Alberta

Sep 21-23 UA1780 IAH-YYC, AC8104 YYC-IAH

Last year with the Canada 150 we had a lot of trip to Alberta, so slowed it down a little bit this year with our first trip in September.  There was some very early winter weather in Calgary, but we didn’t let it stop us from getting out.  Drumheller has been on our list for a long time, so we headed through the snow and checked out the dinosaur country and the surrounding scenery.  The weather in Calgary continued to be pretty lousy on Sunday, but looking at the weather in Kananaskis, we decided that we’d take a chance and head to the mountains.  The gamble paid off as the skies cleared we entered the valley, and the mountains were beautiful.  It was a nice end to our quick Calgary get away.

September 22

After staying overnight near the Airport in Calgary, I drove through the fresh overnight snow to check out a local gym for one of my favourite workout classes. After spending about 10 minutes cleaning off the car, I learned the value of the available covered parking, even in September. After a late breakfast, we headed out for Drumheller to explore.

Snow-covered red hills make the entrance to Drumheller more interesting

Giant Dinosaur is impressive in scope if not just a little tacky

The much more authentic Royal Tyrrell Museum

A number of displays capture how the fossils were originally discovered

The size and scope of the discovery is really impressive

Discovery and restoration portion of the museum

Impressive sea creature

Some of the larger standing fossils

Stegosaurus

Looking pretty intimidating

Snow-covered badlands

Up close with the badlands hoodoos

After climbing through a bit of mud we got a little further into the hoodoos

After the drive back to Calgary, we checked into the hotel and met a local friend to catch up over a nice dinner.

September 23

We woke up to a pretty grey and cold day in Calgary. Rather than hiding in the hotel, we surveyed the weather and nearby activities, and decided that we had a chance of better weather in the mountains. We ended up planning a trip south from Calgary and then back up the Kananaskis Trail, Hwy 40, through the mountains. Just as we came up through the valley, we found the nice weather we were looking for and spent the morning in the mountains.

Making our way into the mountains, xouth of Calgary near Longview

Looking north into Kananaskis and Bighorn Highway

Snow covered mountains in Sheep Mildman Provincial Park

Lower Kananaskis Lake in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park

Exploring the park a little further

Firefighter helicopter

Barrier Lake in Bow Valley Provincial Park, our last stop before heading back to cloudy Calgary

After enjoying the mountains, we made our way back to Calgary just in time for our flights home.