Day 18 - Friday, October 4

It was brutally cold and windy this morning with a wind chill well below freezing so that was a perfect time to spend a few hours at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. It's a teaching, learning, working museum, one of Alberta's finest. I spent three years in university studying Anthropology and maintain an interest in dinosaurs, fossils, etc...a morning well-spent. All rather stunning.

Just barely come up to this guy's knee.

It is absolutely amazing what has been found and preserved for presentation and education.

You step on a big industrial scale and the screen displays what animal you weigh the same as. Karen is a cougar, appropriate I think. I am a mountain goat though if I keep climbing these hoodoos and rocks I'll be the one on the Simpsons who slips and falls off the mountain.  😅

During the early settler years legend has it that horses would disappear into these canyons of the Red Deer River valley to reappear later carrying a different brand, hence the name Horse Thief Canyon. It was very similar to Horseshoe Canyon from a couple of days ago but still astounding how it just appears. You don't even know it's there until you're in it.

The Bleriot Ferry crosses the river connecting the North and South Dinosaur Trail highways. When we arrived there was only one car on the ferry - it belonged to the ferryman. The hilarious thing is the river is twice the width of the length of the ferry. It's nice to see someone preserving history rather than destroying it, even if it does seem meaningless and unnecessary.

North of Drumheller is another ghost town, this one a little more accurate than Wayne yesterday. Rowley, a former railway town, has a population of 11, two houses at the end of the abandoned Main Street.

Tomorrow we say a fond farewell to Drumheller for 3 days in a cabin in Crowsnest Pass in Waterton National Park.   

😎

Day 17 - Thursday, October 3

The Drumheller hoodoos are geological wonders that have stood guard at the mouth of Willow Creek for thousands of years. Like the canyon yesterday, they just pop up out of nowhere. 

It wasn't so much of a hike today as a climb...and not a particularly easy one at times.

The temperature was perfect around 8 degrees - very comfortable for this activity.

The Star Mining Suspension bridge is what remains today from earlier bridges designed to transport both men and coal from the mines to the other side of the river. All bridges were a far cry from the original rowboats to accomplish that task.

The nearby Town of Wayne has been granted ghost town status as the population is only 25. The approach to the town is wonderful crossing 11 iron bridges in a 6 kilometre span of road.

However, you can't technically call it a ghost town because there are a few businesses operating there, namely a hotel, bar/restaurant and a campground, all quite captivating on this pleasant day. Though open, the activity level sure supported its ghost town moniker.

Our final visit for the day was to the amphitheatre. The natural setting was surreal...and the acoustics were quite amazing, even to me! The photo below is surrounded on both sides and behind by rows and rows of similar seating giving a capacity of 2500 - simply astounding.

Drumheller is a weird and wonderful place. Don't miss it if you're ever near Calgary. It's so much more than just dinosaurs.

😎

 Day 16 - Wednesday, October 2

The area northeast of Okotoks is certainly back in the prairies, a bit rolling at times. 

About 19 kilometres before entering Drumheller the Horseshoe Canyon opens with absolutely no warning. If Ron hadn't mentioned it to us last night we probably would have driven by. There is no evidence of it from the road. Leave the highway, drive about half a kilometere and you see this.

A walk to the bottom is even more awe-inspiring...a little rough on the knees going down but well worth the effort.

Fortunately it was not a hot day (9 degrees with a few more in wind chill). It would be murder here in the summer.

As you all know I love humourous, often unexplainable signs. In the porta-potties this sign had me baffled, I think I get the first two images but could someone please explain why fishing in the toilettes should ever be brought up at all. I don't even want to imagine what your goal was here.

Welcome to Drumheller - no question what the attraction is here.

We've seen the world's largest mallard duck and the world's largest beaver on this trip so we had to take a look at the world's largest dinosaur. It's at the Visitor Centre and certainly gets your attention.

From there it was a trip to the smallest church I've ever seen, seating 10,000 people, six at a time. Again, why? This town is Ripley's Believe or Not and Niagara Falls' Clifton Hill all rolled into one.

We are certainly looking forward to tomorrow.   😎

PS...if there are any baseball fans out there, Detroit eliminating Houston in 

2 Wild Card games is HUGE! Go Tigers!

Day 15 - Tuesday, October 1

Because we were meeting a friend for dinner I chose a short trip and hike to a local waterfall. It took us past Bragg Creek to the Elbow River. Again it was a pretty drive though the day itself was not nearly as nice as yesterday. With the mountains visible in the distance the prairie countryside was rolling as they drew nearer.

As we approached Bragg Creek a large male moose with an impressive fully grown rack trotted across the highway in front of us without a care in the world. He also did not care enough to stop on the other side of the road so I could get a photo. We were going to have to settle for a shot that spoke of the true west to me (except for the presence of the highway)...a cowboy and his dog driving a herd of cattle down the road toward us.

Elbow Falls is a small waterfall on the Elbow River about 20 kilometres west of Bragg Creek in Kananaskis Country. It was pretty much at its full height of 6 metres (I said it was a small waterfall) on our visit this morning. The falls is reached by a hike to a couple of observation decks above the river. The trail splinters into about five smaller trails that fan out in all directions without a sign or assistance of any kind. If you look hard enough (as Karen did) you will find a map which doesn't tell you where the falls is but does tip you off, inadvertently, which direction to proceed. From there you'll have no trouble finding the falls, just listen. Once again the fall colour(s) saved the otherwise dull day. 

On the way out of Kananaskis a lone cow stood at the side of the highway watching us as if to wave goodbye. 

I met Ron at Tae Kwon Do 32 years ago. He had his two young sons attending as did I. In those days there were a lot of families involved. We all became fast friends outside the club. I don't recall the exact timing but after about 15 years Ron and his family moved out west. I didn't know where, somewhere near Calgary was all I knew. Well, Ron is retiring and they just bought a condo in Okotoks. That's actually the reason we stayed there. Tonight we met him and his wife Wendy (whom we also know) for dinner. Once again, old friends are the best friends.

Tomorrow we're off to Drumheller for 3 days.  😎

Day 14 - Monday, September 30

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - it's an exceptionally big deal here, as it should be, so we found and attended a Blackfoot Pipe Ceremony to start our day. It was requested and we respected the Blackfoot protocol of no photos or videos during the ceremony. Before the ceremony began Karen approached the Chief and his wife and asked if I could take a photo of them. With the promise this would not be posted on the internet they happily obliged. He was holding his headdress in his hand and they were both dressed or partially dressed in their ceremonial clothes. His full council of elders arrived shortly after this photo. I have to say it was a beautiful ceremony and quickly puts one in their place about this day.

The ceremony was held in the Town of Okotoks Municipal Centre right across the road from our hotel. It was supposed to have been held in a nearby park but the ground was too wet. Fortunately we learned of the new venue from a local strolling in the park. I was so pleased to see the number of people attending. This shot, taken as we left, is about a third of the crowd. That Centre was packed. We had our masks on in a hurry.

We have seen the classic Banff, Moraine Lake and Lake Louise several times before so we chose to forgo another visit knowing it would be a madhouse on this beautiful cool fall day. Instead we took a 300 kilometre drive through Kananaskis Country. It is absolutely gorgeous! Here's a few thousand words worth of photos.  😅

Though you'd never believe it from the preceding photos I was flabbergasted, gobsmacked, blown away and more at how crowded certain areas were today. I'm sure glad we didn't go anywhere near Banff. 

OMG these people were all desperate for just four portapotties.   😂 

Gonna be hard to top this tomorrow. Nah, won't even try.   😎

Day 13 - Sunday, September 29

Sorry for the late post - it was a late arrival. We left Rocky Mountain House and are now in Okotoks, essentially a southern suburb of Calgary. Before leaving RMH I noticed the standard "Do Not Disturb" sign on our door - I always appreciate humour in unexpected places.

Once again we took the secondary rather than the main highway. Always a better choice if you have the time. The Cowboy Trail, Highway 22, runs 584 kilometres through the foothills and ranch country along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. It made for a pleasant trip.

The Longbranch Saloon in Caroline was sadly but not surprisingly closed. It was for sale but I'd rather visit cool stuff - far too much work to run it.  😅

This was a totally unexpected serendipitous occurrence. I had no idea it existed, much less here along the road we were travelling. My new book Canada: Coast to Coast to Coast will be a three volume set. Volume 1, Heading East is available now. Volume 2 should be ready by late spring 2025. It is titled Westward Ho. So this was so cool...

Continuing south we stopped at Bottrel at Alberta's oldest general store. It was the local version of a Route 66 memorabilia store. The woman who ran it was eager to talk so engaged Karen for about half an hour. An amazing stop.

As we were about to leave, a local woman suggested I go into the vintage phone booth on the edge of the property and read the sign. Always happy to oblige, I'm glad I did. What a beautiful thought.

We found a great old place in Okotoks and I do mean old. A 1929 inn, it still holds an authentic charm and there's a great pub attached. Sweet landing spot and it should serve as a good location for exploring the area.

😎

Day 12 - Saturday, September 28

Even when they are sub-par, I always enjoy the sunrise as it signifies the beginning of a good day to me. In addition to its quality the sunrise was knocked down yet another notch by the less than desired somewhat disgusting foreground.

The downtown Walk of History was less than stellar. For starters Rocky Mountain House was one step away from being a ghost town. How it ever displayed enough interest to support a walk of history was beyond me. Lots of gyms and used clothing thrift shops, most all of them closed, made it easy to look then let's get out of here. 

The next phase was the National Historic Site. Located in a campground laced with short trails heading who knows where and highlighting who knows what. Without any information we couldn't really plan a course for some exercise so while Karen circled a short trail I looked up a final hurrah to hopefully save the day. One good thing was we crossed some interesting ground on our misguided quests. For example, I had no idea oil was an issue in this part of Alberta. 

The Alberta fall colours are still endearing to me so driving on uncrowded roads made it a good experience after all. 

The final straw was a proposed trip to Siffleur Falls. The trail in was allegedly four and a half MILES in and back but promised a suspension bridge. That all seemed well and good but we soon realized the Falls was 150 kilometres away then the same back again. That seemed a great distance to travel on a whim, again with no information about the hike. It looked like it would rain as well. That did it and we turned around about 50 kilometres in. It was along the highway we arrived on yesterday so there wasn't even anything to see we had not seen as close as yesterday.

I turned off the highway onto a dirt road for a short drive to Jackfish Lake. Once again the fall colours made it worth our while. The lake itself was small and virtually hidden by a relatively dense treeline. A lesson learned; every day cannot be perfect even on the best vacation.

😎