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Canada
- West
Western
Canada is a land of open spaces and great variety.
Each region has its own special character and unique
geography. The seasons and world-renowned scenery
provide memorable vistas often referred to as 'Nature's
masterpiece'. There is also a wealth of history where
traditional cultures continue to thrive.
EVOLUTION OF NATURE & CULTURE
This
outdoor adventure trip covers the Rockies, Plains
and Badlands. Stay under canvas camping out and falling
asleep to the calls of wild coyotes under a star-filled
sky.
Tour
Highlights First Nations Village
experience • Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology
• Gondola ascent of Sulphur Mountain •
Hike into Johnston Canyon • Columbia Icefields
Ride & Walk
DAY
1 DEPART UK, ARRIVAL CALGARY
Fly from the UK. Welcome to Calgary, Alberta, and
Canada! When you arrive at the Calgary International
Airport your Field Instructors will be waiting to
meet you. After collecting your belongings you have
a chance to call home and exchange money. This afternoon
we’ll look back into Canada’s past. At
Heritage Park you step back in time and learn about
Calgary’s frontier days, exploring a living
history landscape that has recreated three different
eras from the region’s past and populated it
with characters in costume. You’ll see first-hand
what life was like for the fur-traders who explored
the region in the 1860s, the pioneers who settled
Calgary before the railroad came through in the 1880s,
and the townsfolk who lived in the bustling small
city that was Calgary in 1910. Afterwards, you head
downtown for dinner, then up to the top of the Calgary
tower for a commanding view of the city. Then it’s
off to the University of Calgary where you stay for
the night.
DAY
2& 3 HEAD SMASHED IN BUFFALO JUMP
Leaving the big city behind, our first stop will be
the massive glacial erratic known as the Okotoks Rock.
Then we are off to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, where
for the next two days you will study and experience
Native American culture in the Porcupine Hills south
of Calgary. Living in your own private teepee encampment
at one of the most sacred First Nations sites in North
America, you learn about their history and traditions
as you study medicinal plants and survival skills,
play games, and try some traditional foods. Relive
the past on a hike past vision quest hill to the drive
lanes and see the “aki”, left behind from
thousands of years of use. These stone cairns helped
herd the bison to the cliff, where they met their
demise and supported a nation on the plains of Alberta.
Through discussions and interactions with Blackfoot
people, you also gain insights to their spiritual
beliefs, customs, and culture. While here you will
stay warm and dry at night under the canopy of your
teepee.
DAY
4 DRUMHELLER BADLANDS
After an early breakfast this morning you head north
on Highway 22, following the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
We stop at a Hutterite Colony to learn about the Old
World traditions that live on in this region of Canada.
You’ll see how this community works together
successfully as they show you their kitchen, school,
daycare, farm buildings, and church. Afterwards you
head for the Badlands of Drumheller – land of
the dinosaurs. When you arrive, you undertake an excursion
to learn about the Drumheller Valley and establish
a “sense of place.” The first stop is
the Atlas Coal Mine. Your guides are the granddaughters
of some of the men that mined the Atlas - one of the
largest coalmines in Canada. You’ll get a tour
inside the last remaining coal tipple in Canada and
then ride one of the old coal trains around the property,
learning about how the coal was mined, processed,
and transported out of the valley. This
evening you visit the East Coulee School Museum and
experience first-hand what it was like to be a student
in the 1930’s during the Great Depression and
enjoy a special “dino-themed” dinner,
with Dinosaur Ribs, Pterodactyl Wings, Devonian Reef
salad, Mud Flats Jell-O, and Prehistoric Punch. Afterwards,
you head to your campsite and roll out your sleeping
bag to fall asleep to the calls of wild coyotes under
a star-filled sky.
DAY
5 ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM
This morning you have breakfast at the camp and then
visit a nearby bison paddock. These animals, which
can weigh upwards of 2,000 pounds, used to roam the
Great Plains of North America by the millions and
were relied upon by First Nation people for food,
clothing, shelter, tools, and many other things. Driven
to the brink of extinction, bison are now making a
comeback. Afterwards,
it’s time for the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology,
the largest dinosaur museum in the world and a world-class
facility dedicated to the study of dinosaurs. Interactive
displays, murals, and skeletons all help bring the
past to life in such galleries as Extreme Theropods,
Burgess Shale, Devonian Reef, Dinosaur Hall, Cretaceous
Garden, and the Ice Ages. Tonight
you relax at your campsite. Normally the sunsets are
spectacular here, and afterwards you can roast marshmallows
on the campfire.
DAY
6 BANIFF NATIONAL PARK
Our morning commences as we ride the Banff Gondola,
the best way to get an overall view of Banff's landscape.
In 8 minutes, the enclosed gondolas lift you 2,257
ft. from the valley floor up to the top of Sulphur
Mountain (7,369 ft.). At the top we will take a short
Hike on the trails that lead out along the mountain
ridges. We continue to Cave and Basin National Historic
Site, where the discovery of the hot springs, now
preserved at this historic site, spurred the creation
of the national park in 1888. During the 1910s, these
hot mineral waters, which rise in a limestone cave,
were piped into a rather grand natatorium. Although
the Cave and Basin springs are no longer open for
swimming or soaking, the old pool area and the original
cave have been preserved; interpretive displays and
films round out the experience. Our day concludes
as we take a Lake Minnewanka Boat Tour a popular scenic
and wildlife-viewing trip in glassed-in motor cruiser.
This is a relaxing experience and features stunning
scenery along the glacial lake wedged between two
mountain ranges.
DAY
7 JOHNSTON CANYON
Today is a “half and half” day: this morning
while half your delegation spends time in Banff calling
home, doing laundry, and catching up on their workbooks
and journals, the other half hike into Johnston Canyon.
After lunch, the groups switch activities. Johnston
Canyon is one of the most beautiful day hikes in Banff
National Park. Along the way you encounter Aspen trees
with their smooth white bark and green leaves, which
contrast with the Lodgepole pine and Douglas fir trees
that have rougher brown bark and needles instead of
leaves. There are seven waterfalls along your route,
the last of which is over 100’ high. As you
hike, keep an eye out for mountain goats and bighorn
sheep along the canyon walls. Tonight
after dinner you have a relaxing soak in the hot springs
at the base of Sulphur Mountain while enjoying the
setting sun and alpen glow.
DAY
8 WALKING ON A GLACIER
This morning is about glaciers: vast sheets of ice
created on the landscape by thousands of years of
snow accumulating and compacting. Over time, the sheer
size and weight of the glacier causes it to move down
slope, making the glacier look like a river of ice
coming down the mountain. You get to walk on one of
these rivers of ice! Your day begins with a journey
to the Columbia Icefields along the Icefields Highway,
which is recognized as one of the most scenic roads
in the world. This highway will be your best chance
to see grizzly bears, mountain goats, cougars, lynx,
foxes and sheep. Along the way you’ll also have
a chance to see Eisenhower Peak and hear the story
of how this mountain got its name. The Columbia Icefields
encompass one of the largest accumulations of ice
and snow south of the Arctic Circle, covering an area
of nearly 200 square miles. The south end is in Banff
National Park and the north end (including the Athabasca
Glacier) is in Jasper National Park. Once you arrive
at the Icefields, you load up in specialized vehicles
for a ride on the Athabasca Glacier. Half way up the
3.75-mile long glacier you can get out and run around
on the ice, which is hundreds of yards thick. Make
sure to bring an empty water bottle so that you can
taste some of the purest water available on the planet
(it fell from the sky hundreds of years ago)! Lunch
is at the Brewster Lodge located at the foot of the
glacier, and then it is time to head back to Banff,
making a few stops to see some waterfalls and the
powder blue waters of Peyto Lake. In the evening there
will be time to stroll through Banff.
DAY
9 DEPART CALGARY
Today we catch an overnight flight back to the UK
from Calgary’s International Airport.
DAY
10 ARRIVE IN THE UK
Today we will arrive back in the UK.
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