Take a hike with lumberjacks on Canada’s Grouse Mountain

This article was originally posted by Meredith Blakeway of S.O.F.T and was republished with permission.

The Lumberjack Show on Grouse Mountain was quite entertaining and skilled. ’Them thar’ lumberjacks were quick with the axe.

We had been shipped up over the top of the pine trees inhuge gondoliers . There were screaming zip liners and helicopter rides, further hiking trains and a second chairlift to go even higher.

The view from the top of Grouse Mountain overlooked Vancouver and everything was green and lush. The lumberjacks were up those logs in seconds.

If I’m being honest, I really came up to see the bears before they had their midday nap – or I had mine. Now I understand why tourists to Australia go crazy over our koalas and kangaroos. I spent hours searching them out in the forest.

Then it was on to The Canadian, the train from Vancouver to Toronto, which I only just managed to catch. The timetable had changed for the summer. The train is usually hours late because the freight trains have right of way. Instead of leaving at 8pm it was leaving at 12pm, so I had to get up extra early to catch the ferry and bus back from Victoria on Vancouver Island, and pick up my lost iPhone on the way.

I had forgotten trains can attract the train ‘nerds’, and as we cruised down the river, I overheard a large group of men swapping train stories and making train noises. There was also man, with his carer, and three large dinosaurs on his luggage. He was going for a Guinness World Record for catching this train. Unbelievable!

Most of the travellers were quite interesting and friendly. There were lots of Australians too. I met up with Mary Beth and Preacher Chuck from ‘down south’ who loved Trump. Every time I sat at their table I was halfway through stuffing food in my mouth when they would ask for a blessing – somewhat embarrassing for me, with half a lettuce leaf hanging out of my mouth (the Americans seem to serve the salad first).

I felt the train was very rundown and looked to be falling to bits in places. A handyman was permanently on board, fixing things with sticky tape. We were moved three times. First the air-conditioner broke down, then the beds broke. The single berths had a toilet by the bed that was covered at night, so there was a midnight dash down the hallway to the facilities. Most of the passengers got off at Jasper and Winnipeg, so I think it may have been running at a loss. However, the food was quite reasonable and served on linen tablecloths with silver cutlery.

By the end of four days I’d had enough. The scenery was spectacular and the journey pleasant and relaxing, but it was a slow journey. I had one more train trip to Montreal and I had a hotel right next to Union Station for an early exit.

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