Rocky Mountain Wow!

The first of the autumn colours are just starting to appear as we cross the Rocky Mountains. This bodes well for our road tour through Ontario two weeks from now. Garry and I saw some spectacular colours seven years ago so I'd love my parents to experience the same sight.

Our second day on the train kicked off just as the sun was rising. It made the rather plain town of Kamloops look quite dazzling. We traced the shores of several lakes for the first three hours before venturing into classic pine-clad mountain glades. The view then grew progressively more stunning as we slowly made our way east.

The rest of the day was filled with an endless progression of breath-taking emerald lakes, iridescent powder blue rivers and towering snow-capped mountains. We caught brief glimpses of spawning salmon and even a few adventurous white-water rafters.

Sadly, my photos barely do justice to the scenery we've enjoyed. A combination of passing trees (lots of passing trees) and elbow-welding SLR camera enthusiasts made it impossible to capture more than a few fleeting images.

Highlights today include the engineering marvel of the spiral tunnels that carry the train up and over Kicking Horse Pass. The tunnels twist through the slopes of Mount Ogden rising as they turn. This allows the train to rise more than 150 feet in less than a kilometre without exceeding a gradient of 2.5%.

Despite plenty of an ethusiasm we also failed to spot any bears today. We'll try again tomorrow when we hire a car and drive to Lake Louise.

• Posted from my iPhone

• Location:The really Rocky Mountains