| The Great Pacific Eastern Railway reached Alta
Lake in 1914, the same year that Rainbow Lodge was opened. Because the
line only went from Squamish to Alta Lake, travelers had to take the Union
Steamship from the Vancouver Harbour up to Squamish, then board the train
north for Alta Lake. The train speed never exceeded 25 miles an hour and
in the narrow, winding sections of the Cheakamus
Canyon it went no more than 15 miles an hour. The large steam engines
also had to stop several times each trip to refill the engines at the water
towers along the line. It was a nine-hour journey in total, but this
did not stop visitors from going on weekend or even single day excursions
to the lodge. The trip was lengthy but the amazing scenery and mountain
vistas kept the passengers entertained. In the summer, open-air
observation cars were used and those who did not mind a little soot
from the engine were able to sit outside on the upper deck. |
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| Getting around Alta Lake and the surrounding valley
was a little more difficult because there were no roads. In the winter months
skiing and snowshoeing along trails were the most common types of travel.
In the summer, people traveled by foot, horse or boat. Using the railroad
as a trail, known locally as "walking
the rails", was the most common way to get to school, visit friends
or pick up supplies and mail at Rainbow Lodge. One year, a particularly
creative community member, Wallace Betts, invented Alta Lake's first rail
buggy. It was made using a large wooden box, four double-flanged
spools for wheels and a long handle that was used to push the buggy
along the rails. The first wheels were hand carved from wood, which made
the ride a little bumpy. A guest from Rainbow Lodge was so impressed by
the ingenious design that he decided to make some steel wheels in Vancouver
and sent them up to replace the old wooden ones. The families who lived
far down the track from Rainbow Lodge found the buggy very useful, carrying
young children and supplies the distance home. However, travelling with
the buggy along the railroad was still unsettling as one had to always listen
for the train coming in order to quickly haul the buggy and all its contents
off to the side of the track before it came through. |
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| In the 1950's, a road was constructed from Vancouver
to Squamish, making the trip to Alta Lake somewhat easier, but not necessarily
shorter. As Alta Lake became more popular and interest in skiing grew, there
was increased pressure on the minister of highways to extend the road to
Alta Lake. With the added support from residents in Pemberton the road was
finally completed in 1965. While the journey from Vancouver to Alta Lake
now only takes two hours, it remains as scenic as it was back in the pioneer
days. |
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