Cookstown's Susan Stein travels to the west
by Susan Stein

To learn about it, to admire and appreciate it, one should take a trip across Northern Ontario, the Western Provinces, right down to Vancouver.

We did just that, my son Mike, his wife Barb, my friend Terka and myself.

Leaving Cookstown on July 22nd, we followed Hwy.11, passing rivers, lakes, and forests, stopping for lunch breaks at scenic rest areas and for a split second stop to let a young bear cross the road.

Driving along the shores of Lake Superior, the immense expanse of this body of water, makes one think about the voyageurs, and early settlers, who braved the storms, the unknown.

And just about 45 minutes, north of Sault St. Marie, we stopped for our first night at a charming motel: "The Voyageurs" on Batchawana Bay. Here true to myself, I had a great swim in the still calm waters and believe me, they were warmer than in Lake Simcoe.

At the Voyageurs Cookhouse , decorated with Voyageurs sash, paddles and Hudson Bay's colours on the tablecloth, we enjoyed the fresh catch of Lake Trout and Whitefish, supplied by the local First Nation community.

Next day's destination was Dryden. We stopped at the beautiful, inspiring monument for Terry Fox and for lunch at a rest area, where the Historic Marker tells the story of Red River Carts, which brought provisions from Fort Williams to Fort Q'Apelle, and points to the ruts made by the oversized wagon wheels

We stopped for the night in Dryden and next morning at 7 a.m off we went to Winnipeg.

From forests and waterways, suddenly the nature changed, given way to the start of the prairies in Manitoba. Waves pound the shores at lake Manitoba, producing a sound like drums. This sound spoke to the Cree Indians, as one of the Great Spirit Manitou, whose name was given to the lake and in 1870 to the entire province.

Arriving in Winnipeg, the hometown of my daughter-in law, we checked in a motel and went to town.

We visited the Legislative Building, built of native Tyndall limestone with a staircase of marble, guarded by two bronze bison, the emblem of Manitoba.

We payed our respects to Barb's parents at their graves. Reading the names on the tombstones in this large, old cemetery, names Icelanding, Norwegian, German, Hungarian, and many Ukrainian, gives a lesson in the development of Winnipeg.

Many who are buried here came to find freedom, an opportunity to better their lives, to find adventure, and to find land to farm.

To settle the west, the Canadian Government gave out parcels of land. With no money, only the most necessary needs, they came to the fields, built sod houses, plowed with oxen and wooden plows. Drought, locusts, winds and sand storms, isolation and the Depression, forced many to abandon their dreams of farming, sold or just left for Winnipeg.

We visited the "Forks". At the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, this has been a meeting place hundreds of years ago for the aboriginal people and evolved into a meeting place for fur traders and now as an outdoor playground, skateboard park. amphitheatre and The Forks Market, housed in refurbished stable buildings. We looked at Fort Gary Hotel where Mike and Barb had their wedding reception, the old house, where Barb and her siblings grew up, the United Church, where they got married and bought Ukrainian Kolbasa and smoked Gold Eye fish from a store, where Barb's parents shopped.

Driving along the Trans Canada Hwy. through Saskatchewan, the land seemed to meet the sky, interrupted with only a few silos, elevators, farm houses. The golden sheaves of grain, which are on the province's emblem had been combined, the straw bales still to be moved. The sunflower fields were a beauty to behold. We only saw a few of the famous large cattle herds, but got a glimpse of deer and antelope grazing.

That same day we reached Alberta. Here and there, oil pumps can be seen in the fields. Signs show the way Drumheller, made famous by the Dinosaur Trail. Medicine Hat was our choice for staying over night. According to a legend, the name Medicine Hat originated because of a battle between the Crees and Blackfoot Indians. The Crees fought bravely until their medicine man deserted them, loosing his headdress. Believing this to be a bad omen, the Crees put down their arrows and were killed by the Blackfoot. A swim in the West Hawk

Lake, which was made millions of years ago by a falling meteorite, was very refreshing.

Closer and closer to the Rocky Mountain Range we came and then we were among the towering peaks, the sheer rock walls. Mike, a mountain and rock climber, was our perfect guide. He also showed us the place where one of his climbing buddies was hit by an avalanche and lived to tell the story.

We drove along the Bow River, through Banff and on to Lake Louise. It is said, that the view across the lake to the glaciers , is the most photographed part of the Rockies and I can believe it, as it took me quite while to find an empty spot to take one. Having seen these glaciers about 20 years ago, I noticed their receding a sign of global warming.

The last stop before Vancouver, was Golden, near the confluence of the Columbia and Kicking Horse Rivers.

Barb's family own a chalet in the vicinity of Whistler, where we were welcomed as their guests. We went to the Whistler Village, where a multitude of mountain bikers, skateboarders, tourists, crowd the streets, wait for the gondola to take them up the Whistler or Blackcomb mountain. What a change, since I skied there many years ago. Where Whistler Village is now, there was nothing, where A frames where the modest chalets, now million dollar houses stand. With the 2010 Winter Olympics to be held here, it was interesting to find out where the different venues will be held.

Highly interesting was to watch the wild salmon at the Capilano Salmon Hatchery, as the tried to jump the ladder. The Chinook, the Sockey die, after spawning, but the Steelhead return to the ocean.

From Whistler we drove to Vancouver, staying at their place, which fronts a dense bush. Just before getting in the car to drive to town for dinner, a big black bear made his appearance, munching on black berries. Mike took a picture and this was a perfect end for our wonderful, awe inspiring trip.