Daphne Bramham: It's summer, get out of town on a road less travelled

Article content

There is a reason millions of people come to Canada every year. It is exceptional, vast and varied, empty and awe-inspiring. From towering mountains to a Prairie sky that seems to envelop you, the landscape makes you feel small, insignificant.

It is impossible not to appreciate one’s insignificance where there are so few fences and so many kilometres of lonely, empty roads. There is a fierce beauty on a circle route from Vancouver through Rogers Pass to Regina and home again via the Crowsnest.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser.

Daphne Bramham: It's summer, get out of town on a road less travelled Back to video

It’s easy enough to see where nature has triumphed. Human failure litters the landscape, from a lone tree on the Prairie planted by an optimistic homesteader to the grotesque beauty of the Frank Slide, where stripping coal from a seam upset the balance and sent 110 million tonnes of rock crashing into the tiny Alberta town in 1903, killing 90 people in Canada’s deadliest rock slide.

But extraordinary human feats are also evident — not least of which are the highways and railways punched through against all odds. Without these, there would be no Canada.

Article content continued

Yet, we have neglected them, allowed parts to fall into disrepair, whether the slow decline of passenger rail trains or the decrepit kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Most British Columbians barely know their own province, let alone their country, because there is just so much of it. But in this first summer of COVID, everyone now has reasons to stick closer to home. For many like me, this may be the only window of opportunity to visit aging parents and grandparents who have been locked down for months in seniors’ residences.

But with nowhere else to go, it’s also a chance for Canadians to discover why 22.1 million tourists came to our country last year. It is an often-bizarre mélange, from the spectacular natural scenery to ugly strip malls.

Of course, going east means getting beyond Hope on the Trans-Canada, which even midweek in a pandemic can take hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Glaringly absent are tour buses. But glaringly present are a steady stream of vehicles hauling all manner of stuff, from boats, bikes and trailers to giant bores, pipes, logs and oil.

It is the same for the two-laned B.C. stretch through the Crowsnest Pass to Lake Louise, which wasn’t as busy as other years, but was still jammed with locals taking a look.

Banff was a free-for-all when we were there. Banff Avenue was closed to traffic to allow for social distancing, and the town has since mandated wearing masks outside on that street.

But there are thousands of kilometres of almost empty secondary highways. You can breathe easily there. Relax. Take a cooler and a picnic basket, and know that the unseen enemy is nowhere near.

Article content continued

There are “World’s Biggests” to be seen, from a truck in Sparwood to the teepee in Medicine Hat to a moose in Moose Jaw that defended its title last year against a Norwegian competitor by hoisting up a new, bigger rack of antlers.

Then there are places like Burdett, Alta., home of the world’s first irrigation pivot. Who knew?

There is surprisingly good sushi in a restaurant that shares space with a Canadian Tire gas station in Regina, food truck samosas at a Coquihalla rest stop, Taber corn bourbon and dill-flavoured vodka (yes, it’s a thing in Saskatchewan).

There should be wildlife along the way — elk, deer, moose, antelope, bears, mountain goats, mountain sheep, rattlesnakes. Certainly, there are lots of warnings, but the few we saw included a deer wandering down the middle of the street in Banff and one in someone’s yard in Grand Forks.

There are also plenty of gophers (although one less than before we got there).

But if you’re risk averse, be forewarned: It’s a jumble out there when it comes to COVID protocols.

There is no consistency in the safety precautions being taken, regardless of whether you stay in B.C. or travel east through Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Across the three western provinces, some small, family-run restaurants have the highest standards, while some multinationals have cashiers behind Plexiglas but unmasked servers come to your table.

Hotels all have many signs telling guests what they ought to do. But why wasn’t the person making hot breakfasts at one Wyndham-branded hotel in Alberta wearing a mask? Why was the staff at a Wyndham-branded Ramada in B.C. mask-less except for the cleaners working alone?

Article content continued

It was a stark contrast to the Fairmont Banff Springs where everyone — guests staying there or visitors coming for a drink — had to mask up to enter.

At the DoubleTree Hilton in Regina, registered guests must buzz in and are met at the door by masked staff. The restaurant is closed. There’s a barrel of disinfectant in the elevators, and disinfected rooms have paper seals on the doors.

From the safety of your vehicle, you can spend hours at a time without thinking about the pandemic. It’s a blessing, but also a curse.

It makes it easy to forget to put on your own mask, use sanitizer and keep your distance. It means infection rates are rising again.

So, until vaccines and treatments are found, we have to do these things. It’s the only way we will be able to keep travelling for essential visits to lonely loved ones or non-essential escapes for our own sanity.

dbramham@postmedia.com

twitter.com/bramham_daphne

CLICK HERE to report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.