Mini road trip with Shushma!

My sister Shushma arrived in Calgary at 2 a.m. about three hours later than her scheduled time due to a cancelled flight-- that set the stage for our mini road trip! After we awoke, we headed down to the dinning room for breakfast. We decided we would head to Banff National Park and then Lake Louise. Then, call it a night in Golden BC. It all seemed perfectly feasible, a leisurely day of sightseeing and conversation.

So, off we went; my sister and I are not navigators, it's like the blind leading the blind-- but somehow we both manage to get where we are going. We call it intuitive driving!

As we were driving towards Banff, I noticed a sign on the side of the road which said "TCH (Trans Canada Hi-way) closed take 93 south" I looked over at Shush and asked her if that meant us? She looked back at me and said "No, I am sure they wouldn't close hi-way one" Without giving the sign a second thought we continued towards Banff and got there in plenty of time. We decided to go up on Sulfur mountain in a gondola. We were more interested in the ride up than being up on the mountain, so we turned right around and went down in the same gondola we came up in. The young man who was taking photographs thought it was an awfully expensive ride.

After we came down, we headed out to Lake Louise which is a glacial lake, I was in Banff about thirty years ago and remembered how pristine this lake is. After our little excursion of Lake Louise we got back on TCH towards Golden BC, only to come to a road block where workers were turning people around. As we approached the flagmen, we were informed TCH was closed due to a mud slide; in order to get to Golden we have to go on 93 south to a town called Radium which was only another 100 kilometers away and then catch 95 north to Golden.

This seemed inconvenient but there was no other option, we figured we would still get to Golden by about 7 p.m. However, that is not how this was to day was supposed to end!

About thirty kilometers (approx. 18 miles) from Radium we came to a dead stop. There was a stream of cars ahead of us stopped. We both speculated as to what could be the cause of this traffic jam. We concluded there must be a wreck and we would be moving soon enough. But, thirty minutes later when we still had not moved an inch, we thought it has to be another mud slide or rock slide. At this point we both began to look at the map to see if there was any other way to get out of this predicament. We had made reservations in a hotel in Golden, since we were on our way to Vancouver and the only way to get there was through Golden, we decided to stay put and wait out the traffic congestion. About an hour passed, we had barely move a few hundred feet. I turned the car off since I was not sure if I had enough gasoline to keep idling and still reach Golden. The thought of running out of gas was an added stress to an already stressful situation.

Another hour passed, we moved another few hundred feet and again stopped. Not knowing the cause of the delay was just as frustrating as being stuck in a parking lot on the hi-way. I was quite impressed by the calmness all the drivers exhibited. A few people had to go into the bushes to take care of full bladders. One man next to our car decided not to be modest and relieved himself in plain view. He did however keep his back to us. But, even then it was unpleasant to witness! I am so grateful that both of us had used the bathroom in Banff.

We had now been waiting for three hours with very little progress. At this point, I looked at the map more closely and realized that 93 south meets 95 north at a T junction in Radium, I came to the conclusion that there has to be a traffic light at the junction, which is the reason we move a little and then come to a complete stop. My sister thought that is not possible-- she is a woman who lives in the city! I have seen and traveled through too many rural towns to know this is how roads are carved out.

Five hours later at long last, we get to the end of the road in Radium, where finally, the cause of our five hours of misery would be revealed. It was indeed a T junction but instead of a traffic light it was a four way stop light! I was stupefied! I could not believe the reason we had been at a virtual standstill for the past five hours was due to a 4-way stop light! There were two road workers who were directing traffic, trying desperately to keep the flow moving. To make matters worse, the town of Radium had run out of gas because many people thought they'd fill up their tanks there. Fortunately we did have enough gas to get to Golden, we arrived there at 11:30 p.m.

I am amazed that in a province where mudslides are common place that something like this is allowed to happen. To have just one small sign saying TCH closed and not to have any type of contingency plan in place. To inconvenience thousands of travelers with no forewarning; certainly there was no organization to alleviate the immense amount of distress caused by something that could have been so easily avoided!

I am embarrassed this happened in the province I call home for every summer.