Tanajura the rescue on Lake Emerald!

Factsheet 4×1

Date: 18/10/2012 the 20/10/2012

* Almost 2 hours including the stop between dinner and hotel reservations + long stretch with snowfall and poor visibility.

Path: We left Vancouver by Trans-Canada Highway and follow, basically, by ela tied Banff (BC-1 E, BC-3 E, BC-5 N, BC 1 It, AB 1)

Our companion Tanajura was once again put to the test and did not disappoint his extraordinary force! This time it was the lakes region Canadians, one of the country's main postcards, who witnessed the heroism of our friend and we beheld one of the most beautiful trails in the snow of far Expedition.

Oil radiator level and, tires checked, full tank and breakfast taken. Tudo ready! We set out from Vancouver towards Banff National Park at about 11 am, After saying goodbye to Gaius that welcomed us very well and became a great friend of all of us! After a few hours on the road we stopped in the small town of Mittier for lunch. To our surprise almost all restaurants were cooking Japanese or Chinese! We did not know until then, but the proximity to the Eastern countries in the Pacific brought a flood of immigrants (post-World War II) making the west coast of Canada to become a large colony of Japanese, Chinese, Thai offspring among other Orientals. Logo, eat Japanese food, different from Brazil, something is very cheap! And so was our lunch: at bento (combined Japanese food at that restaurant came with misoshiru, tempura, guioza, California Roll, Add rice teriaki Frango grelhado! - At least tudo 11 U.S. dollar!)

Our intention was camping in Banff, but soon the road would have the first signs that this would not be a very pleasant. It happens that, shortly after sundown sun, the snow began to shake and just over 6 hours estrada, after lunch, we stopped for our second and last meal of the day. The temperature on our thermometer - we bought there in Alaska - pointed the temperature below 4 graus Celsius. We entered a Canadian diner that had nothing special, but the prices of the sandwiches were good - even compared with the Mc Donald's, in the U.S. and Canada are practically free! We take this internet site and confirm what we predicted: there would be snow in the next 2 or 3 day and reach minimum temperatures to -7 ° C. You could not camping, um teríamos to book accomodation. Our luck is that we were just coming to Banff in the range between the high seasons and the prices were very negotiable. Thus, got a good quality hotel for the price of a roadside motel U.S.! Hosting resolved, we take to the road.

A neve, entanto not, not forgive! Cars and trucks began walking in rows as in a train. The snow that hit the windshield wiper just froze and should be at the maximum to prevent accumulation of snow on the glass. Our top speed: 65 km / h! Then, slowly, Banff we arrived at around 2:30 in the morning. Almost 15 hours after we left Vancouver!

The next morning, clear, woke up a little late. We were so exhausted from the road! We had coffee and we left around 11:30 to Lake Louise (Lake Louise) - The beautiful emerald lake, surrounded by high mountains - one of the main attractions of the region of Banff Park and a major tourist destination in Canada. Lake Louise is about 40 my (58 km) the center of Banff.

Arriving there we passed the tourist information center to see which were the best tracks and what was still open. But, if got lucky with the hotel (because we are in low season), not given the same luck with the activities to do there. What happens is that, in much of Canada (and also in the northern U.S.) most parks have two high seasons: the summer - when practicing, obviously, summer sports, tais como: tracks, Riding, mountaineering, kayak, canoeing, etc.; and or winter, that is when the most popular sports are skiing, snowboard e o cross-country ski (a kind of track using skis to walk long distances in the snow). Thus, in autumn, (time when we crossed several of these parks) Heavy snow and cold prevent the practice of most summer sports (the companies themselves do not offer those activities more) and the amount of snow is still not enough for snow sports practice. Thus, some trails that lead to some of the lakes in the region Lake Louise were already closed because of snow. And those that were open had so much snow that they should be made with caution. Recommendations heard and maps in hand, we went to the parking lot near the main trail, around the famous lake! But we did not know what was coming…

…A young man from Hong Kong who was with her mother and sister to travel to Canada was coming down a curve at the exit of the parking lot of the park and lost control of the Ford Fiesta that led. When we go over there we saw the car fell into a ditch and family worried, fora do next. Nothing happened to them, but the car was tilted in the ditch, in the snow, and could not get out at all. We went out to try to help them, but, at first, as we did not know what to do, tempt or "basic": get the car shoving, someone while speeding. However, as the car had no traction because of the snow, He skated and increasingly more fall into the mire. Moreover, every attempt he was closer to hitting the trees that were beside the ditch.

That's when we thought about using our rescue equipment! The first thing we did was try to take the car using the plank desatolamento. We remove the excess snow under the car, dig a small hole underneath the wheels to nail the planks, accelerate and… Nothing! Without traction on the rear wheels only skated the car in snow. We were very afraid that the car would tip over sideways with our attempts and, then, decided to stop. But the girls were desperate, because the car was rented and they should arrive at night in a city 8 Banff hours to catch a flight the next morning. It had been up more than 1 time from the moment we arrived there, the only mechanical aid available in the city were busy and would take several hours to reach the site. They asked to try whatever was necessary and that we cared about what would happen.

So we had two alternatives: pull the car using the winch or strap rescue. The problem is that the car did not have a hook on the back or redemption, or in front, very common in cars 4×4. Neither had a foothold to hoist prenderemos, making their use impractical. (A park ranger who passed by, 15 minutes before, informed us that the winch to use these types of cars needed a special hook, which did not have)

Well. Our last option to get the car out of the ditch would use the rescue strap tied somewhere in the car. But before, decided to move the car forward slightly. We wanted to leave it a point not to flatter risking hood it's time for stride. Tingly inside! Well, the car more or less aligned, tie strap to the axis of the rear wheels Fiesta and hold the other end in our hook - at the rear of Tanajura. Afraid of Tanajura also skidding due to excessive ice on the road and the weight of the other vehicle to be pulled, positioned upstream part ela na da track, that less gelo possuía. It was the moment of truth. We were pretty sure it would be impossible to take a vehicle from almost 1 Snow ton, further with the rise being in Tanajura… with ice!!!

And off we went for another "test". We called the reduced traction, control of embreagem…. and… deu certo!!! Within moments the Tanajura with his strength "colossal" dragged the car out of the ditch skating in the snow like a toy!!! More was still cool to see the happiness of the girls who jumped for joy and hugged! They came to us and said they would pay us a lunch for the long hours that we were there (were more or less one 2 hours). We said it was not necessary, because even we were a bit of a hurry to do the trail before it got too late. After much insisting we accept. The funny thing is that the mother said that her daughter is who would pay, it was responsible for them have fallen into the ditch! Hahahaha

We eat, talked a lot with them, we took pictures together and finally to Lake Louise. Nay, tempted to follow, because before a Canadian approached us to ask about the Expedition. He had made a trip from Canada to Argentina and was delighted with our script! Took photo of the car and everything else. We used to ask him to paste the sticker in Canada Tanajura!

Returning to the track… We arrived at Lake Louise already over 16:30 to begin a beautiful trail around the lake. With little time, we restrict ourselves to do half of the climb that reaches the highest point of the lake. Lake Louise was named in honor of one of the daughters of Queen Victoria (UK): Louise Caroline Alberta in princesa (which also gave its name to the state which the lake is part – Alberta). Surrounded by countless snowy mountains and the elegant "The Fairmont – Chateau Lake Louise”, or lake and really lovely. We stood there wondering how he would be open to the.

The truth is that most occupation and development of this region - Banff and Lake Louise - occurred due to the construction of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR – Canadian Railways), Once de por 1880, with the intention of connecting the major cities of the country to the East, até a British Columbia, to west. The strong connection that the country still had with the UK made the name of many of its cities and landscapes were sent to those countries. Also curious is that both Banff and Lake Louise are among the highest cities in the country. It, due to lack of tradition in Canada for mountaineering activities at that time, Swiss climbers were hired by Canadian Railways to stimulate (more safely) tourism here in the Rockies! Good deal for the Railways and also to the barracks who received both the builders of railroads, as tourists began to visit the parks!

We return to Banff hungry! Then we decided to "open hand", nor?! After all, had not paid lunch… hehehe We went to dinner at one of the most typical fondue restaurants in Banff, even that had been strongly recommended by Rodrigo and Ana (do 1000days): o Grizzly House. Excellent!! Or rather estava lotado. We eat a full meal that had: cream and onion fondue CHEESE entry, The main meat fondue and fruit in melted chocolate for dessert. By far the best fondue already eat into our lives!

The next morning we decided to explore a little further north to visit the glaciers up close! We woke up early and headed to a major ice fields of the country: the Columbia Icefields. Located ha 185 km from Banff and on the way to Jasper Park (more northerly) Columbia or feeds 8 large glaciers. But just outside the Banff heavy snow indicated that the task would not be easy. We took a heavy snowfall in the first 40 km of road, but it diminished gradually. The snow was much reduced until the weather cleared around 13:30. A sign on the road signaled that the conditions to the Columbia Icefields not good, then greatly reduced the speed. It was an incredible visual. Lakes and rivers, in a blue opaque, mingled amid high mountains with its large fields of eternal ice. A crow staring at Tanajura was the only animal we saw over there.

One hour later on, almost coming to Columbia, caidos saw some cars off the track. They had skated on snow that dominated the road. But this time there was a rescue team on site! The Tanajura breathed relieved and followed his task with great mastery. We got to the main glacier Columbia Icefields, or Athabasca Glacier! But, unfortunately, feel some disappointment: even just a few hundred meters away, the fog prevented us to see more clearly the glacier. We took a walk through the snow, in an attempt to get closer to the glacier. But little has changed. We could at least feel that the skin is no joke reality of a region marked by eternal snows. Slowly drive the Tanajura back and crossed with a friendly family of mountain goats that were faced interrogation, imagining that bug was to Tanajura! hahaha

It was our last night in Banff and after so much snow and ham sandwiches (equal to the Keys!) needed even a hot bath and a good Canadian wine!

To see more photos from our visit to Banff and Lake Louise, click here