ALBERTA, CANADA 2023
Sheep River Hikes: 25 km west of Turner Valley along Hwy. 546
runs the Sheep River, in the foothills of the Rockies. Along the road
there are many nice places to get out and do little hikes, like Big
Horn and Sheep Falls. The short trail at the end of the road at
Junction Creek along the river was particularly beautiful!
Kananaskis Lakes: This was a beautiful drive along Hwy 40 to
Peter Laugheed PP ad the Kananaskis Lakes. We spent a fair bit of
time at Upper lake where I did a nice hike to the peninsula, getting
views from its other side, from a beautiful, rocky beach. We stopped
at the information center on the way back where we saw very cute
prairie dogs running around.
Royal Tyrrell Museum: The museum, in Drumheller, is a must
see for anyone interested in dinosaurs and fossil in general. There
are tons of amazing dinosaur fossils that were found locally, and
casts of several very important skeletons found in the US. I have
learned a few things while there and was probably most impressed by
the "Black Beauty", a black T-Rex skeleton found in Alberta. There
are some fossils that you can touch. The place is large (took good 2h
to go through) and wasn't very crowded when we visited. It's sure
worth the $20 to get in (although I have later learned that it used to
be free when it was built, a gift to the Province...).
Horse Thief Canyon: Only about 10min away (north-west) of the
Royal Tyrrell Museum is the little-known Horse Thief Canyon. This is
a great place to stop by to check out some pretty colours and do some
hiking. You can get into the canyon to explore it. I was amazed to
find cacti growing there! I guess they like the winter snow after
all... It would be amazing to spend more time here and do some fossil
hunting.
The Hoodoos: Another amazing place about 15min East of the
Royal Tyrrell Museum are the Drumheller Hoodoos. This place was just
amazing with all the colourful layers of rocks like in the Horse Thief
canyon above, but more sculpted by the elements. I spent a fair bit
of time exploring this site and got many great shots with the
beautiful blue sky.
Athabasca River and Hwy 93: We drove along this beautiful
road on our way to our cottage. Our first quick stop was at Lake
Minnewanka, followed by a great hike along the Silverhorn Creek (loved
the wooden bridge there!) that flows into Waterfoul Lake - the
campground was still closed to the place was not busy at all but I
imagine it would be once they open it up for the summer... After
passing by the Columbia Icefiled, I was very glad to see the beautiful
Athabasca River and hike around the waterfalls.
The Cottage: After a quick stop at Hinton to get some gas and
beer, we headed west on Hwy 40 and then south for at least half an
hour on a gravel road that goes to Rock Lake. We stayed at a great
cabin in the mountains which was surrounded by fields that the elks
seemed to frequent! I counted 35 at one time. I got to sleep outside
with them in a tent as the cabin was a bit too small for all of us.
Heading Home: On our way home we took a different rout a
couple of times, one being through Kakabeka Falls as we stayed outside
of Fort Frances. The waterfalls were nicer than I expected and worth
stopping by. The following night we stayed in Wawa and woke up to a
beautiful foggy day. The last three pics are from a rocky beach we
found on the north shore of Huron on Hwy 538 in Algoma Mills.