From Calgary to Crows Nest

On my drives to and from Calgary, I tried to take alternate routes so I could see more of Alberta and B.C.  On one return trip, I headed west along highway three, stopped at Lundbreck Falls, then motored to the destination I was keen to see—Frank’s Slide.

Alberta’s Writing-on-stone Provincial Park/Aisanai’pi

The drive from Calgary seemed long, perhaps because of the relatively flat landscape. Like Drumheller, even one kilometer from the site, nothing could be seen. Then, rounding a corner, I pulled over to a canyon ablaze in countless rock formations—coulees and hoodoos. This was just a stone’s throw from Canada’s border with the U.S.

Alberta’s Head-smashed-in buffalo jump

I’d read about this UNESCO world heritage site and how the Blackfoot Nation hunters guided herds of bison over three kilometres to a sandstone cliff where the herd tumbled over, breaking their legs and making them easy prey. I imagined a towering cliff, but it was actually just a three hundred metre drop.  

Alberta’s Drumheller—from dinosaurs to hoodoos

I’ve made many trips to my neighbouring province, Alberta. It isn’t that it’s the most exciting province, although there are a few unique sites, but my daughter lives in Calgary.

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

I hadn’t visited this site in over a decade, and the last time I’d been there was not long after the disastrous Calgary floods. This visit was all snowed over and the trails were precarious though the sounds of birds penetrated the entire site.

Riverwalk Trail

This hiking trail stretched from downtown Calgary to Inglewood before it changed into the Bow River Trail. By the trail, the Bow River was just a pencil line the day I returned to Calgary. But temperatures warmed and each day that pencil line stretched wider and wider with the surge of of melting ice bounding along.

The person behind the name

I had driven along, walked crossed, passed Macleod Trail over the years without knowing much about who this main road was named after. But on a recent hike towards Calgary Fort, or what remains of the fort, I found a statue of the man on horseback who first worked for the North West Mounted Police before later becoming a lawyer.

A family affair

In 1891 Senator Lougheed organized the construction of a sandstone house and matching carriage house that was a mishmash of styles. Six Lougheed children filled the residence until one of the sons took over the family home decades later. But once hard times fell on the family, the home was taken over by different organizations until the 1990s when it was restored as one of the prairies’ earliest surviving residences.

An inland island?

I’d crossed Calgary’s Fourth Street Bridge many times but ignored the sign to Elbow Islands Park. Last month, I finally descended the stairs onto an island within the Elbow River.

An accidental return to Weaselhead Provincial Park

Over the pedestrian bridge that stretched across the Elbow River, I left the Elbow River Pathway by Glenmore Reservoir and entered Weaselhead Provincial Park. During a summer some years back, I’d visited this park. In the depths of winter however, it was unrecognizable.