Royal York Hotel. There's about as much square footage in this hotel room as we have in our house!	Even more space in the Royal York room.

Some original architecture in Toronto, at BCE Place. The building facade on the left was preserved (but relocated) from buildings originally in this area. I like architecture that captures pieces of our heritage for the future.	The St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, that recently celebrated 200 years at this location! We walked through several examples of these open markets in Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal.	As unmistakably Toronto as the Space Needle is Seattle. The VIA station is the beautifully maintained building on the left.	Inside Toronto's VIA station. It has the immense dimensions and high ceilings like Chicago's Union Station

You can see Toronto's Sky Dome, and the Roundhouse Brewing Company (built into the original roundhouse) from the train station. Mo asked about the birds on the pole. I said it was because the Bluejays were Toronto's baseball team. It was nice of Mo not to point out that the birds were most assuredly woodpeckers, not bluejays.	Here you can see the Royal York Hotel built right across the street from the Toronto train station (copper roof on the right). There is an undergound passage that leads from the station to the hotel lobby.	Plenty of ice dots the shore of Lake Ontario on the Toronto waterfront.	We hopped a Toronto trolley for a brief ride uptown, then returned by Toronto's modern subway.