Glacier NP, Canada

We stopped at Giant Cedars trail on the east side of Revelstoke NP today as we drove toward Glacier National Park. It’s a short boardwalk-and-stairs trail through an old growth giant cedar forest. In the afternoon we hiked the Loop Brook Trail which features railroad history and is a National Historic Site. The trail follows the giant stone trestle supports of a pair of curved trestles forming two switch backs that were designed to gradually climb Rogers Pass. The section of track was abandoned by the Canadian Pacific RR when they built the Connaught tunnel under Mt. Rogers to avoid frequent avalanches in the area. It was an enjoyable hike that crosses a rushing stream, goes through a mixed forest, and had info along the way about railroad history.

8/31/07 We drove through Glacier N.P. to Rogers Pass Visitor’s Center where we really enjoyed the displays and videos. The building itself is designed to resemble a snow shed, and exhibits there focus on the role of the railroads in opening up this rugged area of Canada. Incidentally, A. B. Rogers, who discovered the pass, was an American with an engineering degree from Yale. George especially enjoyed the video of railroading in the area in the 1950’s. There were also displays of animals native to Glacier Park including grizzly bears, caribou, and elk. We stopped at the Rogers Pass marker which commemorates the completion of the Trans-Canada highway thru the pass in 1962 and drove past the Stony Creek Bridge, a much photographed railroad bridge.

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