Tag: alberta

Valemount, BC to Grande Prairie, AB

September 6, 2025

After spending two nights in Valemount I would head back east, through Jasper National Park for the last time – this time going west to east on Hwy 16. I would continue on that road to the town of Hinton where I would turn left and head northwest on Hwy 40 to the town of Grande Prairie, Alberta where I would spend two nights. Total travel time was projected to be about 6 hours, roughly the same amount it took me to get to Valemount from Red Deer.

The reason I had come to Valemount was to see Mount Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. I knew I wanted to see it the first time I drove up to Jasper but got sidetracked with checking out the wildfire damage, and then had a long drive back to Golden. When I got to Valemount one of the first things I asked my Airbnb host was “Where is Mount Robson?”. He said “You drove right past it on your way here”.

I felt kind of silly driving past the tallest mountain around but to my defense, my sightline was blocked by trees as I drove on the highway very close to the base, and there may very well have been clouds obscuring the top. When I drove in the opposite direction today there was no way I would miss it.

THAT is Mount Robson, with the peak reaching up 12,972 feet. And at that altitude there was most certainly a glacier up near the top.

I continued on towards Jasper National Park. The visibility was not any better at far distances than it was on the way west.

But the further east I went it improved quite a bit.

After passing through the town of Jasper I was now covering new territory. This is a large, shallow lake east of town.

Once I reached the town of Hinton I turned left onto Hwy 40 and crossed a river.

The area near the highway really opened up after that and there were smaller mountains and lots of open spaces. At one point I passed this handmade sign:

And shortly after it there was another. It wasn’t until I stopped at a small Visitor Centre in a town further up the road that I was told those two signs represent caribou, and there is a local herd of about 100 that live roughly between them. Later in my trip I would see the normal metal highway signs in various places warning me of caribou, but I never saw any.

The rest of my trip to Grande Prairie was uneventful and I had a quiet day there doing laundry, visiting several small city parks, and doing a much needed cleaning and rearranging of the interior of my car and the trunk. I would soon be heading to Alaska and figured I was probably running out of nice warm days.

Red Deer, Alberta

September 3, 2025

I drove north from High River, through Calgary, and took the QEII Highway up to Red Deer, which is about halfway between Calgary and Edmonton. When I modified my original schedule I decided to drop several nights in Edmonton after speaking with someone who lives there who was mystified as to why I would possibly want to go there (” Uh… we have a mall…” ) and decided to add three days in Red Deer instead. My research showed me that there were lots of scenic roads near Red Deer, including the “Cowboy Trail” to the west and the “Dinosaur Trail” to the east.

I saw this young buck just off the two lane road I was on as I started to drive the 2 hours it would take me to get to Red Deer..

Well, my plans kind of fell apart as when I approached Red Deer there seemed to be a brown cloud hanging over it. I didn’t think it was big enough to have a smog problem and didn’t even think about the wildfire possibility. I drove around town for a while to get acclimated and then checked in at my Airbnb. I mentioned the “cloud” to my hostess and she said she had heard there was a wildfire up near Edmonton.

I fired up my computer and learned that although there was a small wildfire near Edmonton (a little less than two hours north) it had just been detected the day before and wasn’t very big. When I checked the smoke pattern website I was shocked to learn that what I was experiencing was coming from a large wildfire in the Northwest Territories province, a thousand miles to the north!!

I went out to get something to eat and returned to my Airbnb. By the next day the air quality in Red Deer had changed to unhealthy, and my throat was a little sore from having been outside the day before, so I just stayed put for the day. The next morning I evaluated my options online and decided it should be ok to go back south and east towards the town of Drumheller.

When I started out early in the morning this was the sunrise as seen through the smoke:

I took the QEII south to try and get away from the smoke, then headed east on a series of smaller two-lane roads through farmland. At the lower speeds it would take almost two hours each way.

Once I got closer to Drumheller I would drop down into Horsethief Canyon near the Red Deer River.

This is the small Bleriot ferry which can transport up to 13 cars at a time the short distance across the river, which isn’t very wide at this location. I would traverse it later in the day and it only took about two minutes.

Not quite the shortest ferry ride I have been on (it was on a 3-vehicle ferry in Kentucky) but interesting nonetheless.

I finally arrived in Drumheller.

If you are so inclined you may take the stairs all the way up and look out of the T-Rex’s mouth. I was not so inclined.

There were several “dinosaur” sites around the area but after checking in at the Visitor Centre I learned that there was generally a good bit of hiking involved and so I decided to pass on it. I was hoping to get some photo ops from the road but the staff didn’t think that would work out too well.

Before leaving Drumheller I did find this tiny little church which only has room for 6 parishioners:

Castlegar, BC to High River, AB

August 31, 2025

Today I will head back east to Alberta province and start working my way north. Before I leave Castlegar I want to share something I noticed as I drove into town two days ago. When I had been to town previously I approached from the west and left to the south. This trip I came in from the south and noticed this as I was descending Mount Kelly.

I was looking right down the runway of the West Kootenay Regional Airport, and there was a large mountain on the other side. The mountain in the distance is Sentinel Mountain which, at it’s highest point, is 5,456 feet tall. The mountain I was on when I took this photo is even higher at over 6,400 feet. The mountain in the distance isn’t that far from the end of the runway (looks like about 3 miles on Google Maps).

When I was in town yesterday taking pictures of the sculptures I heard, then saw, this mid-size passenger jet flying parallel to the runway and then bank south to make a turn towards the runway.

You can see it in front of the mountain before it would turn right again to land.

Someone at the Visitor Centre told me that the airport is nicknamed “Cancel-gar” by the locals due to the number of flights that get cancelled due to weather or other issues.

Today I would reverse my route from two days ago and shortly after crossing the Canadian Rockies I will turn left onto smaller roads for the rest of the day. I had a few stops planned in Alberta province and the total drive time was projected to be about 7 1/2 hours without stops.

The town of Creston is about an hour and half east of Castlegar. When I had driven through it previously I stopped to get gas in town and drove past the Kokanee Brewery. They market their product as “Glacier Beer” and, despite being acquired by a much larger brewery, still make their beer here.

That is a statue of Bigfoot making off with a case of Kokanee beer.

I won’t show any more mountain pictures since you just saw them two days ago. Once I got past the Rockies I headed north to the small town of Longview. My plan was to have a fancy steak dinner at a highly rated steakhouse there but that plan fell apart when I tried to make a reservation. The first day I called they had already started serving customers and the recording said to call another time (well excuuuuuse me!). I called back the next day and the recording told me they had shut down for a week so the staff could have their vacation.

So no steak for JohnBoy.

I went to Longview anyway and it was a cute little town:

I didn’t even drive by the steakhouse, which was further up the road, but I did go to an ice cream stand which offered their signature Saskatoon Berry milkshake with fresh, locally grown Saskatoons. Just my luck they were sold out. So no Saskatoon Berries for JohnBoy, either.

I left town and drove east to my next stop. On a very small rural road I stopped to take a photo in each direction. North (left)

East (forward)

South (right)

And west (behind me). You can see the Rockies in the distance.

This is where I was now headed:

If you are familiar with the original Star Trek TV series you know that Mr. Spock is from the planet Vulcan. Welcome to Vulcan, Alberta!

Once fans of the series discovered that there was a town called Vulcan here they started visiting and things kind of took off from there. Now they have festivals here and Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, attended at least one. It has taken on a life of its own…

You will notice that the large starship shown above is NOT identified as the Enterprise (possibly due to licensing issues).

The flower planter located outside the gift shop is a replica of a Federation shuttlecraft.

I thought the place was closed so I put my phone up to the glass on the entrance and took this photo – and then saw people moving around inside. Turns out I got there just before closing time.

I walked around inside for a short while looking at the merchandise, and there were many items and photos signed by the cast of the show. One of the brochures I had picked up back when I was in Calgary alerted me to this town. There was also a menu for a local pizzeria which, when the festival occurs, makes a pizza with a Federation logo-shaped crust.

When I left Vulcan I headed back northwest to the town of High River, where I had a one-night Airbnb reservation. I picked it because it was the largest town near here and with all my stops I knew it would be getting dark soon. When I got there I discovered it also has a connection to a TV show.

The Canadian drama “Heartland” is currently in it’s 20th season. Parts of the show are filmed in and around High River, including Maggie’s Feed Store and Diner. The actual ranch featured in the show is on private property, in a nearby town, closer to the Rockies.

This is a “set” used for filming and is not an actual restaurant. I only knew about Heartland, and this set location, because a friend of mine used to watch the show.

Lethbridge, Alberta

August 28, 2025

After having visited Waterton Lakes National Park yesterday I had returned to my Airbnb in Lethbridge to spend my first night here. Lethbridge is the 4th largest town in Alberta province with a population of just over 100,000. People who live here are called Lethbridgians or, are you ready for this, Lethbians.

Today first place I went was the Paradise Canyon Golf Course, as it was listed on TripAdvisor as being a good place for photo ops. Well, it is in a nice canyon but it is a golf course (duh) so I didn’t spend much time there.

Running alongside it, in this long coulee, is the Oldman River which you will hear more about in a moment.

My next stop was the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, which I had passed as I was driving into town yesterday.

No, that’s not a Japanese Darth Vader. It is authentic samurai armor.

After that I drove to the Helen Schuler Nature Centre. I was greeted by this sign:

Oki is an indigenous Blackfoot word meaning hello, or welcome.

Most of the displays in the Centre seemed to be targeted at kids, though there were numerous messages scattered about clearly directed at adults.

The building did have a rooftop deck which was promoted as having a variety of plants, but I can’t say as I was terribly impressed (they weren’t flowers so much as herbs and non-flowering plants). It did, however, give me a great view of another local landmark – the Lethbridge Viaduct, or as is called locally, the High Level Bridge. I had driven under it to get to the Nature Centre.

It was completed in 1909 by the Canada Pacific Railway and is the longest and highest railroad trestle in the world. It spans the Oldman River and reaches a maximum height of 314 feet. At 5,327 feet it is just over a mile long. It is still in use, and I did see a long train traveling over it later in the day.

I drove to a wetlands/nature preserve in another part of the coulee. I walked along a series of paths and on a pier-type walkway, hoping to see some critters but I did not. I then drove downtown as I had picked up a brochure touting a mural contest with some pretty clever entries, but it must have been dated as I only found one – painted on an electrical box in a big city park. The map I had showed lots more…

I got a little uncomfortable as there seemed to be lots of rough looking people hanging out in the park, and there was an obvious police presence, so I decided to go back to my Airbnb and do some trip planning. I had improvised visits to Medicine Hat and Castlegar (my next stop) but needed to look at my maps and plot out some more stops in British Columbia and Alberta and start planning my route to Alaska!

Waterton Lakes NP – Part 2 of 2

August 27, 2025

(Photo credit: Parks Canada)

After I arrived at the hamlet of Waterton Park I turned right onto Akamina Parkway to traverse the 10 miles out to Cameron Lake.

This is the part of our program where I tell you about the wildfire in 2017. It was started by lightning and began outside the Park but worked its way south and consumed roughly 39% of the trees in the Park.

There were several parking lots where visitors could leave their vehicles and hike. I finally arrived at Cameron Lake.

And looking left and right from the pier you can see the damage to the distant trees caused by the wildfire.

As you look straight out across the lake the mountain you see at the far end is actually in the United States, as is a small portion of the lake itself.

There was a large parking lot and a building where visitors could rent canoes and small boats to go out on the lake, and I imagine earlier in the summer swimming might be popular as well. There were rangers available to answer questions or give directions to visitors.

I stood and spoke with some of the other visitors before I left and was surprised to see a small deer calmly walk out of the lake:

I started driving back towards the village.

In the photo above you can see the Prince of Wales Hotel on the left, a small part of the village below and to the right, and parts of both Upper Waterton Lake (near) and Middle Waterton Lake (distance).

In the photo below you can see more of the village at the bottom of the frame and more of Upper Waterton Lake which continues south, well into the United States.

After descending down into the village I would start driving back towards the Park entrance, but encountered this lone bighorn sheep casually walking up the road before I got all the way down the hill.

There was no one behind me so I stopped in the road and put my hazard lights on. My next thought, after not wanting to get run into by another vehicle, was “do sheep with horns react to red cars like bulls might??”

Evidently not because he walked right past me without a care in the world.

When I got further up the road I turned left on Red Rock Parkway to check out that side of the Park. Some of the campgrounds and trails along that road were still closed as a result of the wildfire.

I must say I was very impressed with this Park and am glad some people convinced me it was worthwhile to visit after I had almost talked myself out of it.

Medicine Hat Curling Centre

August 26, 2025

On my second day in Medicine Hat I had an appointment downtown. I had tried to visit curling clubs in a few other towns in Canada but discovered most of them were not open in the summer (it IS a winter sport, JohnBoy…). Well after wasting time in Saskatoon driving to two different clubs I called ahead to see if the facility in Medicine Hat might be open. The phone was answered by the General Manager, Bryden Smith, who was in his office doing paperwork. He said I was welcome to come down and he would give me a personal tour!

It was in a large, ordinary building which I had actually driven past several times. I met him at the arranged time and the first thing he explained was that they were just now preparing to reopen the facility after it had been shut down for two years. Curling required a very precise surface and 2 years ago they had problems with the foundation under the “sheet,” or surface of the ice. They had to rip up the flooring and redo the foundation under it and were just getting ready to put down new equipment needed to maintain the ice surface.

Bryden took me to a second floor observation area overlooking where the sheets, or playing area, would be. There was a bar and restaurant along with tables for members and guests to gather. It also had an area for club trophies and photos.

The rolls you see above are made of flexible tubing which will cover the entire surface of the floor and will circulate a brine solution to freeze the water which is then sprayed on top of it. There will be 8 “sheets,” or lanes, used for competition. This facility used to have 12 sheets but with the problems that developed they decided to downsize to 8 and put up a wall to convert the other part of the building to a fitness center for the town.

Players glide stones, or “rocks” down the ice hoping to stop them in the center of the “house,” or target, at the other end of the sheet. Multiple rocks are thrown during an “end,” or inning, and strategy comes in to play as players try to knock their opponent’s rocks out of position or try to help move their own player’s rocks to better positions.

Rocks are made of granite and can weigh between 38 and 44 pounds. The handle is used to launch the rock and give it a subtle twist, or curl, just before releasing it. Each team uses a different color. Two players with brooms called “sweepers” accompany the rock towards it’s destination and, if needed, can use their brooms to try and influence the trajectory and speed of the rock (without touching it).

I believe it is a very misunderstood sport, and requires much practice and precision. Think of it as bowling, but with a heavier ball and a longer lane, and you need the ball to STOP where the 5-pin is. Oh, and all of this is done on ice. Players wear special shoes – one a “slider” which, as the name implies, enables them to slide on the ice, and the other, a “gripper” which gives them traction to change direction or stop.

Curling has it’s own vocabulary and there is MUCH more to it than I have tried to explain.

This facility has hosted provincial, national and international events.

There are special tools to shave the ice to precise specifications, and the brooms the “sweepers” use in competition MUST all have a standardized brush head that conforms to the rules. As with many sports, the equipment used is sometimes “tinkered with” to try and obtain a competitive edge but the organizers of professional competitions do their best to maintain a fair and level playing field.

Bryden spent a whole hour explaining everything to me and showing me around the facility, and I wish I had taken much better notes. He used to compete, and is obviously eager to get others interested and make sure they have a great facility to practice their skills and enjoy the camaraderie.

Here is a photo of their new and improved playing area:

(Photo credit: Tourism Medicine Hat)

Later in my trip I will actually be able to go to a local curling club, as my Airbnb hostess in that town plays in a league and had a match the night I was there. From the moment the first player launched the rock towards the house it was clear that this game is a lot harder than it looks!

Medicine Hat, Alberta

August 25, 2025

It was time to bid Saskatchewan a fond adieu and head back to Alberta province. Google Maps told me it would be a 4 3/4 hour drive southwest to Medicine Hat, just across the provincial border. I had stopped there briefly on my way to Moose Jaw and decided I would go back and spend more time there.

The trip consisted mostly of driving through open farmland. One place I noticed a pattern in a field which reminded me of similar sights elsewhere.

I had previously attributed the color pattern to different crops but I now wonder if it was crops and dirt (though the dirt here seemed freshly tilled).

It was an uneventful drive to Medicine Hat.

I went down to a city park near the river and found a man ready to go out on a paddleboard with his dog.

The dog was obviously ready to go.

I drove across town to the Big Marble Go Centre, a large multi-purpose complex with both indoor and outdoor activities.

There were some squared off spaces between the wall pillars and each had a unique wrought iron scene depicting life and industry in the area.

And atop the building was this back-lit bird.

There were pickleball and tennis courts outside, as well as numerous fields for sports activities.

Inside was a whole host of activities, from an ice rink, aquatic center and indoor courts which could be transformed for various uses.

They even had a climbing wall, though it was more for kids than adults.

And I found this to be an interesting idea:

On my way to The Go Centre I noticed another sports facility for kids and adults alike.

I also spotted a nice church near town. I am often impressed by religious buildings as they are generally well designed and maintained.

I decided to treat myself to a beer after my long travel day. I selected a place that was listed in TripAdvisor and they offered an alcoholic root beer on their menu which sounded interesting. I was disappointed to learn that they were out of it so I “had” to settle for a regular brew. And they didn’t even have any bar food to offer – only chips.

And as I was leaving I saw a sign giving a possible reason for the scant offerings:

Yikes! A 4 hour window. Well better that going out of business altogether, I suppose.

Calgary, AB to Moose Jaw, SK

August 19, 2025

Today would be a driving day. I would be traveling from NW of Calgary, near the western edge of southern Alberta province (though it is relatively narrow at the south end), to Moose Jaw, in south-central Saskatchewan province, which is much wider. Google Maps said it would take about 6 3/4 hours without stops, and would be all 4-lane highway. I don’t call it the dreaded interstate because I am in Canada. If anything it would be interprovince, but the highways up here have treated me very well so I have no reason to attach the “dreaded” moniker to them.

This going to sound crazy but I have wanted to go to Moose Jaw since 1977, when the movie Slapshot came out. It was about a fictional minor league hockey team with a bunch of misfit players, and included, what some might call above average hockey rough play which really drew attention to the team. It included the three Hanson brothers and another player whose name I don’t recall. At some point in the movie the fact that the brothers were from Moose Jaw and the other from Saskatoon (or vice versa) was mentioned. Ever since then I have wanted to go to those two places.

This was the view out my bedroom window during the night near Calgary- the moon and two planets.

When my Airbnb hosts in Golden and Canmore learned of my plan to go to Saskatchewan they told me – be prepared for prairie and farmland. Once you get out of the Rockies it will be flat as can be. No worries – the same is true in the US.

Not a mountain in sight.

I stopped for lunch in Medicine Hat, AB, which was about halfway to my destination. The first thing I saw before I got off the highway was the World’s Largest Teepee.

Well, maybe not authentic but it makes a good photo op. There was some indigenous artwork on display.

I stopped at the nearby Visitor Centre for maps and brochures and had a nice conversation with one of the workers there. He convinced me that there was enough here to see that I would add it to my itinerary later in the trip. Because of the possible air quality issues I had downsized my original plan which had included a stop in Medicine Hat.

I had learned of a small racetrack and r/c aircraft flying field north of town and set out to check them out quickly before I got back on the road. Before I got there I saw a sign indicating that neighboring Redcliff, Alberta is the Greenhouse Capital of the Prairies.

I found both the racetrack and the r/c flying field right next to each other but both were closed on the day I was there.

Spectators Welcome so long as there is someone here! I won’t even post a photo of the race track since I couldn’t get very close. For those of you that don’t know me, car racing is one of my interests, and I used to fly r/c helicopters for a few years and always stop in if I see a flying field somewhere.

I also learned that Medicine Hat is nicknamed “Gas City” because of an abundance of natural gas underground, and I passed a few businesses which process it for transportation by rail.

As soon as I crossed into Saskatchewan I started to see evidence that it was, in fact, largely farmland.

Huge silos and grain elevators. And to give you an idea how big this one is, here is a photo with vehicles parked next to it (way down in the lower left hand corner).

Further up the road, another one:

Before I got to Moose Jaw I came to a large lake and noticed a raised observation platform:

The signage indicated that Reed Lake is a seasonal stopover for migratory birds. It is the second largest saline inland water body in Canada.

When I finally arrived in Moose Jaw I discovered that one can even get poutine at McDonald’s in Canada.

Poutine is basically french fries covered with cheese curds and brown gravy. I tried it a few years ago when I was in Quebec (where it originated) but it is not something I should really be eating…

I arrived at my Airbnb in Moose Jaw in the early evening. It was located several miles out in the country south of town, and I was treated to a magnificent sunset and, looking in another direction, storm clouds. It had been a beautiful day but storms were moving into the area. They basically went around us but because of the flat terrain I could see storms far away from where I was.

My second day in and around Calgary

August 18, 2025

The next day I drove south around the west side of town to visit the small town of Okotoks, which is about 45 minutes south of downtown Calgary. I wanted to see the “Big Rock”.

It’s actually 2 big rocks and many smaller ones. The proper name of this site is Okotoks Erratic and these rocks, many of which have drawings or carvings, have deep cultural and ceremonial significance to the local indigenous peoples. It sits a short distance off the road with a gravel path leading to it and around it. There is also a perimeter fence around it which is not to be crossed.

As I was driving back north I stopped in town for coffee and saw this deer casually eating grass right next to the street, seemingly without a care in the world.

When I got back to Calgary I, again, went around the west side to stop at a place I had seen on the way to Okotoks. Several facilities at the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics which were held in Calgary (remember Eddie the Eagle and the Jamaican bobsled team?).

The biggest building at the site is called Winsport, and is a multipurpose sports and training facility for Canada’s Olympic athletes. They also maintain many of the facilities constructed for the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Behind it is the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame.

Also nearby was a building for the gymnastics team. And yes, they do have the original Jamaican bobsled (in Canada they call it a bobsleigh) used in the 1993 movie “Cool Runnings”.

The things that drew my attention from the highway were the three Olympic ski jumps.

After I finished taking photos at Winsport I drove back downtown. I went to a place called Devonian Gardens, which is a large atrium high atop one of the buildings. The plants alone didn’t really do much for me but I was intrigued by a display of wooden masks by artist Tom Ward.

And as I was walking around downtown I figured I’d better get a shot of the Calgary Tower, shaped to resemble the torch for the Olympic games.

It has kind of been dwarfed by many taller buildings downtown but as I was driving past Calgary later in my trip I noticed that looking towards town from the southeast is does stand out pretty well (though I was on a multi-lane highway and couldn’t stop to take a picture).

My last stop downtown was the Wonderland Sculpture.

I wanted to go inside it and try taking a photo looking out but as you can see there was someone working there and had it cordoned off so I was unable to do so.

Calgary, Alberta

August 17, 2025

Today I would be driving east, away from the Canadian Rockies, to Calgary. Rather than take the Trans Canada Highway I decided to take a smaller road which roughly parallels it.

One of my first stops was at a lake where there was a river rafting launch point. I arrived there as the rafters were arriving for their orientation but I was on the east side of a lake, and not the river itself. Looking behind me it was still partly to mostly cloudy but ahead of me were bright blue skies which were welcome after the past two rainy days.

The group wasn’t quite ready to go so I proceeded to drive further east. I came to this rodeo facility not far from the lake. This was the first indoor rodeo venue I have seen, but I know there are many others which sometimes host large, professional competitions.

Further up the road I came to another, larger lake although the signage there indicated it was a reservoir called Ghost Lake.

When I got to the first town on this route I turned off the highway to find a car wash and passed by this Mexican restaurant.

Their motto: Fiesta, Siesta, Tequila, Repeat. Sounds good to me but they weren’t open yet.

One of the reasons I traveled on this road was to make sure I knew where my Airbnb for the next two nights was located. It had a very rural address and I wasn’t sure my GPS would be able to find it. I ended up trying the “Get Directions” function on the Airbnb app and it took me right to it.

I was now northwest of the city so after getting gas I decided it was time to brave going downtown. It was after morning rush hour and the roads were pretty much clear of traffic so I got there with no problem. My first stop was the library, which is in a very modern building.

As I walked up the steps to the main entrance there were some oversized games set up for kids, and others, to play.

I went to the library because that is where the Visitor Centre is located. This was looking up inside the building:

I got some maps and spoke with the two people working there who suggested some specific things to see in the city. Outside the building were several large art pieces which resembled the “bobbing head” science teaching tool.

They did move with the wind but were restricted from coming too far down.

I drove to a modern art museum they had suggested. It was kind of a mix of museum and office building, but it covered three floors and had some interesting things to see.

This is a closeup of how the third piece was constructed: