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.

😎

Day 11 - Friday, September 27

Today was a melancholic day, some happy, some sad...the weather was that way too. Sunrises in the mountains are hard to come by because by the time the sun comes above the mountain the colour is gone. However, just look around and you'll find it somewhere.

Leaving Hinton in the early morning sun was a pretty sight. Check that highway rush hour. I love it!

I'm glad we were given the opportunity to feel that way because arrival in Jasper was an arrow to the heart. The July 22 devastating wildfire did extensive damage to this Rocky Mountain resort town. There's still a bit of smoke in the air and even establishments that don't appeared damaged obviously are because they are still closed.

Heading south out of town hit even harder. The forests are gone. Extensive cleanup operations are still underway playing havoc with the traffic. We saw one lone elk grazing tentatively through the charred earth. The traffic dictated we could not stop so no photo of the wildlife but the forest is easy to see.

The weather went downhill fast. Fortunately we have done this drive in the past because today was not a good look at the scenery. I did what I could.

The Columbia Ice Fields were almost invisible, the rain being replaced by snow now. I could not believe how many people were there. We just took a look from the side of the road. $250 per couple for a 3 hour ice bus tour was not in the cards.

Just before we turned to head East at Saskatchewan River Crossing the weather cleared and it became evident we were going to be heading out of the mountains once more before the day was done.

We are in Rocky Mountain House for three nights. Just a hotel this time. Bye bye peace and quiet and solitude. Capped off the day in full sunshine and a glorious rainbow over a mountain lake.

The beat goes on...and we're loving it!   😎

Day 10 - Thursday, September 26

I'll start today's blog with dinner last night. Don't worry, it's not a food review, just a statement. I love to BBQ and I especially love to eat BBQ. 'Nuff said.  😊

We got an early start and as we left our cabin, on the road out, the fog had not yet lifted but we managed to see this little fella. Good start.

The Beaver Boardwalk is a big deal in Hinton. Their efforts to preserve the wetlands and protect the local wildlife (they were well preserved - we didn't see any) are presented beautifully and ever so slightly treacherously. At this early point in the day the boardwalk was extremely slippery in many spots as it was covered in a thin layer of ice. The temperature was about 3 degrees at this point. The sun shone through and by the time we finished footing was much more secure.

We were headed to the front ranges of the Rocky Mountain Natural Region, the hamlet of Cadomin and ultimately the Great Divide at Cardinal Divide. Well, that was the plan and you know what they say about the best laid plans. One thing was certain - this was a delightful, gorgeous drive.

The further south we drove the more snow appeared on the mountain-tops. Is that the way it's supposed to work?

If you know us you'll know a Whitehead vacation always entails some adventure, not always what people would consider normal. Our trip to Cardinal Divide was alas, once again not meant to be. The road to Cadomin is gravel and sand as you leave the main highway. That was okay with me, after all, it's a rental.  😅  About 20 kilometres in the road deteriorated to very sharp rocks and stones. It was an unassumed road to say the least so I knew CAA would not come to our rescue if we needed a tire change. Besides even if I did it myself that wheelbarrow replacement they call a spare wouldn't take us 5 kilometres. 

Our last kilometre had taken about 15 minutes and we still had 14 klicks to go. That was only part of my concern. There was no other way out so if we made it to the divide we would have to make our way back over this same road. We stopped to chat with a passing motorist (the only one we saw on this road). I asked what it was like at the divide. He smiled and said it was a pretty view, lots of snow on the mountains, a lot like what we had seen so far. As we talked he kept looking at our tires. We asked if he thought this car would make it. Again he smiled and said it depended on our confidence level and added you might need to change a tire. I feel it important to mention he was driving a full-size four wheel drive SUV, filled with camping equipment and about 50 gallons of gasoline in several jerry cans strapped to the back of his vehicle.

He added this was the good part of the road and there were sections ahead he had trouble with himself. As we parted company I thanked him and said we'd probably turn around. He seemed to indicate that was a sound decision as Karen chimed in we WILL turn around right now. We always like to take the road less travelled but this was a bit much.

About 10 minutes after we bailed the scenery made us happy we had, able to drive without worrying about how we'd get carried out.

We enjoyed a late lunch with a few mountain sheep then headed back to Hinton.

😎

Day 9 - Wednesday, September 25

Our cabin is oh so quiet and comfortable. I'm totally spoiled now - hotel rooms are going to be so noisy.  😊  It was overcast so I couldn't catch a sunrise but the clouds began to clear and who could ask for a better start to your day after a rainy night.

We had a relaxed morning walking around the ranch. Almost all the horses were out on the trail but this guy walked up to greet us.

We spent the better part of the rest of the day chasing history that I'm afraid has sadly disappeared. At least the highways are in great shape with almost no one on them. This one's for you Rita.

The town of Hinton in the foothills of the Rockies is a very pleasant sight.

The history we were chasing was a stone Cairn memorial placed at the site of the 1986 Rail Disaster. No one knew where it was, many did not know it ever existed and a few people had never even heard of the disaster...and these were people who work in a railway museum (housed in the original Hinton station) and the Visitors Centre. How does this happen? It is such a sad shame that this is lost. This is the nearest we could find given our knowledge of the event. There was no sign of the cairn anywhere, I guess a lot can happen in 38 years.   😢 

All in all, even with the setback, it was a wonderful day. Return to the homestead for a BBQ dinner. Doesn't get any better than that!  😎

 Day 8 - Tuesday, September 24

We have relocated to a cabin on a horse ranch near Hinton. I know it was just a little bit south of yesterday but it must be 26 degrees here. Personally I prefer that crisp autumn temperature. Oh well, we'll manage.

What a sad contrast, yesterday was a blaze of colour but today is a vision of what recently was ablaze.

A lunch stop at Jarvis Lake was relaxing. The Visitor Centre was not open but there were some helpful signs around to let us know what we were looking at.

We drove a good part of the journey through a wildlife sanctuary wrought with warnings of caribou, requests to report sightings and caribou crossings - we saw nothing. That's not unusual for us but I couldn't help think that status was at least partially due to the recent wildfire devastation. We're only about 100 kilometres from Jasper. Fortunately the scenery took our mind off the disheartening plight of the wildlife.

Our cabin is perfect for us - even got the name almost right...the White Cabin.

It even has a piano. We're only here three days so I'm afraid that's not nearly enough time for me to learn to play like Jerry Lee Lewis.  😅