It seemed like a good idea at the time….it was close to the campground…….
The first Alltrails map is the planned route…….the second is the hike/climb we did. ….and yes…it really did take us 2 hours to do 3.4 kilometres……and we turned back at the lookout in the interests of getting to the bottom again alive. My legs were shaking with fatigue the last bit of the climb down …..it was such a challenging climb.
Good fun tho……
Turtle mountain trail …craaaaazy trail….defo the hardest we have done….we did not cover a lot of distance but the elevation was serious…and the path on the way up was hands and knees at some spots. It was one of those hikes where its hard to tell if you are more apprehensive about the climb you are undertaking or the certain knowledge that you have to , somehow, get back down….!!!…..But the view was totally worth it.
The climb up……..
You may have noticed that I did not take many of the pictures on this hike….nope….I was too busy clinging on to the rocks and tree roots….trying not to die…!!!!
But again …the views ….and the experience were spectacular…..
The route guide said this was one of the best views of Frank Slide…….it was…but lots of trees there also made it difficult to photograph…that and feeling like you were hanging off a cliff edge by your toenails……
We had kind of decided that we were going to turn around at this point, and the wind picked up enough to solidify that plan….so back down…eeeek…!!!
It was also quite smoky again that day…….
Big relief to be back down safely….glad of the proper footwear…!!! ….and pleased to have done it….hindsight, safely on the ground again….yes it was fun…….
How are we going to top that one…
We had a long chat with Tanya and Jordy (our Lost Lemon neighbours and local hike experts ) about some of the local hikes. Among the recommendations they made…the strongest one was to get bear spray……there are not just black bears here but also grizzlies……..(erp…!!)
We finished the day with a walk out in the evening to the local hotel/bar/pub. Wednesday night was supposed to be jam night at the Greenhill……..
Trip advisor describes it as ….’dated’…….!!!! (Editor, Dated comes somewhat close. The staff were only partially warmed from the permafrost and the band played a wide variety of ‘classic rock’ numbers all at the identical pace of pouring cold molasses. )
After six days of boondocking…it was time to head west again,,, destination this time was the Lost Lemon campground in the Crowsnest Pass. We had decided that, having already been through the Kicking Horse pass on the trip to Golden, that it might be an opportunity to travel a different route through the mountains…possibly an easier pass for hauling Xolo….as beautiful as she is….she’s no delicate featherlight flower when you want to pull her up hills…….
Alberta is generally pretty flat. A fact accentuated by that most wonderful horizon that is the Rockies.
The other problem we found travelling this road south of Calgary……its not a particularly densely populated area….so there are not a lot of roads to choose from…..but…intrepid travellers….we wound our way down to 3a west…..
First sight of Crowsnest Pass……..quite beautiful scenery as we approach the mountains again…..
On steep downhill sections there was no need for the engine brake to kick in as the incredible wind coming straight at us actually slowed us down.
.Breathtaking……again……
…and then unexpectedly…the landscape changes again….
and the road passes through this incredible rock field…lots of road signs for Frank slide. A history you Canadians may know of but we were completely unaware of…..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Slide .
In 1903 the town of Frank, a mining town, was hit by a massive rockslide (110 million tons of rock fell off the mountain…!!!) half the mountain collapsed wiping out part of the town and burying 70 people in 100 seconds with no warning. They only recovered 12 bodies…….its quite the thing.
view from the Frank Slide centre….
The rock landscape remains….they dug out the road and the railway, you can see the channels through the rocks from the mountains around….but the rest of it remains…this unbelievable bare rock lunar landscape…..even though its been over 100 years since it happened……..a sight to behold for sure…..
Lost Lemon Campground in Blairmore….is by far the prettiest campground we have stayed in…..the views, 360 degrees of mountains….it is spectacular…….its also a well run, tidy clean campground…a credit to its owners. ( https://lostlemon.com/ )
First order of business when we arrived was laundry…and showers….We originally intended to only be here a couple of days….but it was so pretty we decided to stay an extra few days…..and according to Alltrails there are a lot of great looking hikes in the Crowsnest Pass….
Blairmore is a stones throw from the border between Alberta and BC……the local brew pub is the Pass brewery, touts itself to be the last craft brew before BC…..
We met some lovely neighbours in Lost Lemon, Tanya and Jordy…according to them the Lions bingo night at the Pass is a riot. We did not make it….maybe next time…..
First hike we picked from the many available was Lille ghost town…..still on the hunt for that ghost town…!!!
Lille Ghost town trail
The hike itself did not start out too promising…it was a long drive up a very bumpy (full of mega potholes) road……and then the walk itself is up a trail used primarily for ATVs………it was a bit of a slog on the way up…it has to be said…..
But still beautiful
………with some interesting ‘sights’ along the way
very old, who knows how it got there…sedan…!!
The Alltrails guide suggests photographing the map at the trailhead to find the various bits of the town. We totally bombed on finding the cemetery.
There are so many bits and pieces still there, bed frame, water pump, barrel rings….these things are over 100 years old and have been laying out in the open….but still quite evident as to what they are. It was a worthwhile walk to get there…..
The coke ovens were built in Belgium……every brick was hand numbered….they were disassembled, shipped to Canada, carted up the mountain and reassembled in Lille….only to be abandoned a few years later…….
A testament to the structure itself….over a hundred years later it still stands…..
We also managed to find mine no. 3
There was also a wonderful array of my favourite little guys….fungi…!!!
Couldn’t find mine no. 2…….even with a bit of trekking back and forth with the satellite image to compare to the map….but it was a lovely walk down……
Mine no. 1 is the easiest to find….
Cool walk…… Scott spotted a black bear on the drive down……briefly, as it ran across the road……I was way too slow on the camera.
It was a long walk and the rocky road is hard work climbing up and climbing down…..but its a hike worth the time and effort cos the stuff at the top was so interesting.
Where will the next hike take us….many to choose from……..
Ever since our first trip to Patricia when they told us about the rodeo we were pretty keen to come back for this….they promised it would be fun…they did not lie…..
Pulling out of Spring Hill
When you forget to fill the truck before hooking up . We take up a lot of real estate in the gas station. (guilty…editor)
Super excited, we were told we could arrive at the campground anytime after the 1st of September……so you better believe we were there with bells on……on the 1st…..!!!
Back at Badlands Mercantile in Patricia, AB
We found a spot at the bottom of the grounds next to where the ag weigh scale is……essentially we scored a level pull through spot. We were not the first trailer there…and talking to a few folks gave us what we needed…..ie stay away from the back fence… where the young’uns camp….and where the all night party (noise..!!) happens.
This meant getting a couple of meals at the legendary Patricia hotel before it got too busy.
All day we watched more and more trailers pull in…groups that pulled their trailers around in circles so 4, 5, 6 big trailers in a circle with the party spot and camp fire in the centre. At the other end of the grounds, huge tractor trailers carrying mostly horses were pulling in and setting up little electric fence pens for their fancy race horses…
What an amazing atmosphere in this place….
Thursday night at the hotel (for supper again…!!!) we met up with the guys from one of the chuckwagon/chariot racing teams…Jim O’Connor…the Fighting Irish..!!…and his team Greg and Wayne. They kindly invited us to come over, see the horses and the set up and get some pictures….really nice folks….
Friday night kick off with these shenanigans……classic start with the chariots and chuck wagons……essentially the chariots run with two horses and the chuck wagons with four…….its crazy fast……..
Then they have the mini chucks…….chuck wagons with mini horses…..it sounds like an exhibition event….but these little guys are giving it just as much as their full sized compatriots…..the girl in the green shirt in the first picture is 8 years old…..!!!
Bull riding under the lights.….interestingly….its a lot more skillful than if you have ever seen it on tv……and the real stars of the show are the pick up guys. They are the cowboy guys on horseback whose job is to safely calm down the horse/bull once the rider is bucked, and to return them to the gate without any more fuss….These guys were absolutely amazing. We were too far away in the stands to get any decent pictures with just phone cameras, but one of the official photographers ( Scott was chatting to her for a while..!!) posted a selection of hers on her facebook site. http://lindapierson.photography/ ……I have used some of her pictures in the next section.
Bull Riding
Pick up guys
Girls arrive Saturday…woo hoo…another visit from Bronagh…….this time we got her from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon….
In between a lot of the events, the field has to be evened out again (harrowed….) they have a guy in a big tractor doing a lot of the work….but they also had teams of heavy horses doing it the old fashioned way.
Saturday morning was a lot of the skill stuff….barrel races, roping and such like things.
Saturday afternoon kicked off with the wild horse race…wow this is a thing….apparently Patricia is one of the very few rodeos that still does this…..and once you have watched this train wreck unfold …..its easy to see why….
Teams of three (there were 6 teams) a wild horse is (haltered) released from the chute……with all three guys hanging on to the rope…….once the horse crosses the line…they have to reel it in, put a saddle on it….get a guy in the saddle and he then has to ride around the track and make it back to the arena….its sheer unadulterated crazieness…….
Bronco Riding….as if the wild horse race crazieness was not enough…!!!
Saturday night dancing. The live band was the Patricia Chicks….they were reeeeeaaalllly good.( https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2914783991870593 ) . Tracy Millar is the main artist that sings in a trio every year for the Patricia Rodeo. We actually got to dance a bit…….Great thing about rural Alberta is……everyone can two step it would seem….great fun on the dance floor with lots of peeps up dancing.
Mutton busting ….now this was a whole new thing we had never heard of before……little kids…4 to 7 come out of the chute on the back of a sheep……they pretty much just have to stay on…..most of them don’t. Bronagh was highly entertained….fully understanding that if she had grown up in Alberta….she (and her siblings..!!) would have totally done this. Kids are pretty hardy round here…it was fantastic to watch these tough tough kids.. (boys and girls) play hard, fall down and get up……get filthy, get kicked, stomped and dragged through the dirt….and get back up and get on with it…..
Sunday morning was the heavy horse log races…….(not really a race….but an extreme skill challenge driving the heavies around cones pulling a log…..quite the demonstration of skill…..as expected…the old guys totally had it down….but there were also quite a few kids competing….)
Sunday afternoon is the Little Britches rodeo……so most of the kids events happen on Sunday. …OMG these kids……little kids on huge horses. just giving it. These kids are amazing…..
This next kid managed to rope his calf, but did not have the rope to tie it…….so his horse held it while he sprinted across the arena to get it from his trainer…then back to the calf, dump it over and tie its feet…to win….cos he was the only one to actually complete……..just shows….never give up….!!!
Cow pie bingo…hilarious……there was a 50/50 that we missed out on on the Friday night…but we managed to get a spot in the cow pie bingo……essentially the arena is measured out in a grid…..you buy a square for $5……….and in the intermission on Sunday afternoon, a cow is released in to the arena…….if she poops on your square…you win $1000……..at $5 a ticket……love this…..total redneck coolness….!!!
Little britches wild pony race…some of the teams were girls….and they were no slouches…..unlike the wild horse race, the kids just have to get a hold of the pony and get one of them onto its back. Some of the kids were just too little to get up there….but it did not stop them trying…amazing…..
All good things must end tho….
End of the rodeo for this year……
This trip was 6 days of boondocking…..the longest we have done so far with no services…….it worked out tho…and a few things learned. Next time we will do a bit more food prep and be sure to have an extra case of bottled water.
Monday….pull out to Lost Lemon…..a campground in Blairmore at the beginning of the Crowsnest Pass……
Lastly I’m going to add a gallery of some more of the pictures Scott snagged during the chuck and chariot races…..
Still at Spring Hill /Cochrane…….the search for a hike took us a little further afield , still in Alberta just slightly south of Canmore.
Grotto Canyon Trail …..be warned ..there are going to be a lot of pictures on this one…..
The area around Calgary itself is relatively flat (for anyone that has not been there..) which gives you this fantastic vista of the mountains as far as you can see to the north west…and to the southwest…..so as you drive west towards the mountains all you see in front of you is this spectacular landscape….
……..and sometimes the view behind can be quite interesting……we almost ran in to these loose horses…..
Grotto Canyon Trail
Starting out on the walk…..from a very busy parking lot…..we downloaded our Alberta Park pass for the day and set out with diminishing hope for the walk. There were so many cars and people in the parking lot, and the beginning of the trail was wide, smooth and followed the power line. Many people in sandals…….not a sign of a good hike…..!!!!
Once you get to the bottom of the canyon it gets a bit more interesting….
According to the reviews…most people walk up to the waterfall and then turn around….and indeed it is a very pretty walk. Before you get to the waterfall there are even some pictographs on the canyon wall.
The further we went up …the higher the rock walls became…and then…..there were fleets of young things scaling the rock faces…….fabulous climbs….if you like that sort of thing…!!!!…and you could see lots and lots of pitons driven in to a lot of the walls as we proceeded.
There is a corner you turn (as you climb ) that leads you into the inukshuk garden. Its a rock field where everyone seems compelled to build little figure with piles of rocks…..its strange moment of…actually a bit impressive to see so many ranging across the canyon…to a little bit creepy with all these little people-like things surrounding you…!!!
…and every corner we turned made the next one a little more compelling…as the view of the mountains behind just got better and better. It was a perfect day, low 20’s, no humidity, no bugs…..
Eventually we had to stop….as we decided we still had to get back down safely…and too tired legs might not do that too well…!!!!
So…..back down we go……..and just to illustrate how unprepared people are for this typ of hike…….not only were there people out on the early part of this walk with sandals…….but just below the waterfall we met a family with a weiner dog……three inch legs battling this rocky terrain……..Sometimes you just can’t acount for folk…!!!!
Al trails failed us a little in the middle of this hike and paused recording through part of it……Scotts phone measured us at about 9.5 km…..this was my favourite hike so far…we will see what the editor has to add…!!! Editors note. Fabulous place, we had the bulk of the walk to ourselves and around every corner a new vista, was difficult to turn around …. last corner…ok after this one we’ll head back.
Next trip….we have to go home and pack up to go back east a little to Patricia for the Patricia rodeo…….sooooooo excited……!!!
oh…and here is a little aside…..not sure where else to put this…..and be warned…its gross…..we had been having a little trouble with the bathroom sink draining (or not..!!) an getting steadily worse…..the longer stop over at Spring Hill let us do a few repair and maintenance jobs (like how I call it we…!!!)…….I did provide some assistance in this instance…by passing some rags to the worker…!!!
In my defense…this is NOT my hair…….!!!!
We are presuming the previous owners…or at least one of them had long hair……
Lovely park, well laid out with lots of historical information scattered through the park. Easy walk though….mostly paved double wide paths’
Nice walk…..nice day…..and then right at the end we noticed the sign we really should have seen at the start…!!!!
aaargh…!!! 😮
A bit of investigation yeilded us two local farmers markets for visiting…first was the Cochrane Farmers market on the Saturday…..very close by 11mins from campground by car…..
Cochrane Farmers Market
Lots of cars were arriving, it was a fairly big, quite spread out (good COVID distancing) market…..lots of produce, live music and some interesting local businesses. We bought a couple of Pasties…a bit pricey…but we have been on the road long enough that puff pastry seemed like a real treat…..we were entertained by the meat one….it was supposed to be steak and mushroom…but the little pastry thing on top looked more like hippo…!!!
We also managed to score some ground bison and some ground elk…….there will be a review on the elk on some future post….
Sunday was Bearspaw Farmers Market just outside Airdrie, AB.
Bearspaw Farmers Market
We arrived early for this one….and the cars were already lined up both sides of the road and the parking area was completely jammed. This was a great little market…..
First vendor we came upon was a lady with all different variatals of garlic….5 for 10 bucks…how could anyone resist….the fifth one we bought was a combination of two of the specialty ones…..
If you ever find yourself in the vicinity…this one is worth a visit……
Sunday afternoon took us on a little side trip to Inglewood….one of the nicest little suburbs in Calgary…..they close the main street to cars in the summer time….its a bit like Paris….lots of interesting little stores…
………and then I spotted this little tiny woodpecker in the tree above where we parked the truck….
The next walk we did was the Grotto Canyon Trail…another Alberta park…….but it’ll be the next post….it was an epic hike…!!!
Bronagh had her off days Monday and Tuesday…turned out Monday was rainy and miserable…..plus..I managed to score a veterinarian appointment for da katten at Arrowhead Animal Hospital (https://arrowheadvet.com/ ) …..they were marvelous…Dr Sylvia was just great…..I may have to organise being back in Cochrane for his health check next year….yes I think they were that good…..so…he now has his vax passport so we are good to go when the US border opens…..
Tuesday 24th ….all systems go for Drumheller…..I was very excited cos Dinosaur park was sooooooo good……..
Drumheller itself I would have to say, was a bit of a disappointment……probably because I was comparing it to Dinosaur park…
Drumheller , by comparison, is overdeveloped…and….well….a bit run down as a town.
Most photogenic building in Drumheller…!!! Didn’t go in for a Waldorf Salad
The landscape is very similar but much more spread out.
Anyway…we bought tickets for the Royal Tyrell museumhttps://tyrrellmuseum.com/ ( an oft overlooked fact is that a lot of the fossils in the Royal Tyrell were actually pulled out of dinosaur park…not Drumheller……..
I loved the mammoth….loved his elbows and his knees….and his feet…..great bones…I could have stood there a lot longer just looking at these bones and joints……would love to touch them too……!!!😁
Totally excited by this fabulous sacrum (tailbone)…I’m sure anyone who knows me will not be surprised…!!!
Huuuuuuuge sacrum….with Scotts hand for scale……how cool is that..!!!
I was highly entertained to see this Mosaurus…….and most disappointed to re-read the sign and see it was actually a Mosasaurus……!!!
Nessie makes an appearance…for anyone who subscribes to the idea that Nessie is a plesiosaur…..!!
Scott spotted this little guy…..we decided he was the prehistoric ancestor of the ground squirrel…..his jaw specially evolving to snip shoelaces….!!!!
The museum is quite definitely a ‘must visit’….but so is the frequently aforementioned Dinosaur Park………. (Drumheller feels like its had a bit of the same kind of overdevelopment commercially as Niagara falls…)
There had been rain a couple of days prior to this visit…which left some more interesting textures in the rocks and creek beds…….it was a more challenging hike than it looked like it was going to be at the outset…..
We thoroughly enjoyed the day with the girls……
They have to go back to work now….and we have to decide where we are going next…….!!!
The drive back from golden was a bit less scary…..partly because we had driven (royal we..!!) back and forward on the worst part of the road a few times during our stay in Golden. ( Editors note. A passenger with a look of sheer terror is not helpful. )But time to go back slightly east as Bronagh’s time off work is done. This time on the journey we had a second vehicle following so some action shots of Xolo in the mountains…..!!!
Xolo in action…!!!
It is such a spectacular drive. I spent most of the time with my eyes bugging and mouth open with a perpetual “wow..!!” dropping from my lips….!!!
And then here is a picture to give a bit of scale….there is an airstream…(us..!) in the middle of the picture.
and the road so beautiful continues to unfold…….
Quite different from the drive in…with the smoke cloak lifted and these little tufts of cotton wool stuck to the trees along the valleys.
Its tough to go from gaping at the scenery to trying to grab shots while in motion……and there always seems to be a huge transport overtaking at the best/worst moments……
Yoho Valley
….and then back through Dead Mans Flats where the fire was a few days ago……
Back at Spring Hill RV….up on the hill just outside Cochrane again…but this time with a clearer view of the mountains……the line of the Rockies just goes on forever……its a panorama and then some….really too vast to be able to translate in photographs….so you will just have to come and see for yourself…!!!
After a couple more days of rain…it was time to get the crumbly old pins x 2 out on another trail……we picked Leseuer trail
Lesueur trail.
Lovely day but with a threat of a storm later in the day…so no dawdling on this one…!!!
All the reviews recommended doing this one anticlockwise with the steep climb first….and boy oh boy this was a climb. Trail said 800 m of up…..it was more like 3km of up……!!!!…..but the view was both breathtaking…and worth it…..
pretty pretty skyline….
There was a lot of stopping for breath on the way up….definitely challenging…and sheer enough in spots to be quite slippery, glad this was not the down route….or we might have needed a toboggan…!!
a little bit of a trek through some forest……and then at about the midway point…..now the path goes down….if you look at the middle of the next picture you can actually see the path go all the way down…!!!
This ‘walk’ down was a lot steeper than it looks in the pictures….I skidded down a couple of sections on my ass…!!!!😮.
…….and of course just what everyone needs to find towards the end of a hike……
is this for the bears??…..
The weather was definitely changing as we came in the last few 100 metres…..we got back in the truck just as the first few raindrops fell……
A really great hike……highly recommend it if you are in the vicinity….
Next adventure is going to be Drumheller and Horseshoe park trail……..
Golden made an appearance out of the smoke and the mist….!!!
Tuesday evening after the rain…….
Wednesday and an early morning start for Louise……all sources suggest the parking fills up fast…so we were aiming to get there for 8am…….even at 8.05 when we arrived….the parking lots were packed……but we did get a space.
And be prepared….there are A LOT of pictures in this post…!!!!
It was very ethereal on arrival…….morning mist just as thick or thicker than the smoke…but a strangely different more wispy consistency.
FYI for anyone doing this trip in the future….the park office was closed when we drove up…..but the smart parking meters also let you purchase your park pass….!!!
The plan was to do the Lake Louise to Lake Agnes trail route…and hope the visibility would improve through the morning…..
Salt flats at top of Lake Louise….
As we walked along the edge of Lake Louise…which was still eerily beautiful with that intense turquoise water shining through the mist ……the haze was gradually lifting……Louise did a leisurely, yet dramatic reveal………..
Its a well travelled very clear trail….but pretty seriously up…!!!!
Climbing higher the view became clearer as the sun warmed and dissipated the mist.
……..and then the reward………
Louise on one side and Agnes on the other…….It is a truly spectacular place to stand…well worth the torture of the unrelenting ascent……
As we embarked on the descent into the bowl that contains Agnes…the steep switchbacks made us very glad for the clockwise choice on the trail……there were lots of people (a lot of them looked much younger and fitter than me..!!!) struggling up the path as we hiked down.
Agnes Panorama
There were some young ladies readying for a swim…..bear in mind this is glacial melt water and we are still quite high up….the sun may be warm…….but…….!!!!
…and then back down to level to a much clearer vista on Louise herself……and she is beautiful……
Fantastic walk, fantastic day…….
We decided ice cream was in order back in Golden……pretty sure we burned enough calories to deserve it…!!!
Last night in Golden….back to Cochrane tomorrow for some more shenanigans with the offspring on her next couple of days off…..
….and actually kind of looking forward to the drive back through the mountains with a clear view this time…….
OsteoPraxis on the road 