Traveling across Alberta has proven to be rewarding in so many ways so far, from mighty mountains to city wonders… I got to experience so much thrill and awe it’s tough to put into words.
Today, I bring you another blog dedicated to these travels and this time I go somewhere very different. I am going to explore canyon landscapes. I find it fascinating how rich this land is… you can drive in one direction and end up in mountain and lake heaven, or you can drive in the opposite direction and end up in desert -like- canyon land.
So, this was the plan for today… as per usual the start of the day was set early, making sure no time is wasted for exploring. Driving in the direction of Drumheller, I stopped off at a quiet village for a refreshing cup of coffee to kickstart the day (how else).
Already the scene has changed immensely, the houses were very different in style, streets also… I admired the scene surrounding me while I drank the delicious coffee outside on the bench, it was incredibly quiet… not too many people around the dusty town roads…. All that was lacking was tumbleweeds.
Upon resuming the journey the views got pretty plain…. With flat fields stretching for miles, although some occasional gems did make an appearance, such as a massive tree that seemed to grow stuffed animals…. It’s quite hard to imagine my sheer amazement as I looked at the tree with leaves replaced with hundreds of toys and massive bears…. I would of stopped to take a photo but rushing to get to main destination was a priority…. Also…. It could have been some sort of a trap! Who knows right?! Hehe
Another attraction was while driving past farm fields…. Over such flat lands, far in the distance I saw a farm house…. But it was all BLACK?! I mean, I only managed to snap the photo seconds before we drove past it, so didn’t get a proper look but it seemed really out of place. I assume a cloud shadow was cast over the farm but the massive contrast was something I’ve seen for the first time ever….
Finally, we arrived at the Badlands. We parked the car and looked over the canyon land beyond us, I was mesmerized. I started climbing down immediately, there was steps for tourists but they were closed down and it seemed a lot of people didn’t want to find an alternative and instead admired from far away…. I’m too stubborn and curious for that. So there I was, taking a complete random, dusty and steep path down, occasionally having to do a little climb down as well. Although a lot more challenging I found it quite adventurous… I don’t know, there’s something edgy about trying not to break your ankles that adds a bit of thrill and excitement to the journey.
As I was walking down, the wind was becoming less existent and the already hot day started turning even hotter. The ground was dusty and covered with cracks begging for a drop of water. There were numerous lizards I spotted sprinting across bushes and chipmunks made an appearance also…. Ahhh these cute guys are awesome.
I was stunned by all the colors of canyons that were surrounding me…. The dusty yellows and deep reds, it was so beautiful. Surprising element was the size of the canyon land, although you don’t get much feel of the scale…. They seem really big and impressive in images, but the reality is that in fact they are quite small…. So don’t get the idea that this is something of a grand canyon size. The size doesn’t take away any awe or excitement though, the place is as magnificent and beautiful as it looks on photos.
(That tinyy person is mee!)
The whole place was so different to Calgary city or Banff… complete opposite in fact, it seemed like I was in another country! It was wonderful to experience such contrasting landscapes just by taking an opposite route. (sorry to point it out again, but I found it quite mind-blowing).
After sitting down and looking at the beauty surrounding me, it was time to move on to another destination… which was the Hoodos. En route there, we managed to get lost and drive for 30 minutes away from our destination… ahhh the joys of roadtrips!
Eventually though we found our route, and we knew we were in the right place as soon as we approached the town which had little statues of dinosaurs everywhere…
The dusty air and landscapes became more prominent in these parts so before arriving at the hoodoos, we took a a stroll around the town and went to the small quirky café that was run as a family business for years. Refuelling our energy in food and coffee, I was ready to face some more amazing sights on this journey.
The Hoodos were something out of this world… the idea that these rock formations were formed naturally blew my mind! And the fact that they stood there for thousands of years baring witness to so many events is even better. The unique, mushroom like design was so captivating, I stood there admiring these wonders of nature. For a second there I even felt as if I was on a different planet!
I explored the surrounding desert area, walked around admiring the ins- and outs of this beautiful place until the hot air was too much for me to take and combined with my child-like excitement my head was starting to feel dizzy from all the running and exploring!
So we called it a day! For the hoodos that is! There was so much more to see around the area. There were desert towns which were home to 28 residents, there were infamous bridges surrounding area…. So much more I could write about, but once again I’m trying to restrict myself or we will never reach the end of my Canadian adventures hehe
So here we were, at our last stop. To celebrate the successful day of sightseeing, we headed to the Canadian oldest saloon. Can we just take a minute to apprieciate how AMAZING that is?! And from the moment I layed my eyes on the interior of this place, I fell in love.
To be honest I felt a lot in that moment, there was excitement, joy but even slight- confusion, because my brain was trying to process all the awesome things that were there… but there was so much I didn’t know where to look first. And in that moment, my company knew- that we were going to be in there for a while…
While the old music was playing in the background, and people chatting in joy- I walked around the place admiring all the little wonders and weird things that piled on over the years…. The vintage cameras, skulls, bones, stuffed animals, toys, cigarette packets, hunting tools, sports items, cans after food or even money from different parts of the world plastered all over the ceiling… I could go on… but I think you get an idea. All together it sounds like a pile of mess, but all these things being neatly orchestrated on surrounding walls actually gave the place a sort of harmony.
After admiring the surrounding ‘treasures’, and even old photos dating back into the western years and also photos from a western movie that was filmed there… it was time to sit down, and drink cold Canadian beer. I mean if that wasn’t a definition of a perfect day… I don’t know what is! So much thrill and excitement in that day… I have no clue how I managed to somewhat contain in all and not burst into million pieces. Hehe
And that marked a day of my desert/ western adventures! A drive back was lovely… admiring the sun setting behind the Drumheller hills… but in all honesty I slept almost all the way back after that… it was a long day and seeing so much blew my mind a little! What a wonderful day that was!