alberta

Canadian Prairies and Dinosaur Provincial Park

Canadian Prairies and Dinosaur Provincial Park

Marty’s Road Trip Prairies and British Columbia

It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted anything here of our cross country road trip.  We have traversed the Canadian Prairies, spent a little time in Calgary and have been sitting in the Okanagan for almost a week. 

I’ve tried to post a few things on Instagram. 

You can see some here: @martysroadtrip1 

I’ve also posted a couple of photos here: @misterglue1

A couple of videos of the Canadian Prairies here.  We had a stop in Medicine Hat.  From there to Calgary we took a small detour and spent a couple of hours visiting Dinosaur Provincial Park.  We have been to Drumheller but Dinosaur Park beats in hands down.  We were walking the park near the end of April and it was plenty warm enough.  Apparently, in the summer months it can be over 140°C!!  So, If you can, visit in other than summer months. 

The first video here is some prairie footage.  The crops that one can see from the highway, you would think that Canada could feed the whole world

The second video is our walk through Dinosaur Provincial Park.

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Hiking Grotto Canyon, Exshaw, Alberta

Hiking Grotto Canyon, Exshaw, Alberta

Perfect Weather for a Mountain Hike

When we lived in Calgary one of our favourite short hikes was Grotto Canyon near Exshaw.  A short hike; about seven kilometres to the hoodoo and back.  But quite spectacular nonetheless.  And it is less that an hour from Calgary, depending where in the city you are coming from!

Not difficult at all.  That said, the walk in is rocky so wear sturdy shoes or boots.  We went in near the end of May and there were sections with still several feet of ice. In winter one should definitely wear crampons on your footwear to keep from slip sliding away.

From the parking lot it is probably a little over two Kilometres to the bend where the falls are (to the right).  The bend is to the left.  Surprisingly, there was very little water in the stream or coming down the wall near the waterfall

If you go past the falls through the steep walls to the left you will come to a section where there are about a hundred cairns (piled up rocks).  I’m sure these get destroyed each year with the water cascading out of the mountains, then rebuilt each year.

Keep going past that you will come to a hoodoo on the left with a small cave near the top of it.  We have in the past gone a couple of kilometres past the hoodoo but never got to anywhere there was great views.  Lots of other hikes for that. 

Yvonne and I went with her son Spencer on this hike. He’d never been to this spot.  Great day, perfect weather.

Check out a nice walkabout at Elbow Falls, Alberta

#elbowfalls #alberta

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Mountain Horses Near Cochrane, Alberta

Mountain Horses Near Cochrane, Alberta

Marty and Horses

Lots of driving the first few days of June to get home.  I thought I might have a bit of time to continue to do some blog posts but lo and behold almost two weeks have passed!  Life catches up to one sometimes.

The photos of horses near the mountains in these are taken around one of my favourite spots near Cochrane, Alberta.  There are a number of ranches where, over the years, I would often approach groups of horses.  I’m usually on the roadside of the fence and a small group might come from some few hundred metres away.  Curious beasts.  And then I’d have two or three fighting to get selfies with me.  This trip, most of the groups that I passed were some distance away except for the two that you see. 

The one with the mountains in the distance walked to a point where he seemed to be posing specifically for the shot. 

More Mountain Horses

#horses #mountainhorses #alberta

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