Oh Canada...Oh Canada!

We have finally entered Canada!  We took a scenic route recommended by one of the quilt store owners in Great Falls.  Highway 89 skirts Glacier National Park and passes through the Blackfoot Tribe reservation.  It was beautiful, but also much slower than the more direct route on I-15. 

The view from Highway 89

On the way, we stopped at the Remington Carriage Museum but only had an hour to tour.  Still it was worthwhile.  I’ve read descriptions of carriages such as a hanson cab and a four-in-hand, but had not actually seen them.  It was nice to see that my imagination wasn’t too far off from reality.

An older version of a gasoline tanker.  Notice where the driver sat - alot of concern for safety in those days!

Drove over to Lethbridge to buy a pre-paid cell phone for our stay in Canada (iphone charges are absurd).  Also visited the Lethbridge bridge and walked through the nature reserve that is directly below the bridge.

This is the longest and tallest trestle bridge in the world.  While we were there, two trains passed over....very slowly.

Spent a rainy hour going through Fort Whoop-up.   The fort owners, Americans, had been banned from trading whiskey in America, so they moved to Canada. It was quite rowdy in the area since there were no law enforcers.  This was a primary reason the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were formed. The fort is actually a replica, but there were great interpretive displays and audio.

A couple of residents at Fort Whoop-Up.

Lots of wildflowers everywhere

Today, we visited the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.  Aboriginal people had hunted buffalo by stampeding them off the cliffs for thousands of years. It was an amazing site with lots of great displays and videos.  Hard to get my mind around how “modern” man was able to almost completely wipe out a species that numbered 50 to 60 million within two generations.  Of course, this destroyed the lifestyle of the aboriginal people because the buffalo was at the core of their livelihood and culture.

The cliffs were originally 60 meters high, but the carcasses of the many buffalos piled up over the centuries so that currently the cliffs are about 30 meters deep.

There is a sizable herd of buffalo right near our campground.  They look pretty mangy because they are losing their winter coat.

Also took a drive out to Frank’s slide.  This is west of Fort Macleod, in an area that has a lot of coal mines. In 1903, part of a mountain slid, partially burying  the town of Frank and killing at least 90 people.  Today there is an interpretive center with displays of the event as well as a geological explanation of what happened (the coal mining was a contributor, but not the whole cause.)  Along the way we passed many, many wind turbines.  They are harnessing the energy from the Chinook winds that frequent the plains area.

It took about 90 seconds for this mountain side to tumble down in 1903, leaving a rock bed over 30 meters in depth.  Geologists are monitoring the mountain using a very sophisticated set of instruments in an attempt to be able to warn of another slide in the future.

I have to say that all of the Canadian interpretive centers we have visited so far are top notch.  They have been designed to keep you interested with a variety of interactive displays and videos.  All have been well maintained and the staffers have been more than friendly.

Well, tomorrow we head to Calgary and then on to Edmonton.  Making progress towards Alaska but there are so many neat things to see and do in Canada.  Definitely enjoying our trip, in spite of the less than ideal weather.  Except for Las Vegas, the weather has been cool and in many places, rainy. By the way, the new bathroom sink is working wonderfully!