In a few short years the Manyberries Alberta railway station will be a century old. Somehow this fine old building has managed to survive when most others across the province have not and today it’s being cared for by a couple who call it their home. It sits exactly where...
This trail takes us to the end of a ridge overlooking the town of Sparwood BC. The route is a mix of old logging and coal mine exploration roads and oftentimes steep and rough ATV tracks, and doesn’t appear in any hiking books or guides. We’re the first, as far...
The GMC motorhome, like the example seen in this report which was found right here in Calgary, is a real interesting beast. It’s a futuristic home on wheels built in the 1970s that amazingly looks quite up to date even today. Popular with retro-RV enthusiasts there are a surprising number...
One often finds Bolers, and trailers of other makes, motorhomes and old cars, parked in warehouse and factory back lots. Employees will often take advantage of available parking spaces at their workplace for this just this purpose. Case in point is the Mozzarella-white Boler seen here, parked in behind the...
This post has been updated and can be found here: Emerald Lake & Crowsnest Mountain. To see hikes we’ve done in the “Pass”, follow these links… Saskatoon Mountain. Crowsnest Ridge. Hillcrest-Mohawk #5. If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us! Date of adventure:...
This post has been updated and can be found here: Fort Museum Fort MacLeod Alberta. Some of our favourite then and now posts… Sleepee Teepee Blairmore Alberta. Main Street Slocan BC. Wrentham Alberta 25 Years Apart. If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact...
This 13 foot Boler, the most common type seen, is painted a very pleasant mellow yellow colour. Very nice! Found completely by chance, as is almost always the the case, it was seen while we drove around Calgary on some errands. The date of this find was July 2014. Forgive...
The hiking trail described here takes you up to the Kananaskis Fire Lookout and is a fairly easy affair. A wide track, it gains elevation ever so slowly. Deep in the trees most of the way, there is nary a view until the goal is reached. Admittedly it’s not the...
If you like old cars, trucks, farm machinery and equipment, Saskatchewan is the place for you. No matter where one travels within its borders, there is always an endless parade of vintage vehicles to be seen, each begging to be photographed and documented. It’s a literal playground for those who...
You don’t often think of RVs as being sexy but if there ever was one that fit that description, it’s the Vixen Motorhome. Provocative in both name and appearance, this rare model dates from the mid to late 1980s. We’ve been documenting strange and usual campers, motorhomes and travel trailers...
Here’s a rather rare sight these days, a wooden grain elevator, still in use, sitting along a prairie branch line that still sees trains. Twenty years ago this would be nothing unusual, but today, in times of grain company consolidations, mergers and closings and the wholesale abandonment of lightly used...
The Canadian Pacific Railway’s massive Lethbridge Viaduct, or High Level Bridge as it’s more often called, is over a century old and is a holder of many North American and World records. Most noteworthy, it’s the highest and longest steel railway trestle on the planet. A sight to behold, it’s...
With both Connie and myself feeling a bit under the weather, we decided that a short n’ easy hike was in order this day. Fitting the bill was Jumpingpound Loop in the Sibbald area of Kananaskis. It’s a not a terribly exciting outing, there are few places where the trail...
Trillium trailers today are made at Team Trillium Manufacturing in Calgary. At least they were up until very recently – the company has been forced to move and has not yet found a new location. In addition to making “Outback Trilliums” as they are called, they repair all manner of...
This post has been updated and can be found here: Along the Crowsnest Sub (w Greg McDonnell). More railway fun… The Sidewalks of 10th Ave S Cranbrook. Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions #41. Wandering The Alberta Central Railway Museum. The Bawlf Incident. If you wish more information on what you’ve seen...
Our goal this glorious blue sky day was to find and photograph the cemetery scene location from the film Legends of the Fall. It was not an easy task. The site is obscure and undocumented, although we had a rough idea where it was located, and we knew that given...
Chris rushed in excitedly and showed me this comparison, but after a short pause, his look changed. It's that confused expression one gets just before the face-palm, when they realize something they did just doesn't add up.
One year shy of a century separates the two images but as it turns out, they're not even of the same building. The top is Westmount School and the bottom McDougall School, both in Edmonton and not far from each other.
It took this long to realize we'd been shooting at the wrong place all this time! The two schools were built in the same year and very close in design, so it's still an interesting comparison. We had a good laugh and we'll give Chris a mulligan on this one.
Looks like we're going have to head back for a do-over.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photos: 1924 and 2023. Submitted by Connie.
It's amazing how many of these Canada Centennial Maples Leafs still exist out in the wild across the prairies. We could fill an album with the ones we've photographed. It seems rural folks embraced patriotism with more fervor than their urban counterparts, but that's just an observation.
This example was found in a small Saskatchewan town. When they placed this up above the community hall there was a certain optimism that's not seen now. Today, only a handful of people call the community home, and it's that close to being a true ghost town. Almost sixty years in place and this memorial to a 100 year celebration is still here.
If our readers have found any of these while out exploring, please share in the comments. We'd love to see them.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2014. Submitted by Connie.
Billy Clark’s Cabin in Meadow Creek BC and it dates back over a century. Now at the local museum it formerly stood in a valley a little to east and on the shores of Duncan Lake (now Ducan Lake Reservoir).
Billy was a trapper, hunter, and woodsman. All he had was this tiny log house, a small plot of land, the surrounding wilderness, and his wits for survival. Nothing more. That spirit of self reliance seems to be a lost art today.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Submitted by Connie.
Both Chris and I both grew up in the malaise era for cars and get giddy when we spot one from that time out in the wild. It's like meeting an old friend. This '80s beauty was found out in a hiking area of Kananaskis and by all appearances, looks to be driven regularly.
The malaise era is marked by cars with uninspired design, quirky traits, hobbled performance and often questionable quality. Depressing stuff. This Cutlass is probably one of the better GM cars of the time, and both Chris and our son Will have owned examples in the past.
Have a malaise era story or photo to share? Post it in the comments!
Out in nature with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2023. Submitted by Connie.
We come over many rises on a the prairies and on doing so surprised by many interesting things. This one caused a double take.
This lonely locomotives sits at the then very end of track outside Leader SK and was out of service at the time. Guess they socked it away out of sight to forget about it. We found photos showing it in service the year before our visit but here it was cold and dead.
Since this photo was taken, the Great Sandhills Railway has extended the track across the road and set up some kind of transloading operation. In years passed, the track (under CP ownership) continued west all the way into Alberta, but that's a distant memory.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2014. Submitted by Connie.
The messages have been coming fast and often. No, the book we produced a couple years back is not being published after all, in spite of appearing on many websites recently. Oddly some are showing it with the cover from another volume altogether. Please don't order and it must be a glitch.
The other two books shown in our capture are available however (and are awesome) and were produced by some friends. Interestingly, Chris contributed to each and those you can order.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Submitted by Connie.
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