Hold on tight, here we go!
As I am typing, our train steadily makes its way through the vast Canadian prairies somewhere in Saskatchewan, north of Regina. It’s been two weeks and a half since Amon and I began our cross-Canada train trip. We have started from Vancouver, and we are planning to reach Halifax by mid-August, making a lot of stops on the way to learn about Canadian cities and nature.
To give some background, both Amon and I have graduated from a computer science masters program in May and this summer we are treating ourselves to a well-deserved graduation trip before we supposedly find jobs and become too busy to spend this much time to travel and explore.
We departed from Vancouver on June 24 but before then we camped and hiked in Squamish and Whistler area for a few days. Our first camping destination was the Garibaldi Lake. The hike to the lake wasn’t too bad although carrying heavy backpacks uphill was quite exhausting. The camping spots are first come, first served and some were still buried in snow. After finally finding a good camping site, we cooked and ate, and I swear it was the best instant ramen I’ve ever had! It was already evening when we reached Garibaldi so most day hikers had already left the lake. The lake was beautiful, and the rest of the evening was wonderfully peaceful.
Amon setting up the burner to cook instant ramen
The next day we stayed at the Mamquam River Campground. Nice and simple front-country campground. We had a comfortable rest, cooked dinner and watched a few Black Mirror episodes. In the morning, just when we were about to head out, the campground manager came by. He asked us about our stay and recommended to go see people kiteboarding at the Squamish Spit. We went there right after and weren’t disappointed. The sight of the brave kiteboarders flying up so high above the water is breathtaking. If you haven’t been to the tip of the Squamish Spit yet, I definitely recommend going there!
I must say that pre-travel experience turned out to be crucial. For camping and our subsequent travel, we needed to pack all necessary camping gear and whatever we needed for the future two months long travel. So, change of clothes for any weather within Canada in summer, laptops, various electronics and toiletries in addition to sleeping bags, a tent and etc. Needless to say, our backpacks were very heavy. We did learn our lesson and after camping at the Garibaldi Lake we left more personal belongings behind. I got rid of a book (missing it when on the train though), some clothes and the other pair of shoes. Our bags were now of a more manageable volume and weight and with that we hopped on our first train to Jasper.
Boarding the train in Vancouver