Category: Alberta

Touring a new micro-brewery, and Calgary Zoolights

We didn’t have any plans for my 4 days with my kids – we’d just see what came up. The Johnston Canyon hike the first day was a wonderful way to start it off. On the second day, Steve and I went to a new micro-brewery in Airdrie, then...
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Experiencing the CP Holiday Train in Calgary

Being a railfan (“train nut”), you quickly learn that timing is everything, and luck counts. I could hardly believe my luck that the Canadian Pacific Railway’s famous CP Holiday Train was going to be in Calgary for 45 minutes while I was there! After our excellent day hiking Johnston...
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Hiking Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park

For the first day with my family near Calgary (Saturday, December 9th), I suggested that we drive to Banff and hike Johnston Canyon. It’s a spectacular canyon located 22 km west of Banff on the Bow Valley Parkway (Hwy 1A). I was thrilled that everyone wanted to go –...
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Winter road trip, Day 2 – Muncho Lake to Grande Cache

Thursday, December 7th, was a long day with an early start. A look out my window at the Northern Rockies Lodge at Muncho Lake, with the moon lighting up the snowy peaks, got my blood pumping in a hurry. I took a few photos from the room, and at...
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Exploring Drumheller’s Atlas Coal Mine, and a bad road choice

Continuing on our Drumheller-area wander, our next stop after the East Coulee Hoodoo Park was the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site. Although I’d been to Drumheller a few times, this was my first time going down the Red River Valley, and I was thoroughly enjoying it. This would...
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Flying from Whitehorse sunshine to a Calgary blizzard

I’m currently in Calgary, on Day 5 of a 14-day series of family visits in Alberta and Ontario. It was gorgeous when I left Whitehorse, but a wild blizzard hit the next morning in Calgary. At 4:45 Sunday evening, we were about ready to board one of Air North’s...
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An early-Winter drive down the Icefields Parkway

Normally, driving the Icefields Parkway is the main highlight of a trip to Alberta. Yesterday, not so much. I didn’t sleep well, woke up sick, and an early-winter storm reduced visibility along much of the route. This was my route – click here for an interactive version of the...
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