Bad to the Bone

The Sunday began as most Sundays of late have begun. Heinrich and I had an idea in mind of where we wanted to drive to, but instead (in this case, we were hampered by the weather, which was windy and spitting rain), we randomly chose a part of Alberta we had never been to before and drove there. And this time, we kept driving as long as we could, trying to squeeze every minute out of the weekend.

Our trip this week began at Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park, just outside of Red Deer (being from Alberta, I consider a 1 ½ hour drive close by). After driving past verdant hills and fields of cows, we suddenly found ourselves driving alongside a cliff. This is the northernmost point of Alberta’s badlands, and it snuck up on us so suddenly that the park sign was a little redundant. (Something new I learned on our trip: the badlands were so named because they are such treacherous terrain and so impassable. Apparently, more than one language referred to them as bad lands.)

This is beautiful Alberta.

The cliff at Dry Island was unique as a buffalo jump because it was so far north (the sign mentioned that people north of there used “other methods” to hunt buffalo, whatever those methods are!) and so darn high! (I guess they wanted to be reeeeeeaaaally sure the buffalo were dead at the bottom and not just injured and angry! A ton of rage capable of running at speeds of 50 km/h is not something you want to be faced with!)

Interesting... 

Anyway, with the spitting rain, muddy trails, and murderous winds, we decided to trek on farther (after all, it’s a buffalo jump, not a Mimi jump!). But where to? Since we were already in the badlands, I figured we might as well go the rest of the way to Drumheller (It was only 1 ½ hr away! Practically around the corner!). I found a fantastic online driving tour of the area (http://www.traveldrumheller.com/self-guided-tours.html . I’ve had my iPhone only a few weeks, and it’s proving so handy already!) and decided to follow it! I’ve been to Drumheller a few times before, but aside from the Tyrell Museum (a definite must-see for anyone who hasn’t been there before!) and the hoodoos, I hadn’t seen much of our world-famous badlands!

SO, while in Drumheller, we saw the second big thing of my blog: the world’s BIGGEST dinosaur! We even climbed up to the top (yes, definitely a $3 tourist trap!) and looked out of its mouth (ooooh) at the city below. We figured while we were there, we might as well…

That's a rather unfortunate place for a palm tree.

We travelled down the Dinosaur trail and saw the tiny white chapel before boarding the Bleriot ferry (one of the last cable-operated ferries in Alberta; we rode another one a few weeks ago by Fort Assiniboine!) to continue the loop back to Drumheller.

It’s like it was built for us! All of our wedding guests could have fit in here! 

Stunning Horse Thief Canyon!

We stopped at the hoodoos (some strange-looking rock formations with hard, flat tops that prevented the rest of it from eroding away) since it was on the way, and then, it was off to the Atlas Coal Mine!

There wasn’t really all that much to see at the coal mine (we wanted to go on a tipple tour—it’s the last remaining tipple in Canada!—but parts of it had been closed as a result of the rainy weather), but it was still nice to see! They had a few houses up (such as the old laundry/shower rooms, the bank house, and the battery house) and even an example of a shack one miner lived in for YEARS until he was able to bring his family over from the Ukraine!

The last remaining tipple in Canada!

Coffee and liquor! The simple needs of a bachelor!

At least he had a cute porch!

Yikes! An old mining lamp!

A clothes-hanging hook

Our last stop was the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne. After driving across 11 small bridges along the highway, we arrived! Apparently, the Last Chance Saloon was the site of many bar brawls in its day (people say the patrons would drink, fight, and then come back in and buy each other drinks!), and there are three bullet holes in the wall from when the barkeep reprimanded three delinquents who didn’t want to pay for their drinks! (The holes are currently covered up with one of the many decorations in the bar. Also, the bullets were shot above the punks’ heads, so no one was actually injured.)

Interesting decor...

We then began the loooooong drive home (who knew we had travelled so far? I guess an hour and a half here and there adds up!) and started thinking of ideas for our next trip! Until next time…!

(No) Bears and Big Things

This weekend, Heinrich and I decided to venture into a provincial park I had never even heard of before, although it is just over two hours away: Fort Assiniboine Sandhills Wildlife Provincial Park. (The fact that I had never heard of this is somewhat embarrassing, considering I’ve lived here for most of the past 27 years, and he’s been here for 3 ½.)

After stocking up on bear spray (we were heading into “bear country,” after all—or so I was told), we headed out. We stopped in Barrhead to check out their annual street festival before continuing on our way. Regrettably, I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of Barrhead’s blue heron (whose name is Aaron!), but I did manage to snap a photo with the world’s LARGEST wagon wheel and pickax in Fort Assiniboine! (I LOVE seeing random big things! Lucky for me, Alberta’s full of them!) Fort Assiniboine is a quaint little town (or hamlet, officially) that has maintained much of its fort-ness. (It’s pretty much just like Fort Edmonton without the role players.)

World’s largest wagon wheel and pickax!

Then, it was on to the Sandhills! Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly to more outdoorsy people), even though this area is so close to Edmonton and prairie Alberta, it’s very densely wooded. We managed to spot a moose on the side of the road (excuse the iPhone picture taken through a pair of binoculars! I now know how to zoom in, so future photos will hopefully be less fuzzy!), and once we got to the staging area (where all the trails begin), we were again warned that we were in bear country.

Hi, Moose!

Note the bullet holes through the sign. Hmm...

Heinrich handed me my can of bear spray that I was not to let out of my hand until we were back at the car. (Better safe than sorry, yes, but I sure hope I wouldn't need it in the outhouse!)

Bear spray and coffee: the makings of a perfect Saturday!

Anyway, we were the only ones hiking that day (presumably, as there were no other cars in the parking lot), and we set out on what began as a sandy trail (the ground became firmer as we walked). The trail was roughly 8 km long, and we saw some breathtaking moss that carpeted the forest floor and a regal heron perched on a rock in a stream. We even saw the white flash of a white-tailed deer that darted past us a few metres away. However, the closest we got to seeing a bear was a collection of relatively fresh-looking paw prints in the sand. I’m not convinced that’s a terrible thing (since we were the only ones in the whole park), but we are always on the lookout to spot wildlife and always hopeful to see some of Canada’s big game. (Heinrich, on the other hand, has set a goal for himself of seeing a bear standing up, since he’s already seen some black bears walking around this year. Me, I’m fine seeing a bear on all fours, far, far away.)

Eerie white moss

Bear tracks

The trail ended up taking longer than we had anticipated (in part the result of me dragging my feet for the last kilometre. A hungry girl does not the most motivated hiker make!), so we decided to head home. After going on a short ferry ride (on the Klondike ferry, which is part of the historic Klondike trail that led all the way to the Yukon. Apparently, it’s also one of the last cable-drawn ferries in Alberta!), we were on our way. I think a rerun trip is necessary to explore more of this Klondike trail and of course, to photograph the iconic Aaron!

One Day, Two Mountains

This weekend, my husband Heinrich and I decided to take a trip down to Calgary. Calgary is just a stone’s throw from the Rocky Mountains (and not far from Edmonton, where we live), and we were itching to do our first hikes of the year! So after an early wake-up call and a hearty breakfast, we made our way to Banff National Park to climb two mountains!

The view from our hotel room in Calgary. The mountains are so close! (Yet so far away...)

Sulphur Mountain (I'm going to climb up that?!)

Our first stop: Sulphur Mountain. Sulphur mountain overlooks the town of Banff, and has an elevation of 2 451 m (or 8 041 ft) and a prominence of  670 m (or 2 198 ft) (whatever that all means). Anyway, we set out to climb the mountain. All we had to do was follow a 5.5 km long trail. Easy peasy, right? Well…about an hour into the hike, we were woefully regretting our choice of footwear. Although it must have been close to 20 degrees outside, most of the mountain was still covered in snow. (Say “duh,” if you will, but I had honestly not thought that it would be THAT snowy on the side of the mountain at the end of May!) What started out as cute patches of snow and ice (see photo) soon became kilometres of unyielding trail. Every footstep seemed to be a gamble (will I live to take another step, or will I slip and tumble down to a rocky death?), and I was walking so slowly and with such concentration that I must have looked like I was just learning to walk. Luckily, shortly before we made it to the top, we passed a group of elderly people, who were skilfully descending the mountain fully equipped with winter hiking gear (spikes on their shoes, ski poles, the works). An elderly woman with a French accent remarked quite loudly to her travel companions “I can’t believe that people don’t realize that you can’t just walk anywhere at this time of year in running shoes!” After my initial rage (and urge to chase her down and push her off the mountain) subsided, her words provided me with extra motivation to make it to the top. “Oh, yeah? I’ll show you, you old bag!”

When the snow and ice was still cute. (Heinrich is standing off to the side smiling.)

Almost at the top...

View from the top. Always worth the effort!

View over Banff townsite

Once we made it to the top, we were greeted with a huge (at least, huge for a mountaintop) welcome centre. Here, people got on and off the gondola and could then buy gifts at the gift shop or eat at one of the two restaurants there. (Oh, yeah, most people who visit Sulphur Mountain have the good sense to take the gondola to the top. For the low, low price of $33.95, people can spare themselves the 5.5 km hike up the mountain and wander around the summit with their Starbucks still piping hot!). A well-maintained boardwalk led to the summit and the Cosmic Ray Station, and only here did we see the following sign:

Because this semi-paved path is where it gets really dangerous. Never mind the kilometres we just hiked up the mountain!

Would have been nice to have had a reminder before we started hiking in our sneakers. At least we were warned about wintry weather before embarking on a 10-minute long trail over smooth boards.

This kind of looks awesome. I wonder if they rent out this little hut? (At the very top of the mountain)

We took the gondola down because I was not about to risk my life again just to get to the parking lot! 

Our next hike was up Tunnel Mountain, which was a far less death-defying and much more relaxing hike. Under an hour to the top and back down again (walking at a leisurely pace), but beautiful nonetheless. Here, I added something new to my List: someday, Heinrich and I will hike to the top of the mountain before daybreak and watch the sun rise over Banff while eating breakfast. A rather simple and mundane item to add to the list (we could do that any old weekend!), but I imagine it will be quite breathtaking!

Not a bad view! 

The next morning, it was back off to good ol’ Edmonton to start planning the next trip. A trip to the gopher museum in Torrington perhaps? Or perhaps a longer trip to Golden, BC, to visit the Bear sanctuary AND the Wolf sanctuary? Or will we finally partake in a cattle drive somewhere in rural Alberta? So much to see, and so little time!


Until next time…

I love this picture! (It's from one of the books in the gift shop.)