Day 36 and 37 - May 26 and 27 WINDING DOWN

Day 36

We're down to 4 days and things are definitely changing. Gone are the lack of crowds (the lack of people in general) and that totally contented feeling with the whole world. We are now in Calgary, though infinitely more relaxing than Toronto, compared to the territories it's a madhouse. Look at this photo as we left Whitecourt VERY carefully. Enlarge and look in the distance - the traffic is building.  😂

We were on it for a few days in 2024 so it was nice to return. 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's not always the most scenic drive (the mountains are a long way away) but the whole atmosphere makes for a pleasant trip. 

It was about 3:30PM when we arrived in Calgary...just in time for rush hour. Though slow it is typically a few hours of slow down. Nothing like Toronto's ongoing, never ending rush day. I do like that slogan. Maybe not specifically for Calgary but it certainly describes most of our days on this trip.

Day 37

Over the last couple of days we have achieved a level of just about zero when it comes to activity and exercise so we had a remedy for that this morning. We were up, had breakfast and were out by 8:30AM because it was cooler and we knew there would be less people around. As we were waiting for the elevator in the hotel I stopped to admire the view of Calgary. It is a very nice looking city and despite the cultural shock of traffic yesterday, this area was laughable for the morning rush hour.

The Bow River Pathway is a 48 kilometre multi-use (primarily walking and cycling) paved trail system spanning both sides of the Bow River in Calgary. It offers pretty parkland, quiet wooded areas, serene river scenes and dramatic views of the city. The trail is well-used which is wonderful but it was reasonable at this time of morning. We managed about 7 kilometres.

Looks like my photography has gone to the birds because that was all we saw on the hike. Still more wildlife than we saw on the drive in from Whitecourt yesterday. 

The view of the city is pretty sweet from the trail but if you look you can see the mountains in the distance. This photo is taken with a camera not a phone so the telephoto lense compresses it atrociously. Those mountains look like they're 100 kilometres away in reality.

John and Marie, we thought of you when we took this. You are probably driving on roads where you are that are not much wider than this path.

On our return we stopped in at Carburn Park. The very impressive Eric Harvie Bridge is a stunningly beautiful piece of engineering. Both Karen and I commented that it seemed massive overkill for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the river. It does, however, suit the beautiful surroundings.

One of the reasons we came to Calgary was to catch up with our friends Ron and Wendy. It's been two years since we've seen them and it was over a decade before that visit. Always a pleasure to be with them to reminisce and compare travel adventure stories. It was a wonderful visit and I'm so happy we were able to make it happen. Thank you Ron and Wendy.

Tomorrow we leave Calgary for a two day wrap up in Edmonton. There will be one blog for the two days posted Friday night. Hang in. Sadly we are almost finished.

😎

Day 35 - May 25 5 DAYS IN MAY...THAT'S WHAT'S LEFT OF OUR ADVENTURE

Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Jed. We're in the prairies as we head out of Peace River and the donkeys, iron horses or whatever you want to call them are all we see.

Seeing bears has not exactly been unusual on this journey but we had yet to see any cubs so today's sighting was special. Still not close enough or sharp enough but it sure was fun. Mom came running out of the woods followed by two of what turned out to be three cubs. Once she saw the highway she thought better of her plans and turned, hightailed and ran back to the woods. One of the babies (that's an awful big baby) stood up and jumped on mom's back as she ran by.

We arrived at our chosen hotel (chosen when we saw it) in Whitecourt, AB at about 2PM so we headed out to nearby (20 kilometres) Hard Luck Canyon. It nearly was just that as all the road signs indicated "Site Closed". The parking area was barricaded but someone had knocked them down so who are we to argue. As we walked along the trail the bridge to the top of the canyon was blocked off due to restoration. We backtracked to a side trail that indicated alternate access so we took it. A short hike took us to the top of the canyon. 

From there a couple hundred stairs led to the canyon floor. It was pretty locked in at that point but certainly worth the effort to get there.

Carved by Hard Luck Creek through the sandstone layers of the Paskapoo Formation, Hard Luck Canyon is a unique geological feature within Woodlands County. I'm certainly glad we were not there much later in the season because as we arrived back at the SUV we were swarmed by small fuzzy flies. Plenty evidence of them on the windshield as well.

Even after 5 weeks this is still a lot of fun. It's hard not to have fun in Canada...any time of year. Tomorrow we head to Calgary for 2 nights so I'll combine the next 2 days in the next blog. I'll email you all a reminder. Stay with us!

😎

Day 34 - May 24 FAREWELL TO A TERRITORIAL FRIEND

Today we said a very fond farewell to the Northwest Territories. It was the reason we undertook this adventure and we're so happy we did. The weather was pretty well the story of the day - and it wasn't a good story at all. It was a long drive of over 600 kilometres and it rained steadily for the first six and a half hours. After 29 days of perfect weather in the 34 so far that was a little depressing.

We'd seen quite a few Sandy Cranes up here but were never able to photograph one. This guy was a little more co-operative with his time but turned to takeoff as I arrived.

As I have mentioned before, one of the things I love most about wilderness road trips is the isolation. It was time to change drivers about 80 kilometres north of the border so all we did was stop and do it. No need to go to the side of the road...it was about 7:30AM and there was no one to be seen in any direction.

It truly was like saying goodbye to a friend. To add to the sadness we have only six days left before we fly home. NWT we leave with fond memories and adventures. I guess more people enter from this end of the highway (from Dawson Creek, BC) than where we entered on the west corner near Watson Lake, YT because the sign has the added 60th Parallel bonus.

Another exiting bear.

About half an hour before entering Peace River, Alberta the rains stopped and the sun came out bringing that gorgeous blue sky with it. A welcome sight indeed. We are here overnight only then headed south, exactly where we do not know. We'd like to land about half way between here and Calgary. Hang in there, we'll let you know.

😎

Day 33 - May 23 OUR NWT LAST HURRAH

Today is our final day in the Northwest Territories. It has been a glorious adventure and today is extraordinary for us because for once the weather is not clear blue sky perfect. As a matter of fact, it rained on and off through most of the day. The Car Play GPS was miserably wrong in locating the falls we were looking for, missed it by about 30 kilometres. We backtracked and located it pretty easily. A short hike in took us to a stunning view indeed.

Alexandra Falls is a 32 metre waterfall on the Hay River about 60 kilometres south of the town of Hay River. Two whitewater kayakers have successfully gone over the falls in kayaks though today would have added an extra challenge as the falls is excessively poopy from the silty winter melt.

Downstream the canyon is pretty remarkable too!

We were talking to a guy who had been a CBC cameraman for forty years. I thought that was very cool until I handed him my phone and asked him to take our photo. He confirmed with me that what he saw in the square viewfinder was what would be in the picture.  😅

The canyon opened up as we headed back to Hay River. Oddly we saw a few views we had missed yesterday on the way in, along this same road.

The original site of the town lies a few kilometres north. It is not officially acknowledged as Old Town but certain very interesting aspects lead me to believe it should be. In particular a couple of transportation relics remain in informal graveyards. Boats and planes lie in varying stages of ruin in their proper locations of shipyard and airport.

Finally, a mural, almost a bas relief on the outside facing of the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre was a fitting conclusion to our visit. Tomorrow is exactly one week away from our return to reality, just 6 more days of travel and adventure. Stay with us...it's not over yet.

😎

Day 31 and 32 – May 21 and 22 RETURN TO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Sorry to be a day  and a few hours late. Both days were travel days, one by air and one by road.

May 21

Unfortunately our flight from Cambridge Bay back to Yellowknife was at 3:20PM. 

I'm not crazy about flying but do love the old prop planes...

And of course the view...

Who knew there was a desert just outside Yellowknife?

That left not enough time to do anything constructive in either location. It was 6 o'clock by the time we got back to the hotel in Yellowknife so we went out immediately to tie up some loose ends in Old Town, a couple of things we missed on our visit a few days ago.

Actress Margot Kidder, most famous for her role as Lois Lane in the Christopher Reeve Superman films (1978 to 1987), was born in Yellowknife and raised in the Northwest Territories and several Canadian provinces. It's only fitting there should be tribute paid her in her birthplace.

Another local milestone was of even more interest to me. Ragged Ass Road is a quirky, unpaved street in Old Town, Yellowknife. Named by prospectors in the 1970s who had gone broke after a particularly bad mining season, it was immortalized by Canadian musician Tom Cochrane when he used the name to title his 1995 album.

The street was originally called Privy Road due to the large number of outhouses but was officially renamed after a local prospector joked that he and his buddies were “ragged ass broke” after the poor mining season. Street signs do not exist because they are stolen as soon as they go up so the best to be found are novelty signs like this one in front of a proud resident's house.

May 22

Today was a 500 kilometre drive from Yellowknife to Hay River. Unfortunately about 300 kilometres covered the exact same ground we covered on the way in a little over a week ago. Today was a little better because we saw several bison. There were also a few more vehicles but only in some spots - some were the exact opposite.

This is why I choose the places I do to visit. Most people ask, "Why do you want to go there? What is there to see or do?" In a lot of cases there is nothing to see or do but the isolation is worth everything. Since we left home we have not seen or heard any news and, trust me, that is a wonderful thing.

I find a town's welcome sign says a lot about them. The flashier and more colourful it is the better. Hay River gets very high marks from me.

We're here tomorrow as well then we head south with just one week left in this fabulous adventure!

😎

Day 30 - May 20 I SUPPOSE WE SHOULDN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT TRAFFIC AND UNSEASONABLY WARM TEMPERATURES

A 2 hour tour with a local in a pickup (there are no other kind of locals) was a great way to end our visit to Nunavut. We did a lot of walking in beautiful weather yesterday so this was a welcome opportunity today. Sunny and relatively clear but around minus 17 with a very blustery wind made us happy to be under the cover of an old pickup.

After all the talk about the benefits the Inuit receive from the government, I had to laugh when Ryan showed us the first homes they were given to get them out of their igloos. Gee, thanks guys, this is nice. Not so much.

The cemetery looked striking up on a hill beside the road. Karen asked if the bodies were preserved for burial until the summer month (yes, it's singular) thinking that would be rather easy to do but was told they use a backhoe to break through the ice and snow instead.

Interestingly enough, there is an auto graveyard right next door.

The Redfish Art Studio has a wonderful slogan, "We make cool sh*t from junk." It was founded on the idea that Inuit youth (16 to 30+) can achieve great things and be inspired if they are given the opportunity and provided guidance and a safe place to express themselves. With the co-operation and support of the Redfish, the RCMP, Family Services and the Department of Justice, the program is intended to address the needs of the at-risk youth in the community.

The trip on the ice road was somewhat astounding. There's not a lot to see but ice and snow and you can't tell what's land and what's water but the most surprising thing to me is that the ice road is functional into July. Summer is most definitely the shortest season - not much more than a month.

Father Steinmann from northern Quebec built a stone church in 1954. Using seal oil and clay as mortar and broken rocks for the walls with caribou fur between the two layers of rock for insulation resulted in a beautiful stone church. In 2006 it was destroyed when set ablaze by vandals. A new roof and reconstructed walls renovated the church to its current condition. This photo was taken on my Sony camcorder from about a kilometre away. With my steady hand (NOT!) I'm surprised you can ever see it.

Tomorrow's a travel day with a late start. Back to Yellowknife for one night.

😎

Day 29 - May 19 LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN...A FAR NORTHERN TOWN

Cambridge Bay has less than 2,000 people and little visible industry or commercial activity so it's not always obvious what people do but they seem happy and that's important. As a visitor, it's a quirky little town. I can never get enough of in-town murals, especially when they're this well done. 

Certain things take a while to adjust to. For example, this messes my mind on May 19th!

As a visitor this just made me smile. This is "downtown" Cambridge Bay. A bank and a grocery store. How very convenient. You might just have to visit the bank before going to the grocery store. Generally speaking, prices are about 3 times what you're accustomed to with a few items being surprisingly close in price. Sorry, I haven't noticed anything that was cheaper.  😅

The Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) is a state of the art research facility. It has been designed and built to optimize innovation in Arctic science and technology. It can support a wide range of research needs from ecosystem monitoring to DNA analysis - and where Indigenous knowledge is recognized as fundamentally important to the co-creation of new knowledge.

The local sculptures and the artwork in the station are mesmerizing. So amazing.

It turned into a gorgeous day - only 2 degrees but we were dressed for it and there was very little wind. We really couldn't have ordered anything better.

Normally barking dogs annoy me a little but here it seems so right. I guess it truly is 

the call of the wild.

😎