Pie Pal Linda and I recently took a trip to the Canadian Rockies. This trip was all about stunning scenery complemented by pies. We started in Victoria Island to enjoy the Butchart Gardens (and a champagne at the Empress hotel), then took the ferry to Vancouver, rode the train to Jasper, traveled along the Icefields parkway to “hike” on the Athabasca Glacier, went as far north as Banff, and ended the trip in Calgary, all the while embraced by the Rocky Mountains.
People: We met many friendly people along the way and stopped to recognize the first peoples who first made their home here, the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh. Today, Vancouver has the third largest population of indigenous people.
Places: Butchart Gardens on Victoria Island are nestled in a 55-acre area fashioned from an abandoned limestone quarry. The Gardens have more than 2,500 plants showcased by their colors planted along gently winding paths.
From Victoria Island, we went to Vancouver for a quick tour and boarded the overnight train that would take us to Jasper National Park. Riding the train allowed us to enjoy the landscape from an observation car with a view of the winding rivers and waterfalls below, each one more spectacular than the one before it.
The highlight of the trip was the three days we spent in Banff where we took a boat ride around Lake Maligne and watched a momma moose with her two calves graze on the lake’s seaweed, totally oblivious to her huge audience of tourists. The piece de resistance was Lake Louise, a perfect watercolor painted by mother nature.
Pies: We are always on the lookout for pies, and our first sighting of a possibility was at Granville Island in Vancouver which promised a farmer’s market. We dashed to the orientation sign listing the venues and deduced that the booth called A La Mode would be a good bet for a pie or two. We were not disappointed. Looking for something local and unique and knowing that a pie just needs a crust and a filling, we started with a clam chowder pie which had a rich crust and a filling with a creamy taste of the ocean. Linda’s favorite is banana cream pie and just look at the sky-high meringue; I tried the triple berry pie after seeing the gorgeous fruit section in the farmer’s market.
While in Banff, we enjoyed a Saskatoon Berry pie, local to this northern part of the Rockies. A sugared crust tops the tasty berries.
We concluded that pies made with local seafood and fruit add to the enjoyment of the majesty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.