Other Great Parks in Alberta, You Say?  Indeed! 

As we left Banff (in the sunshine!!!) we looked over at the lovely looking Legacy Trail, which winds along by the highway from Canmore to Banff, wishing that we had made our reservation in Canmore instead of Airdrie so we could have ridden on it, but what was done was done and off we drove to Airdrie. We were booked at the Days Inn there but before going to check in, we stopped off at a local laundry to wash clothes.  This is one of the little things about life on the road that can get a bit tedious, but I have to say, after having to wash our clothes quite often by hand last year in Mexico and Cuba, using a laundry mat was quite the treat.  We tossed our clothes into the machine, went for a little walk, came back to put them in the dryer and repeated the process, stopping for coffee in a sweet little local restaurant while we waited.  It was nice to have all clean things again (apologies – not all of van life is glamorous!) and we drove to our hotel for the night. 

Checking in was a breeze and while the sun was shining, we knew that rain was in the forecast yet again and so were happy to settle into a dry building for the remainder of the day.  Not much to report other than it was quiet, the bed was comfortable and we opted to watch some Netflix on the computer rather than watch tv – funny us! 

Come morning, the rain was indeed coming down and it continued to follow us down the highway to Drumheller.  However, today we had a plan for that, so we were good.  We drove out to the Royal Tyrrell museum to spend the afternoon looking at dinosaur bones!  Of course, this being summer and Drumheller being a magnet for families to visit this very same place, and with the rain complicating people’s plans… well, you can imagine what it was like.  When my kids were little, we used to go to the Vancouver Aquarium or Science World on a rainy day and this was pretty much exactly as I remember those days – too many little kids and too many tired parents make for my least favourite kind of museum experience.  However, the magnificence of the exhibits we saw overcame my initial reluctance and we ended up spending several hours walking through and being thoroughly in awe of the displays we saw.  It is mind boggling to try to imagine when you are touching a bone that is 75 million years old that amount of time – just so incredible!!!!   

We left the museum to find the sun shining at last and so wandered the lovely 1.5 km interpretive trail just behind the museum.  It was very pleasant to walk in the fresh air after the rain and get a closer look at the very different landscape out here.   

When we finished, we drove up the hill to check out a potential spot for us to stay that night.  Horse thief Canyon lookout is a lovely little pullout with a fantastic view of the valley below.  As it was very quiet (except for the many Prairie Dogs flitting around in the field), we got the drone out and practiced a few of the shots we have wanted to try.  It was fun to be able to fly the drone in a place that was so beautifully and scenic but still safe enough that if the drone got into trouble we could rescue it.  Our drone time done, we headed back into town to take advantage of the dinner served at the local grocery store.  They had a great menu and even provided tables and free wifi – bonus!  Satiated, we stopped by the local library where we both worked (me on the blog, Jim on videos) until they closed at 8:00.  By then we felt it was fine to show up at our overnight lookout and even though there were several cars there to watch the sunset, we felt comfortable.  Of course, we didn’t set up to sleep until they had all left and just enjoyed watching the sun go down with everyone else.  It was a lovely way to end out day.  With sun forecast for the next day, we planned to cycle the 48 km Dinosaur Trail. 

In the morning, after a perfectly quiet and lovely night’s rest, we made our coffee and enjoyed our breakfast while watching the Prairie Dogs cavorting around in front of us.  They sure don’t seem bothered by people a whole lot and were very entertaining.  Once breakfast was packed away, we headed into town, picking up some snacks first and then heading to the Visitor’s Centre to park the van while we rode.  We brought the drone in hopes of using it, but that part of the day was a bust – too close to an airfield and too windy.  Oh well, next time.  The ride was challenging for us as we had not been able to ride much in the weeks leading up to our leaving Nanaimo, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.  If you are curious about the details of that day, click over to https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/cherrypicking/drumheller-loop/ 

The day done, we again ate at the grocery store (such a good deal!) before trying a different lookout that we had checked out on our ride.  This one, the Orkney Lookout, was just across the canyon from our last night’s stay and offered a different view of the valley, one that was even more spectacular.  As we pulled in, we saw another van getting set up.  They were putting up a tarp, something we would not do in a situation such as this.  The point of wild camping in this fashion is to not be obvious that you are, indeed, camping overnight so as not to offend the other people making use of this spot.  As it turns out, the next day we heard that a sign had been put up about no overnight parking at this location.  Too bad, because it was simply gorgeous!  However, we did enjoy watching a rain storm blow through before the sun again came out and we were able to enjoy another lovely sunset before settling in for another wonderful quiet night. 

  

Come morning, we found that yet another van had pulled in later in the night.  The owner, a young German fellow, came by to say hello to us as we sat on a bench enjoying our morning coffee.  He and his girlfriend were on a 1 ½ year trip around North America and they happily showed us their very impressive van build.  It was funny because on the outside, the van looked kind of beat up but the inside was amazing!  Tongue and groove wood lined the walls, complete with pot lights in the ceiling.  They had a great little kitchen, a convection stove in the door and so many drawers and places to put things.  It was pretty impressive and they were quite pleased with how it was working for them.  It is fun to see how different people handle this whole van life thing and always nice to chat with folks about how we find the world when travelling in such an unconventional way.   

After our chat, we packed up, intending to make a quick stop in town to find some mosquito netting for the windows before heading out.  However, there really is no hurry to do anything now.  We don’t have any reservations that we need to get to and so as we talked about it, we decided to take the day and just get a few things done, including spending more time at the library.  You might be thinking,  “hey! You guys are retired! Why are you working so hard?” But the thing is, we both really enjoy this whole blog/Youtube thing and as we are just getting started, there is a fair bit more work involved in getting both things to where we want them, so yes, we are taking the time to work, but it is on our terms and when we want to.   

With the day coming to a close, we decided to try one more boondocking site that we had seen on ioverlander.  This one was out of town a ways, but it was in the direction we would be travelling the next day so that worked well.  We drove out to Horseshoe Canyon Recreational Area and checked carefully to make sure there were no signs prohibiting overnight parking (nope, none here!).  This spot was another great one with several wonderful overlooks of the small canyon below.  There were also steps that you could take to walk down into the canyon,  but as the wind was picking up and it looked like rain (again!) we decided to just walk around the rim and take in the sites from there.  Quite a lovely spot. If you are ever in this region make sure you stop and take a walk. 

The next morning we were up and out fairly early so that we could get down to Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump, about a four hour drive to the south.  When we looked at the map, however, it seemed as if we would be driving right through Vulcan!  This little town (named Vulcan way before Star Trek ever became a thing) has taken on the identity of the home town of Spock, that well loved character from the series and movies.  Indeed, Leonard Nimoy even came to town at one point.  Each year they hold a Star Trek convention, but we were happy to just stop and get our obligatory Spock and Star Trek photos before moving on.  A cool little town! 

We arrived at HSIBJ at a reasonable hour and found it to be a remarkable place.  A buffalo jump is a place where First Nations people (I believe it is Blackfoot here) would very cleverly herd a group of buffalo towards a steep drop off.  At the right time, they would spook the animals who would then run right over the cliff, thus providing a winter’s worth of food for the people. The name for this park comes from the story of a young First Nations boy who wanted to see the buffalo jump from a better point of view and so hid under the cliff hangover.  The buffalo were so many this year that as he watched them fall in front of him, they finally piled up to where he was hidden and he had his head smashed in by the falling animals.   

This is a wonderful place and well worth the trip out.  You get to walk out and see the actual place where the buffalo were herded over as well as go through a really well laid out interpretive centre.  If you like, you can also partake of buffalo at the restaurant in the centre.  We declined, and instead headed out for a short walk around the bottom of the jump.  The grasslands you can see from here are beautiful and the wind fierce.  Apparently, it is very windy here almost all of the time.  Good thing we were driving and not cycling this day! 

Finished with this park, we headed off to another, also a Blackfoot site.  This one, called Writing-on-Stone, is in another valley.  When we stopped in at the Visitor’s Centre, we found another very well appointed interpretive centre.  This one is not quite as extensive as Head Smashed In, but still very informative.  We found out that there is a 5km self-guided walk we could go on and if we were staying over at the camp ground, we could have gone on a much longer guided walk inside the archaeological zone which is fenced off to the public.  We asked about camping but they were full – rats!!!  However, as we still had time in the day, we took the opportunity to go on the walk and my oh my, was it fantastic! The topography is incredible here – so many amazing rock formations!  We took far too many pictures, but here are a few. 

In addition to the rock formations, there are places where you can see pictographs from ancient people on the rock face.  One, at the very end, depicts a big battle between three tribes.  It was all pretty incredible and we felt very fortunate to be able to walk out and see it all.  Before leaving this lovely place, we stopped in again at the Visitor’s Centre where I was able to speak with a Blackfoot elder who works there.  I was very interested to find out that they have a thriving school population in the Blackfoot Nation and all children attending their schools learn the Blackfoot language.  There is even one school where the students speak Blackfoot as their first language.  It is heartening to see these people being given the respect they deserve as the first people to live in this beautiful country.  For far too long they have been treated so poorly (and indeed still are in many ways).  I left hopeful from this encounter, that things will continue to improve for the First People of Canada.   

I should note that both Head Smashed In and Writing On Stone are World Heritage Sites, which is pretty amazing when you think that you can go to both of them in one day!  We will most definitely return to camp at Writing On Stone so that we can go on the longer guided tour, and we highly recommend both as very special places to visit.   

So, there you go.  Alberta is more that Jasper/Banff and a bunch of cowboy stuff at the Calgary Stampede.  There is so much to see and do here and I have to say, the quality of their parks is pretty amazing.  Makes me wonder what’s the deal in my home province of BC!