Canyon Spirit - the journey beyond the pictures
If you search Rocky Mountaineer online you’ll find amazing pictures of everything that this journey is. The food is phenomenal (and on a moving train too – how do they do it?). The windows are colossal and curve round the roof of the train so you won’t miss a thing as you glide past epic mountain ranges and trundle above sections of the Colorado river just ripe for a white water rafting experience. The seats are luxurious and the drinks sublime. But what about the experience itself? What is is like? What I wanted to do with this blog is to get beyond those pictures and share just what makes the journey with Canyon Spirit so exceptional.
Canyon Spirit will tempt you to the wild and real area of the US that plays home to the Mighty 5 national parks. I was lucky enough to visit Arches and Canyonland during this trip, I can promise you that I will be returning to explore Bryce, Zion and Capitol Reef. Canyonlands and Arches need to be seen to be believed. I don’t think that I have ever used the word “stunning” as many times as when I was exploring each of them. To see them in person and appreciate how small you really are in these vast expanses is really humbling. My photos don’t do these places justice, my only suggestion is to go. Explore. See it. You won’t regret it.
Now, how about the train? You’ve seen all of the pictures and read about the journey and the destination and you are super excited to join this adventure – I know that I was! Once you’ve experience the hospitality of Canyon Spirit (or any of the Rocky Mountaineer trains) you will genuinely remember it for the rest of your life. It’s not just about the physical experience of being on the train – it’s everything else that goes with it. Arriving on the train platform I had no idea that our journey was also one of the most amazing storytelling experiences that I have ever had. The employees aboard the train are not just there to serve you food and make sure that everything is clean and tidy they are expert wordsmiths. From the early part of our journey when we learnt about the history of Uranium in Moab through to learning all about the charity ranches built next to the train line and giving refuge to families in the most unthinkable of situations. We passed interstates that were built around the train line and learnt about car crashes that caused mayhem down a mountain - our hosts seemingly knew everything about everything we passed on our journey. This wasn’t just a dry recitation of a few facts though, their delivery was pacy and filled with humour. They were also expert spotters – pointing out eagles, elk, white water rapids, deer, fishermen in waders – if it was there for us to see they made sure we had the opportunity to see it!
From the pictures that you see of people aboard the Canyon Spirit you will also notice one thing – they’re all listening and attentive and none of them are on their phone! The Canyon Spirit is a real masterclass in slow travel and this, in part, is due to the fact that for two days you leave the world behind. As you travel through the Rocky Mountains mobile signal is lost and there is pointedly no Wi-Fi aboard. You have two wonderful days listening to stories, enjoying gorgeous food and really appreciating everything that is around you. The slowing down and just watching is something that I remember doing as a child when on long car journeys with my parents – no mobile phones then so it was me, my thoughts and the world around me. It was amazing to go back to that and just sit, awe inspiring nature around me, amazing food being served and safely in the knowledge that I was being taken from one extraordinary place to the next.
So take a look at all of the pictures and information online about Canyon Spirit, take in the pictures of the beautiful train and read all about the amazing food and then beyond this look forward to this amazing storytelling adventure that allows you to slow down and reconnect with everything around you. It’s a journey that you won’t regret and one that I am desperate to take again!