Monday 4th October- Kamloops to Vancouver.

Early excitement when a black bear sighted on the tracks near to the Kamloops Lake.
Interesting information provided on the Native population ( referred to as the First Nation people ).
During the 1800's the population diminished to about 15,000 due to such as TB, smallpox and it has taken all the time since to recover to the current level of approx. 300,000. Someone must be doing something right!.
Other news on the train- there are 39 carriages after the train from Jasper joined us at Kamloops, a record for the Rocky Mountaineer.
Two companies, Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific now share the railways with the former responsible for the eastbound services and the latter for the westbound. A third group called the Money Trains who are financed by private enterprise following a tender process have priority on all tracks.
Not long out of Kamloops we pass a range of copper oxide hills known as the Painted Bluff which has been used in films such as "The X Files' and 'The A Team'.
Meghan, one of the tour guides, related a story concerning an old farmer who became so upset by the whistle of the train as it entered a tunnel near to his property ( all trains in Canada are required by law to blow the whistle) that he took to appearing each time the train came by, fired a shotgun in the air, all the time totally naked. Meghan took this story to be mere hearsay until the old guy appeared on cue and presented himself full frontal to Meghan's no doubt innocent eyes. She gave no further details on the old guy at the time!
The rest of the day saw us travel through Ashcroft, the driest place in Canada with less than 250mms per annum, Lytton the hottest area in the country with a record temperature of 48.3 degrees.
We see the confluence of the mighty Thompson and Fraser Rivers and the ferocity of the water passing through the Jaws of Death and Hell's Gates rapids.
The splendour of the Fraser River Canyon is comparable to any of the magnificent scenery we have seen during our travels in the Rockies over the past few weeks.
As we approach Vancouver I am reminded of what has made this a truly trip: the superb onboard team, the food of the highest order, the never-ending supply of breathtaking scenery and last but definitely not least some delightful fellow travellers, notably Kevin and Hilary from the UK, John and Sharon from Canberra. Memorable for less positive reason was a guy from Worcester who had travelled extensively and had been in the army. To hear him speak ( and he did all too often ) he could easily have written 'Hitler-My Part In His Downfall' as poor old Spike Milligan.
Well, that's another one crossed off the 'Bucket List' but it is still very extensive. Here's to many more travels.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret.