The building we see here, doubling as Monroe’s Grocery in the film Brokeback Mountain, is actually located in the small Alberta town of Crossfield. In the movie the setting is Riverton Wyoming and both the exterior and interior were used in the production. In those scenes, main character Ennis del...
For this report we’ll show some of the assorted old trucks and interesting vehicles we’ve stumbled across while out on exploring. We did not go looking for them, but rather they were all discovered by chance while out travelling the back roads of Alberta and BC, on our field trips...
So many beautiful flowers – pink and red and yellow and orange blooms, all arranged around an interesting and and very unusual centre piece, a tiny little red and white Boler. How cute! This trailer was spotted in Fernie BC in September 2013. Boler: A small cute-as-a-bug fibreglass travel trailer...
Hanna Alberta was once a busy railway division point and the facility seen here, the old roundhouse and turntable, were used to service the steam locomotives that would work this section of line. This was an important place for the railway. Today the trains are gone, but the roundhouse remains....
If you like to find interesting things to explore and photograph, travelling quiet secondary roads is often very rewarding. You’ll always stumble across something delightful – ghost towns, old trucks and machinery, photogenic farms, striking landscapes. And then there are the Bolers. These trailers seem to turn up with amazing...
This trip was a bit of a disappointment for us. This was our third attempt over the years to get to the historic Dibble Mine site, via the gruelling and unforgiving Sunken (Lost) Creek hiking trail. And while we did get to our goal this time, it was a hollow...
This amazing day has us visiting the Headwall Lakes in Kananaskis, two lovely green pools nestled is a steep-walled valley, surrounded by grey and barren limestone peaks. Along the way we’ll hike easy logging roads, we’ll make your way across scree slopes and we’ll climb steep trails, all to get...
For this adventure we explore the surface plant ruins of the Hosmer Mines Ltd. operation in (where else) Hosmer BC. While the mine only operated for a half dozen years, a lot remains of it, including several substantial concrete buildings and a long row of coke ovens. Clearly everything here...
In early August, Connie and I were out exploring a lonely section of Alberta, the dry belt region southeast of Hanna. It’s a forgotten and empty place with few inhabitants, ghost towns and seemingly more abandoned farms then those that are lived in. In other words, it’s the perfect playground...
While biking the Cranbrook to Kimberley rails-to-trails pathway we found both a Trillium and a Boler (and a deer) not far away from each other, in the small community of Marysville. The old rail line here takes a high path behind the town and from this lofty vantage point it...
I’ve noticed that you always seem to stumble across a Boler when you’re not looking for one and that’s proven here. This example was spotted completely by chance (as is often the case), while we drove around Cranbrook BC in September 2013. It’s in the common grey and white factory...
It’s been many, many years…no…actually its been two decades since I last visited Moyie Falls near Cranbrook BC. I’ve been meaning to return and have made plans to do so many times over the years, but for one reason or another, something always got in the way that prevented this...
The grain elevator seen in this article is located at the Wilson Farm north of Drumheller Alberta, but once sat along the rail line in the town of Gartly, just to the north. Gartly is gone, the rail line is abandoned, but the elevator survives. Constructed in the late 1920s...
This wonderful hike follows the often dry Jura Creek though a deep slot canyon, cascading pools, gravel flats and boulder fields to an interesting and significant geological formation. Along the way, you can also expect to find fossils. This is not a strenuous hike, and in fact we picked it...
Some days we just like to take it easy. Rather than climbing a mountain, hiking to a beautiful lake, or exploring abandoned places, we decided to do something a little more pedestrian. This day we wanted to go berry picking, Saskatoon Berry picking, and the best place to do that...
Stoney Trail in Kananaskis is a good choice for those who crave a nice, easy mountain bike ride β fun, nothing hardcore or overly taxing. Even though the route follows a power line right of way, it’s still pretty scenic. There are no major hills to worry about and normally...
Three Hills Alberta has two standing grain elevators, a massive ex-Alberta Wheat Pool and an ancient ex-Parrish and Heimbecker. Standing directly across from each other, these two create a grain elevator canyon with the CNR’s north/south Alberta mainline passing right through the middle. Of the two, the AWP is in...
Just over two months ago many parts of Southern Alberta were under water. Unusually heavy rains, combined with melting snow pack in the mountains caused widespread flooding and many people were affected. The Bow River in Calgary, normally a pretty pristine and otherwise fairly calm river burst its bank in...
If you’ve driven highway 575 heading eastbound between Acme and Carbon, you have no doubt spotted the large train bridge spanning a deep and wide valley off to your right, at a point roughly halfway between those towns. This is the CNR’s Swalwell Bridge, a large concrete and steel structure...
Once upon a time it was a house, no it was a home, full of hopes, full of dreams, full of LIFE. Now there is nothing but lost memories and a wind that perhaps bears a ghostly resemblance to the noise of the family that once lived within. Here it...
Like almost every other town on the Canadian Prairies, Trochu Alberta was once home to many grain elevators. Today, all that left is a single survivor, a massive structure that looms over the half-vacant downtown core. Looking ready to load a line of rail cars it’s been many years since...
They’re coming to us! In the past, we had to go looking for Bolers, searching high and low and then searching some more. Now they find, like this trailer spotted from our front door. How easy was that? This one was seen in August 2013 in Calgary AB. Boler: A...
The four towns that are the subject of this report, Sheerness, Rose Lynn, Sunnynook and Carolside, are located in a remote corner of Alberta, far off any beaten path. Each lasted only a short while and in fact there is little to see today, but even so they still left...
Delia Alberta is a small community located just northeast of Drumheller. It sits along an abandoned Canadian National Railways line (tracks still in place on our visit) and was once home to a good number of grain elevators, all nothing but a memory today save for one, the subject of...
Outside of gatherings or conventions, finding two Boler Trailers together is pretty rare. This miss-matched pair was found in Sundre Alberta and being side by side it allows us to compare differences between the two sizes made. The left one is the smaller but more common egg-like 13′ model. Its...
Anyone who reads this blog knows we seem to have great luck finding rare, old or interesting trucks, cars and vehicles. This trip, on the Heritage Day long weekend, was no exception. We found ourselves in the Hanna area in eastern Alberta doing some field research, and this work had...
This could be a banner year for Boler spotting and while out walking in our own neighbourhood we find another of these little trailers. We’re approaching three dozen seen in 2013, this one in August. It’s hitched up to a car looking like it’s ready to go on a long...
Sure, these two βfirst classβ establishments, the Seymour and New National in Hanna Alberta, are called hotels but for the last few decades mostly catered to the drinking crowd. It’s booze where the money is, although the rooms above may have been rented out at times as extended stay (often...
This old farm is a particularity photogenic one, discovered in an arid and remote corner of Alberta, along a forgotten highway. What makes this find even more interesting is that using our detective skills, we were able to dig up information on who lived there β amazing! Unlike most farms,...
Here’s another Boler trailer found completely by chance. Driving up Crowchild Trail, this one was spotted from that road, sitting in an alley that it borders on. It was seen in August 2013 in the Calgary neighbourhood of Sunalta. The tally for this year, including this trailer is thirty three...
Perry, Garth, Bish and Gordon July 25\85. Inside the historic Hanna Alberta Roundhouse and these scratchings date from the time the building was repurposed and operated as a cattle auction mart. Of all things. The little details tell a story and are the things we look for.
Go to the comments to learn more!
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2018. Submitted by Connie.
The historic Pilot Bay Lighthouse, in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, dates back to the early 1900s and remained in use for almost ninety years. Post retirement itβs been preserved in place on a point overlooking gorgeous Kootenay Lake and easily reached via a short hiking trail. Spectacular scenery, a blast of lake air, and a little history awaits those who pay it a visit.
Go to the comments to learn more and for a bonus photo from the top.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2021. Submitted by Connie. Thank goes out to Dale for helping make this post possible.
When you park your jet in a sketchy neighbourhood...
FSKE: Bombardier/Canadair Regional Jet from the mid-1990s and now stripped valuable parts. It's one of many in this boneyard connected to an aircraft leasing firm and they were spotted during a lunchtime stroll while doing work in the area.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2021. Submitted by Connie.
Saskatchewan and curling are forever connected. While it's not as popular as it once was and many rinks are no longer used (like this one), still a lot of people in the province play. We didn't notice the door pull at this facility until leaving and had a little chuckle. This rural single-sheet rink seems intact but it's been a while since anyone had a game here. Old papers and calendars scattered about suggest 2002 was the last season.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2021. Submitted by Connie.
I noticed Chris had this in his queue since last fall but never posted it. He appears in this video but as the shyest and most humble person you'll ever meet (ask anyone who knows him), was perhaps uncomfortable with the idea. I've know him for 30 years, and that's him.
Here's a piece from our friends Jim and Jay of the Caped Wonder Podcast, and Chris joined them while exploring sites seen in the original Superman movie franchise. Chris was credited with finding the site of the gas station explosion a few years back and it too is visited in this video.
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