Tag Archives: Alberta

Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, Alberta

Karl on Jul 26, 2021 with Comments Off

The Bar U Ranch is located just south of Longview, Alberta, on the scenic Cowboy Trail. The area consists of a long stretch of mostly undeveloped prairie where it abutts the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
The Bar U Ranch sits on the eastern slope of the Rockies. It’s a nicely preserved and interesting ranch that provides a look at life on Canada’s great prairies more than a century ago, before the land became fenced off. At a time when the bison had nearly been exterminated from the plains to be replaced by large cattle herds that roamed freely.

A wagon shuttles you from the visitor center to the ranch

The Bar U back then was one of the largest and most successful ranches in Canada, covering 160,000 acres (65,000 ha). It had 30,000 …

Tagged Alberta, Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, Calgary Stampede, cattle, Ranch

“Pic of the Week”, October 20, 2017: Paradise Valley, Alberta

There are probably more places that go by the name “Paradise Valley” than by any other. This particular one is situated on the western outskirts of Medicine Hat, just off the TransCanada Highway in eastern Alberta.

The valley was home to the native peoples of Alberta for thousands of years. They lived here, gathered wild berries, and hunted buffalo (chasing them off a cliff at a nearby”jump”). They valley has a rich archaeologic record documenting this history which has been extensively explored.

Today this Paradise valley is home to a public park and golf course, and has this pretty floral wagon situated within it.

(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance)

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Karl on Oct 19, 2017 | Comments Off

.All Trips / Alberta / Car Culture / Central Canada / North America

Classic Steel — a visit to the Rolling Sculpture Car Show, Canmore

Karl on Jun 30, 2017 with Comments Off

Happy Canada Day, eh? Today is Canada’s 150th birthday and across the country people are celebrating in a big way. It’s not everyday a country reaches that age and there is good reason to celebrate, because Canada is a great place to live! There’s a “suggestion” from the Canadian government that a certain percentage of media be “Canadian Content”, so here is our piece of Canadian content for today.

I wonder if there is anything more Canadian than spending a pleasant summer day enjoying classic cars with the beautiful Alberta Rocky Mountains as a backdrop? Probably so, but those things likely would be a lot less fun.

Summers in Canada, or for that matter any place that has cold snowy winters, are …

Tagged Alberta, Canmore, cars, collectible cars

“Pic of the Week”, May 27,2017: Spring in the Rocky Mountains

I enjoyed a beautiful drive alongside and through the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and British Columbia this past week. The landscape had greened nicely with the warming weather, but the mountains still had lots of snow on them. I made a few stops along the way and photographed some of the beautiful scenery.

(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, then right arrow to advance the slideshow)

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Karl on May 26, 2017 | Comments Off

“Pic of the Week”, September 26, 2014: The Lethbridge Viaduct

You wouldn’t think the small sleepy Alberta city of Lethbridge, situated on the southern prairies just north of the United States border, would have it’s place in railroad lore, but it most certainly does! To rail buffs, Lethbridge is best known as home of the High Level Bridge, a.k.a. the Lethbridge Viaduct. The viaduct was constructed between 1907–1909 and replaced preexisting wooden trestle bridges (which had a lifespan of only 10 years).

This massive trestle bridge spans the Oldman River valley. It’s so long it’s actually hard to get it all framed in a photo, even with a wide angle lens. The viaduct was engineered by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the steel for its construction was fabricated in Ontario and shipped (by rail) to Lethbridge. A crew of 100 …

Karl on Sep 25, 2014 | Comments Off

.All Trips / Alberta / Central Canada / North America

Hiking in Horseshoe Canyon; an introduction to Alberta’s Badlands

Karl on Sep 14, 2014 with Comments Off

Most of the hikes I’ve featured on this blog are in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, with good reason. The scenery in these mountains is truly spectacular, the altitude not overly taxing, and the long summer days are usually dry and sunny. But there’s a lot more to Alberta than its Rocky Mountains. Most of the province is actually composed of vast rolling prairies within which you’ll find limited regions known as “the Badlands”. The Badlands are one of the most unique ecosystems in Alberta, a mostly treeless environment that offers expansive and colorful vistas of eroded, banded mesas, buttes, and coulees.

The easiest place to explore the Badlands is at Horseshoe Canyon, just over an hour’s drive north of Calgary, near Drumheller, …

Tagged Alberta, badlands, fossils, hiking, Horseshoe Canyon

“Pic of the Week”. June 20, 2014: “Black Beauty”, Drumheller, Alberta

2014 25c June 21 T. Rex. Royal Tyrrell Museum

One of the most amazing Natural History museums I’ve ever visited is the Royal Tyrrell Museum in the small town of Drumheller, just over an hour’s drive northeast of Calgary. The museum sits in the “Badlands” and it’s here in the hills around the museum (and throughout Alberta) that the world’s most extensive deposits of fossilized dinosaur bones are to be found. I’ve got to write a full blog post on the museum and Alberta’s dinosaur country soon, but as a teaser I thought I’d share the Tyranossaus Rex exhibits at this museum with you today.

One of the highlights of the museum is “Black Beauty”, a rare nearly completely intact T Rex skeleton, one of a few ever found in …

Karl on Jun 19, 2014 | Comments Off

“Pic of the Week” bonus. October 27, 2013. Larches in their fall colors

I just enjoyed a beautiful drive in Canada’s Rocky Mountains this past weekend, through the Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass and on towards the Elk River Valley in southeastern British Columbia. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous with the larches in their orange-yellow canopy. I had no idea there were so many larches in these evergreen forests.

Those who live in milder climates may not be familiar with larches. They’re deciduous pine trees (conifers) that change color each fall, shed their needles and regrow them in the coming spring. They add a great variety of color to the mountainous forests in the Northern states and Canada, although these colors are short-lived, lasting only a week or two at most.

Thought you’d enjoy these images!

(Click on …

Karl on Oct 26, 2013 | Comments Off