In the early stages of winter, conditions in the Sibbald area of Kananaskis are often dry and fairly snow free. With that in mind the trail up Cox Hill, a broad and gentle ridge located nearby, seems like an excellent choice for a hike. It’s an official trail, meaning it...
Over fifty years separate the two pictures yet not a whole lot has changed between them. The tracks are still there, the warehouse building is still there and even the lettering shown in the first image is still there. Check the third picture to see the latter. Nelson BC is...
Once again we find another Boler in Nelson BC, this time it’s in August 2011 in the neighbourhood of Rosemont (home of Rosemont Radio). It’s amazing how many of these little eggs survive and just how many of them call Nelson home. This example is a Honey Bee Boler and...
During World War Two the Royal Canadian Air Force constructed a number of air bases in Southern Alberta to be used by the Commonwealth Air Training Program. It’s here where pilots from all over the British Empire were instructed in flying fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. The airport seen here...
Heavy rain and unusually high snow pack in the mountains forced us to stay in town. Little did we know that there would be flooding everywhere and our choice of strolling along the Bow River might not have been such a good idea. Everywhere trails, picnic areas and parks where...
Lillian Lake is a beautiful spot, a wonderful destination, it’s superlative, but it’s not the place to go if you want solitude. It’s busy! That aside, the trail to it is still a very pleasant affair following the Galatea Creek valley west until it meets up with the lovely lake....
Another nice looking Boler found in Nelson BC at the municipal campground, in August 2012. In all the places we’ve seen these trailers, Nelson takes the award for sheer volume seen. We saw so many in fact on this one weekend, it was hard to keep track of them all....
I love old trucks, so imagine my excitement in finding this yard full of gems. We were just strolling around Airdrie on a horribly dreary and depressing afternoon in the depths of winter and by chance came across this collection. It made the day so much more interesting. Some of...
The wind on Pasque Mountain is legendary and on the two trips up to fine ridge we’ve been unable to proceed past the southwest summit because of it. The gusts are powerful enough to knock a person over, even a large fellow like me. So for the time being we’ve...
For this adventure we return to Mist Ridge, a simply wonderful hike. We’ve done it before and it’s in line to becoming one of our favourites, The trail is an old and easy to follow exploration road and we use it to get within metres of the ridge’s south summit....
Another nice looking Boler, seen in August 2012 in Nelson BC. This is one very steep hill – the photo does not do the grade justice. Yikes, it must be hell in winter. Not only known for extreme roads like this one, Nelson must be the centre of the Boler...
While travelling back from vacation we decided to stop and have some lunch. But wait, what do we see? Is that smoke? Oh no, a forest fire! Wow, it’s growing as we watch and in no time is devouring a stand of trees that flank the steep sides of a...
This well maintained example was seen in August, 2012 in Nelson BC. This small town must certainly have the highest density of Bolers seen anywhere and the count this trip was around half a dozen of them. That’s not bad considering these little trailers have not been made for many...
While travelling on the Kootenay Bay to Balfour ferry I’ve often wondered about those power lines to the north that dangle just above the lake (actually they are over 35m above the lake – it just looks like they are almost touching the water). I am sure others have thought...
The PayRoll mine is a property in the Moyie River area. Clearly never more than a small producer, there are at least eight adits at the site that we documented. Only one was suitable for us to enter, the others being too short to bother with, or too dangerous. There...
Grain elevators are more often associated with the vast expanses of Canadian prairie so seeing one deep in heart of British Columbia seems really odd. However here in the mountain flanked Creston Valley conditions are prefect for growing grain and this helps explain why a few of these “prairie sentinels”...
This nice little Boler was seen in very tight quarters on the MV Balfour ferry. Travelling between Kootenay Bay and Balfour BC, this is the longest free ferry ride in the world. In addition to this ship, seen heading west on our trip, this route also hosts the newer and...
This report represents our third or fourth trip to Burstall Pass. We’ve gone so many times I can’t remember. Even though it is often a busy place – something I’m not really fond of but can live with – we always enjoy our visit and I am certain we’ll return...
What can I say, Trout Lake City BC is like Nirvana for a history buff such as myself. With every turn there are fascinating places to explore. I could spend an entire summer there and not run out of things to do. The only sad part of this trip was...
A more boring trail could not be imagined. But in the end, it turned out a lot more interesting than expected which I’ll elaborate on shortly. We planned to bag one of the many nearby ridges, but incredible winds up high (which are common in this part of Kananaskis), forced...
In the winter there are a limited number of mountains that can be climbed easily. Many are inaccessible or too difficult or dangerous. Prairie Mountain is an exception to this rule and so it becomes our pick for this day. I doubt we’d ever consider it in summer, as it...
I am not sure if this little grassy topped mountain has an official name, but I’ve heard it casually referred to as Picklejar Ridge many times (no doubt named after the close-by Picklejar Lakes and Picklejar Creek). If others call it such then until we know otherwise so will we....
Deer Ridge, or Weaver Mountain according to the sign at the top, is a nice little outing if you are in the area and have a couple hours to burn. It’s short hop from the parking lot to the base of a the ridge then a quick tramp up from...
With heavy snow pack still in the mountains we attempted a foothills hike hoping conditions would be better. We choose the Sulphur Springs loop trail, but it was no fun, not even worth a trip report. We spent most of our time either post-holing through heavy snow banks or slogging...
Pasque Mountain is an amazing multi-kilometre ridge walk that is just a delight. It’s an easy push to the northwest summit and from there one can spend hours hiking merrily from high point to high point. And if you reach the end of the ridge you’ll be almost directly across...
A few times a year we find ourselves in the Crowsnest Pass, a favourite area of ours. A cabin we rent sits rights below Turtle Mountain and its famous slide and having spent many years admiring it all from below, we decided it was time to see it from the...
Sometimes I wonder why we do what we do. All that hard work, all that huffing and puffing, all that anticipation and all we get to see from the Barrier Lake fire lookout is fog and clouds. How awful! Sitting on the high point of Yates Mountain (also refereed to...
Some days you just want to do nothing or at the very least close to nothing. So this day finds us taking short stroll and follow it by some watching kayaks doing their thing at Harvie Passage on the Bow River. This is the former location of the infamous Calgary...
Built to service the coal mines on the south side of the Red Deer river valley, the East Coulee bridge is an amazing piece of local history. Unusual and rare in design it was used both by trains and vehicular traffic on a common shared roadway. Today, the structure is...
This easy to access ridge walk is very enjoyable and I highly recommend it. You’ll follow an undulating trail along the spine of Wasootch Ridge, gaining and losing and then regaining elevation the whole way. You’ll break out of the trees, head back into them and break out yet again....
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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
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