The real marathon trip to Canada - Episode 9. Farewell to the hitchhiker
As usual I got up early,went to the kitchen, heated the pie I bought yesterday in the microwave, it was still dark outside and I heard and believed it snowed last night. That was the first snowfall in the Rockies this year. I was a lucky person. As I was eating breakfast, Masa came up and still looked like in the bed-dreaming shape.His hair standed up firmly and he was thinking of something every second, probably the decision he had made which would bring him into a new adventure. You really taking him to the lake? He asked. "No, I told him I could only bring him to the fall, the Athabasca falls, and send him back. He would top up the gas for me."I answered. This was a beautiful wish. But never count on a person who's looking for a lift,in most case he's looking for freebies.When you hitchhike a stranger, hopefully a good guy, please enjoy the companion and laughter instead of peeling off anything from him. If he offered the cash at the end of the trip, take it, because you deserve it.If he's so mean and only give you a friendly handshake, that's fine, as he makes the experience.
It was turning bright outside. The snow fall covered everything in white. The greenish trail near the hostel was wrapped with the silver blanket. I went out to breath the fresh and cozy air. My rental car was wearing a white hat, the ice covered the car windows. The dorm light was not on untill 8am. I went in, packed my bag in the dark, creeped out with it and put it into the back trunk of the car. I was waiting for the check out, but hadn't seen Seiko. I waited another 20 minutes, three of us were finally set to go. To our greatest relieve was the Toronto guy, who wanted to ride with us to the falls appeared and said he would actually like to see the Maligne Lake and better not bother us for the ride. That was the best news in that morning. We can go back to Banff directly! When we are all seated in the car, ready to go, Mr. Masa said "what about him?" The driver was still dreaming. "He's not coming with us. He wants to see the Maligne Lake!" I told him again. "Oh, ok!" Then he babbled something in Japanese to Seiko (my guess was "ok, be seated, ready! set! go!) and off we were moving to the foot of the hill.
It was quite a long drive from HI Jasper to the entrance of Jasper townsite. Few minutes after we were back in the civilized world, Masa made a U turn and was about to hand over the wheel to me. It was time to say goodbye, he was hitchhiking north bound to Yukon. He thought we were going south bound right away. When I said we need to go to the town to top up the feul and requested him to drive the last few meters, he was more than happy to do it. It was approaching 9am. I assumed it should be a good time to look for the lift. I did wish him a good luck and I hope now he is safe and sound and settled well in Yukon. Later when we pass by the farewell point after feeding the feul tank, there was no sign of him. I said it he was a lucky guy!
