In the summer you are unlikely to find us on Eagle Hill. Normally we use this trail only in the shoulder season when other more desirable routes are still covered in snow, but here at the height of summer we have a different reason to tackle it. Less than two...
Waiting patiently for a train that will never come, the lonely little grain elevator seen here sits abandoned and unloved. It’s located in the ghost town of Dorothy, deep in the Alberta badlands east of Drumheller. Somewhat off the beaten path (so perfect for us), it’s a lonely little dot...
Nanton Alberta is located south of Calgary along Highway 2. Looking much like any other small prairie town, it stands out today in that it’s home to four grain elevators. Perhaps that wouldn’t be so odd some years ago, but now these prairie sentinels are pretty rare and finding even...
Always remember to charge your camera batteries!!! For if you don’t you’ll find that it dies at the most inopportune time, like when you are deep in a gorgeous valley that just begs to be photographed. Oops, I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again! On this trip we do a...
In this post we take a look at some old gold mining equipment, an abandoned locomotive on an old rail line, a forgotten graveyard and a small glacier located deep in the mountains. These all date from 2003 and 2004 and prove that old leftovers don’t always need to be...
While exploring old buildings and sites we occasionally come across stray cats. Some are quite wild and very unhappy to see us, while others like one-eye here, are very social and friendly. Clearly he’s a fighter and beside his missing eye he had battle scars all over his entire body....
In spite of being located not terribly far from Calgary, Brown Lowery Provincial Park is still not that well known. It’s a small oasis of wilderness in amongst farms and ranches and is home to lots of wildlife and a large network of hiking trails that you can enjoy. Often...
The face of railways in Western Canada changed in the mid 1990s. Prior to that time the two major carriers were required to maintain most prairie branchlines, even if that line was a money loser (most were, even with subsidies). The government felt it was essential that they be kept...
If you’ve been a previous visitor to this site you already know I’ve taken a great interest in time lapse photography, although my equipment and the videos I have produced are strictly amateur hour stuff (I have fun though). The work you see here is what I wish I could...
Often seen from a distance, what we initially think is a Boler turns out to be Trillium – like this cold little trailer seen in a storage yard in Black Diamond Alberta. This is a more modern example from that maker, called the Trillium Outback, which has a Boler-like feature...
These photos, taken in 1992 and 2004, show some of the remains at the ghost town of Bankhead Alberta. Located inside Banff National Park, mining and other industrial activities were once tolerated here and what you see in this report is evidence of that. Quite a change from today where...
When the weather is ugly and it keeps you out of the mountains or if you’re not feeling terribly ambitious but want to get out of the city, the Friendship Trail is a nice choice. It’s a short little paved path that connects the small towns of Turner Valley and...
Hire Chris and his associates as your genealogist, history detective or research agent. As you can see by the âexploring historyâ articles written for this blog, Chris is fascinated with the past and is a real sticker for details – he digs up the real facts. As a âhistory detectiveâ...
Connie’s challenge to me, find a Boler trailer on Google Streetview. It’s the Boler spotting game to the extreme and after many months and countless wasted hours virtually travelling throughout southern Alberta â success!! The example seen here was seen in Longview Alberta and was visited in person on December...
Just once we'd like to get a clear shot of the grain terminal in Cassils Alberta without a pesky train photo bombing the shot. đ
Empress #2816 and it's seen last week on the Final Spike Steam Train as it heads east. We had wonderful luck picking more out of the way locations and completely avoided any crowds. There were only a few people present here but we saw footage showing rather chaotic scenes elsewhere.
We met a few old friends on this adventure, made some new ones and had a grand time. If we chatted along the way, it was so nice to meet you, and we invite any of our readers/friends to share photos they captured of this historic train. Drop photos in the comments and can't wait to see them!
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2024. Posted by Connie.
We used to do something called the "pointless challenge" đ€Ș 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: âDevoid of meaning (or) senselessâ 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 đ.
Exploring nature and history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
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