This blog is where the Ya'Gotta adventure travel network announces new western Canadian and worldwide adventure travel articles Ya'Gotta read. We also post information about Ya'Gotta Travel and the worldwide destinations available through our services.
Use our blog as a gateway into our main YaGotta.ca western Canadian adventure travel website as well as our "currently under construction" international site YaGotta.net
With our headquarters in Edmonton (Gateway To Canada's North) we also offer escorted rail and bus tours of Canada, the United States and Europe and worldwide vacations. If you want to book travel online, then go to Ya'Gotta Travel.
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If you are planning to travel to western Canada, there is one tradition that music fans need to take in. During
the last quarter century western Canada has become a hot-bed of roots based music and hosts a fabulous selection of folk music festivals. Many of these folk music festivals in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the northern territories in western Canada (Yukon and the Northwest Territories), feature top industry performers, from around the world, as well as the amazing talent developed in our own country! To provide visitors with regional sounds and songwriting flair, many of these festivals also feature local favourites.
For those folk festival fans that can't get enough during the summer; we've also included a few winter/spring folk festivals in western Canada.
Also, so you can find great trekking before or after the festival(s), we've included to our related Ya'Gotta destination feature articles about the locations.
Many of the famous
Alaska cruise lines, depart from Vancouver, BC (beginning in June of each year), with spectacular scenery, glaciers and possible opportunities for whale watching. Alaska cruises are either one week or two weeks, and there are two routes: the Inside Passage and the Gulf of Alaska, but they both take a similar route for most of the trip—travelling along the easterly coast of a long string of islands up the BC coast, on a waterway known as the Inside Passage.
From Skagway, Alaska travellers have the option of continuing into the interior of Alaska, or leaving the United States and returning Canada in the Yukon Territory, where you can visit famous Dawson City the centre of the Klondike Gold Rush.
During the month of April 2008, the following were the most popular western Canadian adventure travel route, park and destination articles, prepared by YaGotta.ca:
YaGotta.ca includes information about western Canada's the well known adventure travel destinations and out-of-the-way destinations, for the benefit of those travelers that would like to trek and explore more of what's to see in western Canada.
Our Ya'Gotta Western Canadian Adventure Travel Guide will help trekkers plan adventure travel trips to Western Canada, learn about Canadians, our peoples, history, culture, entertainment and traveling in and around Western Canada and the north. We also have information about accommodations, climate, weather, time zones and shopping as well.
YaGotta.ca includes information about western Canada's the well known adventure travel destinations and out-of-the-way destinations, for the benefit of those travelers that would like to trek and explore more of what's to see in western Canada. Click here for western Canadian Ya'Gotta destination articles, then start planning your western Canadian vacation from the tourism gateway cities of Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Vancouver, Victoria or Winnipeg; then let Ya'Gotta Travel book your flights, hotels and car rentals.
Our Ya'Gotta Western Canadian Adventure Travel Guide will help trekkers plan adventure travel trips to Western Canada, learn about Canadians, our peoples, history, culture, entertainment and traveling in and around Western Canada and the north. We also have information about accommodations, climate, weather, time zones and shopping as well.
During the month of March 2008, the following were the most popular western Canadian adventure travel route, park and destination articles, prepared by YaGotta.ca:
YaGotta.ca includes information about western Canada's the well known adventure travel destinations and out-of-the-way destinations, for the benefit of those travelers that would like to trek and explore more of what's to see in western Canada.
Our Ya'Gotta Western Canadian Adventure Travel Guide will help trekkers plan adventure travel trips to Western Canada, learn about Canadians, our peoples, history, culture, entertainment and traveling in and around Western Canada and the north. We also have information about accommodations, climate, weather, time zones and shopping as well.
Just search for "YaGotta" for articles about great western Canadian destinations for adventure travel and book your flights, hotels and car rentals with Ya'Gotta Travel for Canadian, United States and worldwide trips and vacations. Ya'Gotta Travel also offers worldwide flights, hotels, car rentals and cruises also has a full range of year round cruises to all parts of the world.
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02 December 2007
Travel From Vancouver via the Canadian Rockies to the Calgary Stampede
Ya'Gotta Travel can arrange spring to fall exclusive combined rail trip through the Canadian Rocky Mountains, from Vancouver to though Mt. Revelstoke, Glacier and Yoho National Parks, via Banff/Lake Louise to Calgary. This trip also includes a travel coach trip on the famous Icefields Parkway to Jasper. During the first two weeks of July this trip is also includes a trip to world-famous Calgary Stampede*
Ya'Gotta can now sell seasonal affective disorder (SAD) lamps, to help provide you with the natural light that you don't get during the winter months. To find out more about products made by The Litebook® go to our Ya'Gotta - Health & Wellness Page.
Fall, winter, spring or summer...For your vacations and trips any time of year...Go to yagottatravel.globaltravel.com for great rates! Then start packing!
Don't forget to get your travel insurance also available from Ya'Gotta Travel!
There's no need to wait for a better price. It's already here! Make your plans early and rest assured that you made the right choice. After all, vacations aren't about stress, they're for relaxing and reconnecting!
We'll guarantee that if you find the same Funjet Vacation at a lower price after you purchased, simply provide us with the Funjet Vacations reservation number, a print screen of the lower price and email them to helper@funjet.com or call 1-888-558-6654 to request the lower rate and claim the savings!
From late June until early November each year in Canada, there's a truly Canadian tradition that visitors, especially sports fans, should take-in…A Canadian Football League (CLF) game!
Although football in Canada and the United States are very similar and have their origins in rugby. History tells us that during the 1860's Canadian rugby teams were changing the game.
The CFL game is specifically Canadian, as the rules (see below) are much different than NFL football played in the United States and our annual championship Grey Cup Game is 58 years older than the American Super Bowl. Australian rules football (footy) is also much different than either variety of the North American Game.
The two North American games have their origins from a rugby type game played in the 1860's. According to the CFL website, they describe the origins of the game are as follows:
"The rules of a hybrid game of English rugby devised by the University of McGill (sic. Montreal) were first used in the United States in a game at Boston between McGill and Harvard. On May 14, Harvard won 3-0 using Harvard rules. The next day, the teams tied 0-0 while playing Canadian rules. Harvard liked the new game so much they introduced it into the Ivy League. Both U.S. and Canadian football evolved from these games".
Rules changed, during the later part of the 19th century and in 1909 Lord Earl Grey, the Governor General of Canada, donated a trophy to be awarded for the Rugby Football Championship of Canada. This became our cherished Grey Cup, now almost 100 years old! Two of the Eastern Conference teams, Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Toronto Argonauts, trace their origins directly back to 1868.
The post WWII period was when the CFL as we know it now. With teams in Vancouver (BC Lions), Calgary (Stampeders), Edmonton (Eskimos)*, Regina (Saskatchewan Roughriders), Winnipeg (Blue Bombers), Toronto (Argonauts), Hamilton (Tiger Cats) and Montreal (Alouettes). Since 1954 only CFL teams compete in the annual play-off, Grey Cup game that occurs in late November. Many of the games are played in league's outdoor stadiums at Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Montreal. If you take-in an outdoor Grey Cup, be sure to dress warm!
* Furthest north professional football team
For NFL fans, you will notice several distinct differences:
The are 12 players on a CFL team
CFL is 3 down football (e.g. 3 chances to make 10 yards)
Our time clock is only 20 seconds
Unlimited backfield motion of offensive receivers
Field goal or convert attempt kicks that are missed can be returned for touchdowns
Opposing teams line-up further apart on the line of scrimmage
No fair catch after a kick (i.e. If you catch it...you must run it and if you don't receive it, the ball's live and can recovered by the other team)
The field is longer (110 yd.) and wider (65 yd.) with longer end zones (20 yd.)
When you come to Canada be sure to take in a CFL game, which Ya'Gotta (being Canadian) feels is the most exciting game of football in North America!
If you would like more information about attending a CFL game visit the league's website.
Because the folks at Ya'Gotta are big fans of roots music and know that many adventure travelers also like this type of music, we've updated our Western Canadian Roots Music Page and added new folk music clubs in Alberta.
We list folk music clubs for the Edmonton and Calgary areas as well as Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Athabasca and Rosebud. We also have links to many of the local singer-songwriter performers in Alberta.
This page is maintained by Ya'Gotta to give western Canadians and our guests a guide to roots-country, folk, bluegrass, blues, singer-songwriter and related music
The David Thomspson Pass Ya'Gotta feature has had the images on the page updated! The David Thompason Pass is is probably the least known, but most scenic and historic route into the Canadian Rockies from central Alberta. The Route gives excellent access to both Banff and Jasper via Alberta's Icefields Parkway
Ya'Gotta Travel can help you plan your trip to the David Thompson Pass and other destinations in the Canadian Rocky Mountains with flights, hotels and car rentals.
In order to make the best of adventure travel in western Canada's David Thompson country, we suggest that you purchase a good, reliable guidebook. Suggested readings for this trip are:
The tourism consulting services of Ya'Gotta Communications & Marketing provides specialist management and development to your particular tourist attraction or destination. We focus on problem-solving or providing advice on a specific aspects of tourism marketing and development and for sustainable tourism (eco-tourism, agri-tourism cultural & historical destinations).
interviewing specialists or attraction visitors and tourists;
making fact-finding "fam" trips to specific sites or destinations;
analysing and evaluating primary and secondary research;
submitting recommendations through presentations and reports;
resolving specific issues as part of a multidisciplinary project team.
Writing Ya'Gotta freature articles for YaGotta.ca (western Canada) of YaGotta.net (international)
Destination or national tourism branding
On our client's behalf we also conduct feasibility studies, strategic marketing and planning, projects enabling urban or rural regeneration, and preparing and appraising applications for financial assistance. Specific examples of projects include:
an assessment of the feasibility of a visitor centre near an attraction or at a destination;
a marketing strategy to promote sustainable tourism for a destination management organization (DMO);
USA Today reports USA Today in it's "10 great places to leave the swimsuit at home" declared Vancouver's Wreck Beach as"...Canada's first and largest legal clothing-optional beach, is so spectacularly beautiful that it is a mecca for tourists from all over the world...The confluence of the Fraser River with the Straits of Georgia and English Bay, under white cliffs and an emerald-green forest, attracts more than 500,000 visitors annually."
The fabulous collection of pacific northwest aboriginal totems and art at the Museum of Anthopology
More information for getting around this "must see" city on Canada's west coast
Wreck diving on the decommissioned Canadian Navy Chaudière Destoyer Escort, submerged near Sechelt by the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia
We've also included information how Ya'Gotta Travel can help you with your flights to Vancouver, hotels, car rentals. Ya'gotta Travel can also plan escorted tours, and Alaskan cruises, that depart from this amazing Canadian westcoast city!
Ya'Gotta Travel can schedule your trip on the famous Alaska cruise lines, that depart from Canada's west coast city of Vancouver (beginning in June of each year)
Make 2007 the year you cruise to Alaska!
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February is the month for Carnival and Mardi Gras! Ya'Gotta Travel can help get you to any of the Carnivals in the world, especially the big ones in Trindad, Brazil and New Orleans.
(Edmonton, AB. January 07, 2007) Ya'Gotta Communications and Marketting, the publishers of the YaGotta.ca website, about western Canadian adventure travel, can now book trips through the full service online agency Ya'Gotta Travel! Ya'Gotta Publisher Bob Kenyon says "The addition of Ya'Gotta Travel makes Ya'Gotta a one stop service for lodges, guiding services, outfitters and destination management organizations. In addition to being able to provide them with marketing and promotion services through YaGotta.ca we can now bring adventure travellers to their doors with flights, accommodations and car rentals".
Bob Kenyon also notes that "travellers that want to visit western Canada, or anywhere else in the world can also make use of Ya'Gotta Travel" All of the services offered by Ya'Gotta can be found at YaGotta.ca and for international services YaGotta.net.
Are you looking for great adventure travel opportunities in western Canada, with treking, rodeos, aboriginal powwows, folk music festivals, and of course the Canadian Rocky Mountains? Then search for "Ya'Gotta", in your favourite search engine! If you search for us you'll find Ya'Gotta features and information pages published by the Western Canadian Online Outdoors News. If you want to more specific you can use searches like "ya'gotta banff", or "ya'gotta mountains" to narrow the search.
Of course, if that doesn't work, you can go directly to to our website at yagotta.ca
Also Ya'Gotta Travel can help you make all your arrangements for flights, car rentals, tour busses, hotels and even outdoors lodges and guides!
Where ever you live in the world and are looking for a great destination for outdoors adventure travel, then come to western Canada and let Ya'Gotta Travel look after all your arrangements. We cover all four of the western Canadian provinces
During the spring to fall, we provide information about hiking, backpacking and camping and help you vistit the Canadian Rocky Mountain destinations of Banff, Lake Louise and, Jasper as well many other great locations. We can help you go to the world-famous:
Canada's north including Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Dawson City (The center of the Klondyke Gold Rush) and the aboriginally governed territory of Nunavut
We can also help you find birding, orienteering, cycling, caving and water sports. On the entertainment side of things our list of folk music festivals will help you to find the best festivals to attend. If live music is what you're looking for, we'll help you find great groups to see and venues to go to, with our rock and roots (eg. folk, country, bluegrass) music pages.
With our headquarters in Edmonton (Gateway To Canada's North), we also offer worldwide flights (to any destinations), hotels, car rentals
Americans looking for a great
destination for outdoors adventure travel, should come to western Canada and let Ya'Gotta Travel look after all your arrangements. We cover all four of the western Canadian provinces
During the spring to fall, we provide information about hiking, backpacking and camping and help you vistit the Canadian Rocky Mountain destinations of Banff, Lake Louise and,
Jasper as well many other great locations. We can help you go to the world-famous:
Canada's north including Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Dawson City (The center of the Klondyke Gold Rush) and the aboriginally governed territory of Nunavut
We can also help you find birding, orienteering, cycling, caving and water sports. On the entertainment side of things our list of folk music festivals will help you to find the best festivals to attend.
If live music is what you're looking for, we'll help you find great groups to see and venues to go to, with our
rock and roots (eg. folk, country, bluegrass) music pages.
If you live in Europe and are looking for a great
destination for outdoors adventure travel, then come to western Canada and let Ya'Gotta Travel look after all you arrangements. We cover all four of the western Canadian provinces
During the spring to fall, we provide information about hiking, backpacking and camping and help you vistit the Canadian Rocky Mountain destinations of Banff, Lake Louise and,
Jasper as well many other great locations. We can help you go to the world-famous:
Canada's north including Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Dawson City (The center of the Klondyke Gold Rush) and the aboriginally governed territory of Nunavut
We can also help you find birding, orienteering, cycling, caving and water sports. On the entertainment side of things our list of folk music festivals will help you to find the best festivals to attend.
If live music is what you're looking for, we'll help you find great groups to see and venues to go to, with our
rock and roots (eg. folk, country, bluegrass) music pages.
If you are planning to visit Canada, you should check with Travel Canada, for documentation information as well as contact information your consular services in Canada.
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If you live in Australia or New Zealands and are looking for a great
destination for outdoors adventure travel, then come to western Canada and let Ya'Gotta Travel look after all your arrangements. We cover all four of the western Canadian provinces
During the spring to fall, we provide information about hiking, backpacking and camping and help you vistit the Canadian Rocky Mountain destinations of Banff, Lake Louise and,
Jasper as well many other great locations. We can help you go to the world-famous:
Canada's north including Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Dawson City (The center of the Klondyke Gold Rush) and the aboriginally governed territory of Nunavut
We can also help you find birding, orienteering, cycling, caving and water sports. On the entertainment side of things our list of folk music festivals will help you to find the best festivals to attend.
If live music is what you're looking for, we'll help you find great groups to see and venues to go to, with our
rock and roots (eg. folk, country, bluegrass) music pages.
The Sustainable International Tourism Rotary Action Group (RAG) is a proposed group to assist in the development of sustainable tourism industries designed to increase the Gross Domestic Product of developing nations.
The broad non-partisan goals of the proposed RAG will be to:
Encourage sustained economic development of countries;
Preservation of cultures, customs, indigenous groups of peoples, languages, religions and traditions;
Conservation of environs with their related flora and fauna;
Development of national parks and environmentally protected areas;
Building goodwill between the nations and peoples of the world
Some suggested projects are:
Building safe, secure and environmentally conscious accommodations for travellers
Assisting in the development of clean drinking water for local peoples and travellers
Consulting in the development financially sound eco-tourism, agri-tourism and ethno-cultural tourism projects
Training to provide on-going employment for tourism and related hospitality industries
Developing Rotary Group Studies Exchange programs to disseminate information about sustainable tourism
The Sustainable International Tourism RAG will also provide an international information clearinghouse service in respect to related sustainable tourism topics to Rotarians, educators, international development groups, government officials, students, the travel industry and the public.
The folks from Ya'Gotta We had a great time at the 1st weekend of this year's Banff Film festival. We can't be there for the awards next weekend, but some the films we liked (and disliked) were:
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen: Great full length docu-drama about the changes contact with white men and Christianity were having on early 20th century Inuit people.
First Ascent: Thailand: Steep towers of untouched rock jutting out of the ocean. And the best part is that with only the sea below you, there's no rope.
Cobra Crack: In this film, Canadian Sonnie Trotter free climbs the Squamish BC forty-metre Cobra Crack in June 2006, after three years of work. It is currently recognized as the hardest traditional climbs in the world.
2nd Base: Five years after the release of the resoundingly successful 1st Base, the Norwegians at Oslo BASE are back with the sequel.
Kids Who Rip: Highlights amazing youth athletes in the sports-action community. Water, wind, snow, and street sports dominate the action, which is integrated with lifestyle and interviews.
The Professional Adrenalinists; A mockumentary that looks into the world of Freestyle Walking was a hoot! New World Disorder VII: Flying High Again; was just too much (and too long) about extreme mountain biking!
Ya'Gotta Travel can book air fares, hotels and cars for trips to Banff to see the 2007 Banff Mountain Film Festival. Go to
yagottatravel.globaltravel.com for great rates!
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Serious travelers, to the province of Alberta in Canada, can listen to CKUA heard province-wide on 16 FM and 1 AM transmitter (listed below). The station is also on the StarChoice satellite system through their Windows Media stream at ckua.com for world-wide online listening.
Where ever you are, do like Ya'Gotta does and tune into this fabulous listener supported radio where you'll hear roots, blues, jazz, country, new, old, classical, world-beat music and lots of original and singer-songwriter pieces.
Most importantly, as the CKUA Network is listener supported: go to their website at ckua.com make a pledge of support and pass this along to your freinds that support public radio!
Jamaica is the fourth largest island in the Caribbean, next to Cuba, Hispanola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Puerto Rico. It is located south of Cuba, southwest of Hispanola, east of Central America and north of the South America country of Colombia.
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The Yukon, is the furthest west of Canada's northern territories. It's situated north of the 60th parallel, which marks the boundary between it and the province of British Columbia. To the east is the Northwest Territories and west is the American state of Alaska. Whitehorse, is the territory's largest and capital city. With a spectacular mountain backdrop, Whitehorse is a city rich in culture and history. Other Yukon cities include; Dawson City, the historic gold rush town and Haines Junction, home to Mount Logan and the highest point in Canada. There are a number of wilderness resorts in the region for small groups of all sizes.
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When most tourists think of Canada's ocean front locations, they think mainly of Atlantic Canada and associate polar bears, with the arctic. Well if you want to see both the ocean and polar bears, the best place is at Churchill, in the northeast of Manitoba, one of Canada's "Prairie" provinces!
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Prince Albert is the 3rd largest city in Saskatchewan, with a population of about 40,000 people and growing. The city is located in the broad valley of the the North Saskatchewan River near the geographical center of the province where the agricultural prairie of the South and the rich forest belt of the North meet. Much of Prince Albert is built on the sloping south bank of the North Saskatchewan River while the North bank provides a spectacular view of mixed forest, typical of the area.
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Regina is the Capital of the Province of Saskatchewan, home of the 'Mounties',the largest city closest to the geographic centre of North America and the adventure tourism gateway to the southern part of the province. Regina has Canada's only training centre for the R.C.M.P. chosen as a temporary site for its headquarters while Regina was the capital of the North West Territories (prior to 1905) and chose to stay. The academy trained approximately 1000 cadets during the 2004 calendar year. The R.C.M.P. Centennial Museum is one of the top international tourist attractions.
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If you're seeking a mountain destination, that doesn't have the commercial tourism of many adventure tourism centres, then Grande Cache, Alberta is a must! A mining, logging and trapping centre of north central Alberta, Grande Cache is emerging as a pristine location for hiking, backpacking, trail riding, water sports and winter activities.
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Alberta's Big Lake Country gets it's name from Lesser Slave Lake, which is the largest lake in the province. The area has many opportunities for adventure tourism and outdoors recreational activities including camping, hiking, birding and water sports.
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Traveling between Banff and Calgary, on the Trans-Canada #1 Highway travellers will arrive in Canmore. This fomer coal mining town has become a mountain resort and home to many of Calgary's elite. The town is also a gateway to Alberta's Kananaskis Country.
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Do you want to take a great adventure tourism trip near the Canadian Rockies, but be away from all the commercial tourism, as well keep down your costs and have access to a wide array of wilderness activities? If the answer is yes, then you should take in the area around Hinton, Alberta. The area is only a short distance from Jasper National Park and the northern beginning of the world famous Icefields Parkway, but still has spectacular views of the mountains. It is also home to the Foothills Model Forest, which also has an impressive interpretive trail, on the west end of the town, and operates interpretive and environmental preservation programs in Jasper National Park, William Switzer Provincial Park and areas around Hinton during the summer months.
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This area, south of Calgary has made the area's cattle ranching industry famous. Although many of the towns, in the area, have become suburbs of the sprawling city of Calgary. Communities like Black Diamond and Longview are building on their western roots and becoming excellent destinations to visit, all within clear view of the rocky mountains.
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The Crowsnest Pass provides an excellent southern route between Alberta and British Columbia, with great outdoors opportunities for camping, hiking, backpacking, cycling, horseback riding and other adventure tourism activities. The pass is also well known for its glimpses of the dangerous soft rock (limestone) coal mining history.
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Where can you find? One of the world's best museums of paleontology; Arrid badlands, canyons and hoodoos you can explore; A deserted coal mine you can tour; One of the Top 100 Events in North America by the American Bus Association; A road you can drive that has 11 one-lane bridges and ends at a ghost town...Only in the Drumheller area!
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Canada's islands on the Pacific are a wonderful place to get away from it all. Tucked against the mainland edge of British Columbia and the north shore of Washington's Olympic Peninsula and directly west of mainland British Columbia, Vancouver Island stretches approximately 500 km (300 miles) southeast to northwest. British Columbia's Gulf Islands lie in the protected waters of Georgia Strait, between Vancouver Island and the mainland of BC.
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Canada's furthest west provincial capital is Victoria, located on Vancouver Island and short ferry ride across the Straits of Georgia from Vancouver. According to the Government of Canada (Statistics Canada 2001), Victoria is rated the fittest city in Canada. Thirty-six percent of the adult population is active which is nearly double the national average. With the mildest climate in the country, Victoria is Canada's destination for year-round outdoor adventure. Vancouver Island's natural beauty also inspires people to get out and enjoy their surroundings. Victoria provides easy access to miles of scenic trails and sites that incorporate old growth rainforests, ocean shores and mountains. Hiking, cycling, kayaking and golf are just a few of the activities regularly enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.
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British Columbia's mighty Fraser River roars down from the mountains, through the canyon, where Chinese immigrant laborers toiled in the 19th century to complete the "Impossible Railway"...The Canadian Pacific. It passes Chilliwack and Abbotsford and crosses the wide Fraser River Delta. It reaches the Pacific Ocean, at Canada's third largest metropolitan area, behind Toronto and Montreal...It's Vancouver!
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If you want to see the Canadian Rockies, there is one trip that you must take. The Icefields Parkway (Hwy. 93) is the road that travels through Banff and Jasper National Parks, between Lake Louise and the Town of Jasper. The Parkway follows the valleys that funnel the headwaters of the Bow, Saskatchewan and Athabasca Rivers into Alberta. These rivers are fed by the glaciers, high in the mountains, known as Crowfoot, Bow and Athabasca. The latter is better known as the Columbia Icefields and is a must see for any trekker to the Canadian Rockies.
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Along the Trans-Canada #1 Highway traveling west through, British Columbia are three mountain national parks, that from east to west take the traveller from Banff National Park, in the Rocky Mountain range and through the Selkirk and Columbia Mountain ranges. The three: Yoho, Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks, provide some of the best scenery and wildest driving in western Canada!
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If you're traveling through British Columbia and heading west to Alberta...get off the TransCanada Number 1 highway at Golden, then continue south to the town of Radium, known for it's spring fed sulphur hot spring. Radium marks the western entrance to Kootenay National Park. Not as well known as Banff, or Jasper Kootenay is possibly the most interesting and definitely the most diverse in terms of geography.
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Celebrating its centennial year in 2007, Jasper is located in the watershed of the Athabasca, Miette and Maligne rivers. The Jasper area of the Canadian Rockies is by far my favorite National Park for adventure tourism. Jasper has great camping, hiking, backpacking, cycling and horse trail riding opportunities, nature observing as well as spectacular scenery!
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Banff is the oldest of Canada's National Parks and possible the best known. Located on the western edge of the province of Alberta, it was established in 1885, twenty years before Alberta became a province. It is part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site which is a United Nations designation that includes Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho national parks, plus adjacent B.C. provincial parks: Hamber, Mount Robson and Mount Assiniboine. This area helps protect over 20,000 sq. km (7,700 sq. miles) of the Rocky Mountains.
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Taking the David Thompson Highway (Hwy 11), west from Red Deer on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway is probably Alberta's least known, but most scenic route into the Canadian Rockies. The David Thompson Highway joins the Banff to Jasper Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93), at Saskatchewan Crossing. For travelers seeking a more out-of-the-way route, that has abundant opportunities for backpacking and hiking, camping, canoeing, cycling, horseback riding and other adventure travel activities...go to David Thompson Country!
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The Saskatchewan River watershed is approximately 1,223 km (760 mi)long and is the major eastward flowing river of the western Canadian prairies and was the major transportation route for the beaver fur trade, which through Europeans fashion calling for felt hats made from compressed beaver fur, brought European culture to western Canada. The main waterway is the North Saskatchewan River, which flows from it's headwaters in the Canadian Rockies to Lake Winnipeg, covering all of Alberta and Saskatchewan and western parts of Manitoba. These waters eventually flow into Hudson's Bay, the huge body of water that is western Canada's ocean connection to the Atlantic Ocean.
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In addition to being the home of Ya'Gotta and it's owner, the Western Canadian Online Outdoors News, Edmonton is the Capital of the Province of Alberta and is North America's largest, northern city with a population over 1 million. Edmonton offers ample opportunities for enjoying year-round outdoors recreation and adventure tourism activities in central and northern Alberta. According to the latest tourism statistics released by Alberta Economic Development (based on 2004 data), Edmonton is the number one destination in overall person-visits to Alberta and the number one destination in person-visits from other provinces. Edmonton is also Alberta’s number one metropolitan destination for U.S. visitations and revenues.
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From the top of the Calgary Tower, you can get a clear view of the Rocky Mountains and why the "Stampede City", is southern Alberta's tourism gateway city. Looking in other directions you can see exactly where Calgary is situated.
To the north are the high plateau's of the Bow River; to the east and south, the plains of Alberta. Situated at the juncture of the TransCanada #1 and Alberta's Queen Elizabeth II Highway, which goes north to the provincial capital of Edmonton, Calgary has long been a major commercial centre in the province. Originally Calgary was an RCMP post, then the centre of the ranching industry and later the Canadian corporate centre for the petroleum industry.
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