BIG LOVE for Connie & anyone fighting Breast Cancer. Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie - BIGDoer.com: Over 1730 articles! Over one point three million words! Over 25k photos! Tens of thousands of hours invested! Tens of thousands of visitors per month! 37k registered users!To view all content, please log-in with email or social: Log In! (new window) This also enables the contact us page, commenting and pop-ups are eliminated.Or signup free, here: Subscriber Register .Hiking & Boler articles are never restricted. News: 2nd Quarter 2024 -If you appreciate what we do, please Help the Society .- Comments are currently offline and we're uncertain if they'll be turned on again. Bad users spoiled it for all.- Chris joined Jim Bowers and Jay Towers for the Superman Caped Wonder Podcast (Facebook new window).- After all that effort, we've mercifully pulled the plug on the book "Lost Alberta: Forgotten and Abandoned History" announced in 2020. Read about it on Facebook (new window): Cancelled! EMBRACE THIS MESS!

BIGDoer.com is unpolished in every way and simply casual fun. Tips and pointers for new users...-We do this for the pure joy of it.-This site does not make money.-We failed English class.-Some posts and/or photos, older ones especially, are pure cringe.-Commenting is encouraged, especially if you add to the story and really helps to motive the team.-Speaking of comments: refer to them for reader updates.-Older section of this website are slower to load - sorry.-When we chat about history: things were different then and may be in conflict with contemporary views. In other words, the olden days were weird!-If a location is not mentioned, it's by design and done to protect sensitive sites.-If you read something that requires correction, bring it to our attention and we'll fix it and send you a gift (plus we'll give you a shout out).-Posts reflect what we knew at the time and some are horribly outdated.-The site is a little repetitive but also know this: the site is a little repetitive.-If you don't like the subject of a post, move on and find something else of interest - there's a lot here! But pace yourself.-Odd, obscure. offbeat and a different take - that's us.

Off The Beaten Path – with Chris & ConnieHiking-Adventure-History-Exploration Journal of the BIGDoer.com Society, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Presented by Chris “BIGDoer” Doering & Connie Biggart. Your hosts... Come with us and discover! Team BIGDoer.com's mandate: to document historic sites and things before they're gone; to experience life in a crazy way, to play in the great outdoors, to observe, learn and share the experience with others. We are the curious. We hope you are too. BIGDoer.com operates as a non-profit. This site makes no money. Our stuff's seen far and wide, all over the internet, in print and on TV... BIGDoer? Pronounced big-door; a compound (or portmanteau) word arrived from the names Connie BIGgart and Chris DOERing. Now you know! This website is an ongoing work in progress. There are regular updates in the form of new articles, and revisions and corrections to old ones (yes, we mess-up). Of course, we always welcome input from our readers. Images and content are copyright Chris Doering & Connie Biggart and BIGDoer.com, unless otherwise noted. Sharing our work is encouraged, as long as credit is given. Unsure where to begin? Try this page... BIGDoer.com sitemap . Reach Us! -suggest a place to visit, invite us to your historic site, show us something old, hire us or host us, suggest a website to visit, inform us, tell us it’s your birthday, tell us you like what we’re doing… BIGDoer.com on Facebook (new window) – for the latest news!

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Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie/BIGDoer.com Stats: Over 1730 articles! Over one point three million words! Over 25k photos! Tens of thousands of hours invested! Tens of thousands of visitors per month! 37k registered users! And it's all growing. On the menu every day: -Abandoned Places-Hiking Adventures-Vintage Machinery-Historic Sites-Then & Now Comparisons-Train Stuff-And Random Silly Things (Boler!) Why so many differing subjects? Why have one obsession when you can have many? There's lots here for everyone to enjoy. Why do this? The big question is why not? We love to discover and share adventures with others of a similar passion. Enjoy the ride! Why do I have to sign up to see more posts? To keep out the riff-raff, of course! Haha. This is busy site is so costly to run that we have to restrict access or go broke. How is this all paid for? We get a few donations (much appreciated) and the occasional grant for historic themed work. Mostly, it's self funded, however. We don't want ads even if it'd go a long way in covering costs. Why are some locations kept secret? This is to protect sensitive sites.

by Chris Doering · Published April 1, 2024 · Updated January 18, 2024

Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie/BIGDoer.com

Over 1730 articles! Over one point three million words! Over 25k photos! Tens of thousands of hours invested! Tens of thousands of visitors per month! 37k registered users!

On the menu every day:

Abandoned Places
Hiking Adventures
Vintage Machinery
Historic Sites
Then & Now Comparisons
Train Stuff
And Random Fun Things

Quick FAQ:

Why so many differing subjects? Why have one obsession when you can have many? There’s lots here for everyone to enjoy.

Why do this? The big question is why not? We love to discover and share adventures with others of a similar passion. Enjoy the ride!

Why do I have to sign up to see more posts? To keep out the riff-raff, of course! Haha. This is busy site is so costly to run that we have to restrict access or go broke.

How is this all paid for? We get a few donations (much appreciated) and the occasional grant for historic themed work. Mostly, it’s self funded, however. We don’t want ads even if it’d go a long way in covering costs.

Why are some locations kept secret? This is to protect sensitive sites.

We’re always working on new subjects, so be sure and stop by often!

Random posts to keep you entertained…

Retro Motels Medicine Hat

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St James Priddis

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New Horizon Mall is Strange!

To reach out or to say hi, go here: contact us!

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Sharon Wingenbach: You Are Here: Corral 4 Drive-in Calgary
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola: Alexandra Bridge Fraser Canyon BC
Bob Fortin: CPR Illecillewaet Bridge Revelstoke BC
Rory Brown: Downtown Calgary & CPR Tracks 1977-2014
Dale: The Forgotten Cemetery of Morrissey BC
Sharon Wingenbach: MacDonald Bridge Calgary ~70 Years Apart
Gary Small: Polish Hall Coleman Alberta (1927)
Twold7: Calgary Inglewood Haskins/Victory Block
Gary Small: CPR Bow River Bridge (Abandoned)
Ken Newel: Grain Elevators of Turin Alberta
Gary Small: Silver Creek Coal Mine Skunk Hollow
Bonita Hudson: Coleman Miners’ Hospital 100 Years Apart
Gary Small: Dunshalt Alberta 1974 and 2013
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola: The Giants of Cathedral Grove (BC)
Gary Small: Highway History (BC): the Garbage Gobbler

Posting soon!

Byron Robb - Zeke - Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola - Don Wilson - Johanna (Connie) Biggart - Dale

It costs a King's ransom to run BIGDoer.com and your help is appreciated!

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Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie - BIGDoer.com1 week ago

We used to do something called the "pointless challenge" 🤪 and miss those days. It was so much silly fun and often frustrating as heck. In these we'd invite people to send in random photos of obscure locations, but not give any information, and then we'd track where it was and shoot something similar.

Most of these came from old family collections, as was the case here. Anyone up to resurrecting the series?

In hindsight, why didn't we pose someone in our shot?

Pointless: “Devoid of meaning (or) senseless” Merriam-Webster.

If you like what we do and want to support this ongoing project (12 years now), go here: https://www.BIGDoer.com/help-the-society/ Thanks to Connie for making this post possible.

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: ca1970 and 2014. Posted by Connie.

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Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie - BIGDoer.com1 week ago

Captured on a cold, cold day many years ago. We've been passing this old house for decades and it's little changed in that time. At some point we expect to drive by and it'll be gone.

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.

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Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie - BIGDoer.com1 week ago

When retired old railway cars usually get cut up for scrap. Sometimes, however, they find their way into the hands of the general public or whomever. Flat cars make good bridges, and boxcars can be transformed into storage buildings and the like. Case in point here. We see them used like this often enough and in this case, it's part of a corral.

Incidentally, this boxcar dates from 1950 and this was found by tracing the old road number, which is still visible.

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.

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Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie - BIGDoer.com1 week ago

This central Alberta racetrack was never a commercial operation but instead just a fun place for car enthusiasts in the area to get together. Early '70s or thereabouts and it only lasted a few years. Even thought it's been abandoned for that long, there is no doubt what was here.

You know we like the the obscure stuff and this one fits the bill perfectly. Found by accident while backroad cruising and the history comes thanks to local car guy Mike.

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.

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Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie - BIGDoer.com1 week ago

On top of little Myrtle Mountain in the Kimberley (BC) Nature Park.

There's some good wilderness fun to be had here and nice views as you can see, but the real reason we came is mining history. The whole area near the ski hill was extensively worked over a century ago and we were looking for evidence of this. We didn't find much in the area searched, but it's a big chunk of property and we hope to return to cover more ground again soon. Of all the subjects we cover, mining related is a favourite.

Still, it was a good hike and that can't be bad. Look to the comments for more info 👇.

Exploring nature and history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.

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Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie - BIGDoer.com1 week ago

It's a strange curiosity in south Kananaskis, there on a hillside and we have no idea who created it. We asked around and no one's completely sure about its history. In the past it showed the Canada 100 logo from 1967 but in 2017 someone changed it to reflect the country's 150th.

That's our friend Emily from DanOCan.com having a look.

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.