Rainforest to Rockies: Vancouver to Lake Louise

Arrive in Vancouver, Canada's premier west coast city and seaport. This cosmopolitan commercial hub enjoys one of the most stunning urban settings on Earth. Hugging the inland waters of Burrard Inlet, English Bay and the Strait of Georgia, Vancouver's high-rise towers are ringed by sapphire sea, dense coastal rainforest and the ice-clad peaks of the Coast Range. The city is the largest in the most ethnically diverse province in Canada, and its multicultural population is more Asian than European, with vibrant Chinese and Indian communities. This evening, gather for an orientation and welcome dinner, with an overview of all the adventures to come.

Early this morning, transfer to the railway station to board the Rocky Mountaineer, a luxury train designed to offer a daylight sightseeing experience of some of the most dramatic mountain landscapes the world has to offer. The full-day journey from the coast to Kamloops covers 285 miles, a long and leisurely route with ever more striking scenery unfolding around every bend in the track. Enjoy GoldLeaf Service from our bi-level glass dome car featuring seating on top and full-service dining below, with breakfast, lunch and snacks served aboard.

Our eastward journey begins as we traverse Vancouver's sprawling suburbs, which eventually give way to the lush farmlands of the Fraser Valley, a bountiful agricultural area growing vegetables, berries, lentils, hops, hazelnuts, grains and more. Reaching the foothills of the Cascade Range, we continue following the Fraser River as the scenery around us transitions from cropland to forested mountains. Soon, the train enters the Fraser Canyon, a deep chasm slashed by the river on its descent from the interior plateau to the Pacific Ocean. The most dramatic portion of the canyon is Hells Gate, an abrupt narrowing of the towering rock walls, creating roiling whitewater. Looking out through our panoramic windows, it's hard to imagine the labor it took for the Canadian Pacific Railway to blast tracks through this sheer-sided gorge to complete a transcontinental railway across Canada in the 1880s.

Our rail journey continues along the Thompson River, coursing its way between steep, arid slopes. Named after David Thompson—renowned fur trader, surveyor and mapmaker, and one of Canada's greatest explorers—the Thompson is the largest tributary of the Fraser. Eventually, our route opens up as we near our destination of Kamloops. The first European explorers arrived here in 1811, pursuing the lucrative fur trade that would shape the region's history over the 19th century. The Canadian Pacific Railroad was completed through downtown in 1886, and the Canadian National Railway arrived in 1912, making Kamloops an important transportation hub, which it remains today. We disembark and transfer to our hotel for the night. The evening is free to wander around town on your own. Please be aware that rail travel can be subject to unforeseen delays, and our arrival time may be unpredictable.

Our exclusive GoldLeaf journey aboard the Rocky Mountaineer continues as we board the train at Kamloops station, bound for the mighty Canadian Rockies and the province of Alberta. From your seat in the upper-level glass dome car, survey a panorama of ever-changing scenery that gets better the higher we climb. Leaving Kamloops behind, we cross tawny grasslands, passing ranches and the shores of Shuswap Lake to Craigellachie, where the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven in 1885. Then, we start climbing the western slopes of the Selkirk Range to enter a unique ecosystem: the world's only inland temperate rainforest, dense with western red cedar and western hemlock. Pass through the railway and recreation hub of Revelstoke before reaching Rogers Pass in the heart of Canada's Glacier National Park. Surveying the steep slopes and ice-crowned peaks of the Columbia Mountains beyond our dome car, our awe and respect for those 19th-century railway laborers grows as we witness the staggering feat of engineering achieved in the most daunting of wilderness environs.

On the east side of Rogers Pass, the Rocky Mountaineer starts its descent to the valley that holds the upper reaches of the Columbia River. Then it's up again into the Kootenay Rockies, traversing more mountain grandeur as we follow the Kicking Horse River through Kicking Horse Canyon, one of the most rugged and scenic sections of our rail line. As we ascend, we pass through Yoho National Park near the Burgess Shale beds, a fossil site of global significance. These cliffs, part of the UNESCO Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site, hold a record of one of Earth's earliest marine ecosystems, with well-preserved examples of complex animal life forms that existed over 500 million years ago.

At Kicking Horse Pass on the BC–Alberta border, we are atop the Continental Divide—the division between the Pacific and Atlantic ocean watersheds. The steep grade up the pass, called the "Big Hill" by railway crews building the line in the 1880s, was one of the toughest sections to navigate. Under government pressure to complete the railway, and given the engineering challenges that came along with the geography, Canadian Pacific was not in a position to carve a gradual descent. After too many derailments, a solution was devised in 1909 with the innovative construction of the Spiral Tunnels, creating a gentler grade. As our train curves its way through them, we enjoy retracing this piece of railroad history, appreciating that we are aboard the only passenger service allowed this transit. As we cross the divide, we also enter Banff National Park, established in 1885 as Canada's first national park. From here, it's just a short distance to the terminus of our train ride at Lake Louise station, where we have an evening arrival and transfer to our hotel.

Early risers know that greeting the dawn is the secret to a quiet encounter with the Canadian Rockies, and we head out for a peaceful sunrise at Moraine Lake and the Valley of the Ten Peaks, one of the most famous settings in the Canadian Rockies. The lake's vivid blue-green color is the result of light refracting off the rock flour (fine particles of silt) in the glacier run-off that flows into it. The Rockpile Trail, a short path along the glacial moraine to the top of the natural dam, leads to a vista of the lake and surrounding peaks known as the “Twenty Dollar View,” capturing the scene featured on the back of a former issue of the Canadian $20 bill. On a trail that hugs the lakeshore, admire striking views of Mount Fay and Fay Glacier.

Next we head to nearby Lake Louise, backdropped by the Victoria Glacier in one of the most exquisite alpine settings in the world. From the shoreline, we have a close-up view of the lake and its storybook environs, including the famous poppy gardens. A walk along the forested Lakeshore Trail takes us to closer views of Mt. Victoria and Mt. Lefroy, while a gentle climb to Fairview Overlook offers an iconic view of the castle-like hotel that surveys the lake. Along with the fir, spruce and pines that blanket the valley are thick groves of larches, a deciduous conifer that turns bright gold in fall before it drops its needles. Thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the area, the lake was well known to the Stoney First Nations people. In 1882, a Stoney guide led Tom Wilson, a packer and guide for the Canadian Pacific Railway, to the site. Recognizing the massive tourism potential of the Candian Rockies, the CPR built a modest log cabin for guests on the lakeshore in 1890, which became the foundation for the sprawling chateau resort that evolved over the decades to come, hosting well-heeled guests from the East drawn to the mountain grandeur.

Then it's time to depart on a scenic 2-hour drive to the heliport that is our jumping-off point into one of North America's most dramatic natural realms. Crossing from Alberta back into British Columbia, we drop down into the Rocky Mountain Trench: Formed by a fault in the earth's crust, this thousand-mile-long flat valley on the western flank of the Rockies extends from the Yukon Territory to northern Montana. In 1807, intrepid explorer and cartographer David Thompson was tasked by the North West Company to open up a trading route to the Pacific Northwest, and he became the first European to find the confluence of the Kicking Horse and Columbia rivers near the present-day town of Golden. At this juncture, we turn south to follow the Columbia to the helipad near Spillimacheen, where we depart on a 10-minute flight to our wilderness lodge.

In the never-ending jumble of mountain ranges, it's hard to tell we've technically left the Rockies to re-enter the Columbia Mountains, which are in turn divided into various sub-ranges of which the Bugaboos are a part. Our flight offers a tantalizing preview of what is to come, as we land at our alpine lodge in view of the Bugaboo Spire, one of Canada's most famous alpine rock-climbing challenges. On arrival, the local mountain guide staff provides an orientation before we sit down to lunch, prior to our first heli-hiking excursion. The guides will assess physical abilities and individual wishes, then form hiking groups based on similar desires. Hiking boots, backpacks and rain gear are also available to borrow at the lodge. This evening, dinner is served in the glass-walled dining room overlooking the peaks and glaciers beyond.

Over two more full days, explore an exceptionally scenic sector of western Canada that very few people get to see. The Columbia Mountains, which are distinct from the main Canadian Rockies range to the east, are comprised of the Cariboo, Monashee, Selkirk and Purcell ranges, all of which are world-famous helicopter skiing destinations. Bugaboo Lodge, in the Purcells, was the original heli-ski base, and its summer hiking offerings are equally spectacular. Each morning, we take to the sky to access the awe-inducing heights of Bugaboo Provincial Park and surrounding environs. Guided hikes of varying lengths and physical ability levels are offered each day, and our local mountain guides will help you choose the option that’s just right for you. The helicopter whisks us to remote valleys filled with wildflowers, spectacular ridgelines and high alpine meadows where we walk over trailless terrain, stopping for a picnic lunch at a spot of special beauty.

Amid the dazzling scenery, keep an eye out for wildlife: we might see marmot, ground squirrel, pika, mountain goat, golden eagles, or even moose or grizzly bear. Choose to stay out all day, moving to a different hiking area in the afternoon, or return earlier to relax at the lodge and indulge in the sauna, steam room and hot tub, or book a massage (additional cost) to reward your efforts. Each evening, dinner is served family-style as we join our Expedition Leader and local guides for convivial conversation.

After breakfast, depart by helicopter for the helipad in the Columbia Valley, where our vehicle awaits for a scenic journey through Kootenay National Park, one of seven contiguous national and provincial parks that form the UNESCO Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks World Heritage Site. Spanning a set of parallel mountain ranges in southeastern British Columbia, the park is cut by the Kootenay and Vermilion rivers that flow into the Rocky Mountain Trench and on into the mighty Columbia. First Nations peoples and European traders and explorers have used travel corridors in this region for centuries, including the sector we drive today.

Stopping for a picnic lunch along the way, we cross the Continental Divide once more on a scenic drive to the Calgary airport, where our journey concludes. En route, we pass through Banff National Park. Established in 1885, Banff is Canada’s first national park, created to protect its incomparable scenery, abundant wildlife and geothermal features, including the hot springs used by Indigenous people for over 10,000 years. For those wishing to continue their adventures here on their own, a drop-off will be provided in a central location in the famous mountain town of Banff. Our transfer continues with a 90-minute drive to Calgary International Airport, leaving the mighty Rockies to descend to rolling prairie as we follow the Bow River eastward.