Working at Jasper Park Lodge 1975

JASPER PARK LODGE

ALBERTA, CANADA

Roger Boyer & Dave Workman

Trail by Lac Beauvert

This trip is written from memory and pieced together from a letter I wrote at the time. When high school was over in June, Roger Boyer and I planned on going to Tilsenburg to pick tobacco (My back still hurts when I hear that name) through a Canada Manpower program. Our trip was cancelled by them four times. In the meantime, we answered an ad in the Kingston Whig Standard. A week later I found the following letter in my mailbox.

It was such an informative letter, we had no choice but to go. After all, it was only our future and a mere 2500 miles from home.

Roger and I packed our two favourite green packsacks, and my parents and sister drove us to the train station. Here we found that the cheap CN rail tickets were only for sitting and it was a three day trip. Oh well, we were rugged. We said goodbye and chugged westward. There wasn't much to do except watch trees go by, sleep, and eat the very rare meal. Our financial status, as usual, was very low. We stuck to .60 pizzas. I had 35.00 and Roger had 20.00. We spent the day speculating what positions we would be offered - hotel managers, accountants, gigolos...our list was endless.

Woke up still on the train. Today we got into some of the western mountains. We were beginning to get a little uncomfortable. While eating our daily ration of pizza in the club car, Roger and I hit upon a money making scheme to attract tourists to the CN railroad. The waitress overheard our plan and thought it was brilliant. She made us tell it to a higher official which we did. The idea was to hire someone (preferably Roger and I of course) to dress up as sasquatches and hide near the railroad tracks in deserted forested areas. (I of course, would have to rent a costume but Roger could come as he was). Occasionally when a train pounded by, we would let ourselves be seen. We figured this would boost railroad sales considerably. The official did not seem particularly interested, but looking back, I think he might have tricked us. You see, there seemed to be a dramatic surge of Yeti spottings over the next few years along the CN route.

Lac Beauvert at Jasper Park

By now, we were more than uncomfortable but we had no choice but to put up with it. As usual silly games were the order of the day. We amused ourselves playing real card games as opposed to our usual game of split lip (a dangerous 2 player game Roger & I invented which consisted of flicking spinning cards at your opponent's head. We had perfected it to the point of being lethal and Roger refused to play as he had forgotten his split lip goggles at home). At least the scenery was much better now that we were in the mountains.


One of the Lodge's Chalets	Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course	Lodge Trail

Around 2:00 am the train pulled into Jasper. Walking in our sleep we got off and a guy from the lodge met us and drove us to our new home. He put us in separate rooms for the night with some strangers but we were too tired to care. Around 11:00 we got up and met at the Personnel Office. We filled out our forms and made sure we got a room together. We discovered we were going to be busboys. They gave us each a uniform but we had to buy the bow ties. Aaagh! We decided to explore the area and went for an all day walk to who knows where. Later we got settled into our room which we also shared with Julian ? a fairly nice guy. He said we could borrow his 10-speed any time we wanted to. Later that night we went to the staff lounge to check out the women.


Bear Kill	Dried Up Creek Bed	Dave On Top	Glacier River

Roger had to work this morning but my shift wasn't till late this afternoon. I decided to walk to Jasper (about 1.5 miles). I explored the town and bought a book to read. On the way back I spotted a slow moving train heading in my direction so I jumped on and rode it for quite a ways until it started to pick up speed. I decided to jump off while I still could. I stopped at a glacier stream for some ice cold water. Excellent! Finally got back to the lodge. Roger joined me for lunch at the cafeteria. We each had a full turkey dinner. It was very good and only cost us each a dollar. Later both of us had to go with a group of new employees to start our training. Our leader was a Japanese Martial Arts expert named Dooje. He threatened to kill both Roger and I if we did not stop mispronouncing his name and calling him "douche". It was an accident, really, but he didn't believe us - probably because we were down on the floor laughing. They taught us how to remove tablecloths and the best ways to carry a tray. I started out as a waterboy. It's quite the fancy restaurant. I gave people water all night, finished work and went to bed.


Lac Beauvert & Ducks	Lac Beauvert	Jasper Park Lodge

Got up around 6:00 am. Roger was still asleep so I bungey-corded him to his bunk and left. Mr. Latrini (our foreman whose real name I've since forgotten) told me I was waterboy again. I snuk a few desserts with another guy and we had a good time. Of course you get fired if you're caught. One guy was fired recently for stealing bread crumbs to feed the birds. I started out cheerful saying "good morning" to all the rich snobs I served. Eventually I realized that they never replied or even paid any attention to me so I experimented and revised my greeting to "Corny" which seemed to have about the same effect. It sounds like "good morning" but much easier and quicker to say. I poured one stuffy snob his water. He made me get him another glass as a fly had landed on the rim. I left but brought him the same one back. Everyone has their own areas called "stations". I had two stations ? actually one area marked by two posts. Returned to my room and later phoned home from a booth down the hall. I was informed that the most important family member (my dog) was very sick. Immediately after our conversation I went to the Personnel Office and resigned. Apparently I worked just long enough to pay for my train ticket out (but not back). They promised to mail me my 10.00 extra. I returned to my room and packed. I gave Roger half my money leaving me with 15.00. Roger was not too pleased that I was leaving.

"SHOOT THE BUSBOY"

@A new game by Parker Brothers

Got up at 6:30 for a shower. I woke up Murray. He had heard I was leaving and decided to tag along. We left the lodge at 7:00 am and walked the 1.5 miles to Jasper with my load of goodies. Along the way I took a few pictures. In Jasper I had all my belongings except my tent and sleeping bag shipped home. It weighed in at 50lbs and cost me 10.90. This left me 4.10 to hitchhike approximately 2510 miles. I always did love a challenge. We walked a further two miles to the Jasper-Banff highway and began hitchhiking in the misty morning. We got a ride with a strange guy who wanted to see all the sights between Jasper and Banff. We saw them all. We stopped at glaciers, lakes, and look-out points. One place I found and shared some berries with my two friends. I didn't eat breakfast today. Four hours later we were let off at Lake Louise. We were having trouble getting a ride so I told Murray to hitchhike on ahead and I would catch up to him later but he wouldn't go alone. Our next ride was with a drunk cowboy wearing a Hoss Cartwright hat. He offered us some beer. He drove at 80mph and finally let us off near the Banff turn-off. Then a hippy in a van drove us to Calgary and we walked for about three hours to the outskirts. Around 9:00pm another drunk picked us up in an Oldsmobile. He kept falling asleep so I drove most of the night. Eventually we pulled off the Trans-Canada Highway and slept in the car.

Woke up at 5:00 am. The old wino began driving. He pulled back on to the Trans-Canada Highway. Something seemed wrong but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Finally, I figured it out. All the signs were facing the wrong direction! Yes, we were going the wrong way in the wrong lane on Canada's major highway. I pointed this out to our host. It took some doing but I finally persuaded him to do a u-turn and proceed in the opposite direction. We almost ran out of gas but eventually he dropped us in Brandon, Manitoba. Another drunk picked us up in a Dodge Dart. He also almost ran out of gas and drove at 80mph. (Perhaps it's a prerequisite). As we were whizzing along, a policeman suddenly jumped out from between two cars, stood in the middle of the road and began flagging us down. The drunk slammed on the brakes and we came to a stop narrowly missing the policeman by only a slight margin. We had been caught on radar. It turned our driver's licence had also expired so I became the designated driver. I drove us part way then he took over again. Suddenly he spotted a friend, did a u-turn and caught up to him at a gas station by smashing into his car leaving a nice dent. The friend, a trucker, did not seem to mind or perhaps it was a common occurrence. The trucker said he'd find us a ride all the way home but he never did. Instead we got let off in the Winnepeg outskirts. Murray decided to walk 3 miles downtown to McDonalds. I reluctantly went with him. After we ate we had to walk back to the Winnepeg bypass. There wasn't any traffic on it at all so I suggested going straight through the city. Murray refused to go. I left him standing there and for all I knowhe's still there this very day. If you read this Murray, give me an update. I took buses through the city and along with a lot of walking, I finally got to the eastern outskirts. I even asked people for rides when they were stopped at traffic lights. The slums were not particularly enjoyable as it was beginning to get dark. I finally got a ride with two sixteen year olds as far as the Falcon Lake Campsite near the Ontario border. It was dark by now and I was running very low on funds so I tried unsuccessfully to get a job at a small bar at the campsite. I phoned home. My parents were surprised that I was on my way home. I attempted to continue hitchhiking but there was some competition. I gave up and set up my tent twenty feet from the highway. It wasn't long before I was asleep.

Got up early and packed up my gear. I got a ride for 40 miles with two fishermen who dropped me off in the middle of the bush past Kenora. It was a dead hole. There must have been nine other hitchhikers there. I obeyed the rule and walked way down the road past them. Finally an Italian Jehovas Witness picked me over the other nine explaining that I looked the cleanest. I hadn't realize we were all modelling for him. I was wearing my gray pants ? formerly white.

He let me drive his standard Ford Pinto. He only had one subject of conversation - sinning. He let me me off in the outskirts of Thunder Bay. Another hippie in a van picked me up and drove me to nowhere which was under construction. Here I was picked up by two priests. The one driving thought he was The Flying Nun at 90mph and I think he had a little too much faith in his friend upstairs. He made me nervous. Even his co-priest was making signs of the cross. They let me escape in Nipigon. I walked about 5 miles until I was surrounded by bush. It was beginning to get dark so I was just about to set up my tent. Suddenly a lady in a standard white Toyota Celica pulled up. I got in and fell asleep. When I awoke, I was in Sault Ste. Marie. She was going to get a hotel for herself but when she discovered I could drive she decided to take me to Orillia. I began driving at 4:00 am.

I drove straight through from 4-12 noon. I nearly fell asleep a million times. I kept pinching myself to keep awakeI was quite bruised by noon. I did see a fox cross the road in the sunrise which was quite neat. Once we ran out of gas ? luckily right beside a service station. We went in for coffee and I bought her a meal. She must have trusted me as she left her purse to go and buy the gas...which is how I was able to buy her a meal ? just kidding. At Orillia, we parted and another hippie in a van picked me up and left me in the middle of Orillia. I walked about 3 miles to the outskirts and got a short ride to the outerskirts. Then I got a ride in a souped up Mustang to Toronto to the Kingston Road. The guy driving, constantly had his left leg moving up and down to some unknown beat. Very weird. I got another short ride to the 401. I did not know you weren't allowed to hitchhike in Toronto. Within four minutes, two policemen chewing gum had pulled up beside me. I ran over and jumped in their car saying "Thanks for the ride." The hostile driver rolled his eyes back and said, "We didn't stop to give you a ride, son."

In between gum chews he asked if I knew it was illegal to hitchhike on the 401 and if I had 28.00 to pay the fine. I answered in the negative to both questions. By the time I finished confusing them they decided to let me off telling me I could hitchhike on the off ramps. He then told me to climb over the nearby fence before he changed his mind. I was gone before he finished the sentence. I found myself a ramp and got a ride to another ramp and then to another one in Oshawa. A grass-smoking hippy in a Fiat drinking beer and driving at 80mph took me to Belleville. We went off the road so many times I thought we were in an all-terrain vehicle. For a change, a nice guy drove me to the Odessa turn-off. Another guy drove me a short distance to the 40 Foot/Highway #2 intersection. (By the way, I never stopped walking while hitchhiking. That way I figured that I would eventually get to where I was going). I walked about a mile then a farmer drove me 2 miles. My last ride was with a man, his wife, and dog Sam. Sam licked me all the way to my front door at 4423 Bath Road in Kingston, Ontario. My parents were surprised to see me so soon. I had left Friday at 7:00 am and arrived home Monday at 7:00 pm with 2.25 to spare.

Here are some great pictures from an ill-fated hitchhiking trip taken about a month before the above mentioned trip. Three of us were going to hitchhike to Banff, Alberta and hopefully find some employment. I ended up getting heat stroke and going home. Leif & Roger went on without me but were unable to find any jobs out west and returned quite shortly.


Dave Workman, Leif Erickson, Roger Boyer	Fred Penguin in the Packsack

MacDonald-Cartier Freeway? Where's That?	401 at Odessa Turn-Off Circa 1975