Drumheller, badlands and dinosaurs
Well, it finally happened! I wend on my tour to Drumheller. At 8am a van came to pick me and some other folks that wanted to go along as well up from the hostel. Petar (from the formal Yoegoslavia) was to be our guide. I finally got my first view of the famous Alberta prairies. They are wide and open indeed! Still, since it's not too flat, I think it's an appealing landscape. Petar had lots of interesting (and less so) facts to tell about Calgary, the prairies, Alberta and Canada along the way, so there was no need to get too bored on the way to the badlands...
Our first stop was at Horseshoe canyon. It's was the first of a series of impressions on the weird way the landscape is formed in this part of Alberta. At one moment, you're driving on a prairy, then suddenly a canyon opens up, 14 km long, 1 km wide and over 100 meters deep. A remnant of the ice age, much as the rest of the landscape really. Next stop: the Royal Tyrell Museum near Drumheller, in the middle of the badlands. This museum is really very impressive. Lots and lots of fossiles of dinosaurs and other life forms since basicly the beginnings of life untill the more recent times of the Mammoths. The displays are set up in an appealing way, and you really get a good overview of the development of these massive creatures over time. Of course, the T-Rex is there, but so its the Albertasaurus (what's in a name?) and lots of other, equally impressive animals. Lucky for us, it wasn't too crowded...
After the museum, there was just enough time for me to take a quick hike around an interpretative trail in the badlands, telling something about the geological history of this area. Then, it was time to carry on with our trip, and take a look at the biggest dino in the world: a four times larger than life T-Rex in the middle of Drumheller. If you're into kitch, it would have been just your thing. There's a lot of dino sculptures scatered around the town everywhere, but none quite reach the kitchiness of this specimen.
Next up: the hoodoos. Basicly an area where erosion of sandrocks have created some very odd, almost mushroom like shapes. Mother nature can pull some nice tricks. Further into the valley, we drove up to the Last Chance Saloon. You pass eleven bridges (all the same river) within 4 miles (6,5 km). Supposedly a world record. The Last Chance Saloon is basicly just that: last chance for a beer (or anything civilized, for that matter) for quite a stretch of land to come after that. Nice place, breathing an old atmosphere, and for us indeed the last chance to get something to drink before driving back to Calgary. The owner had a Dutch flag flying, but it turned out he didn't speak or understand a word of the language. He did have a Dutch father or something like that though...
Petar brough a Japanese girl and me to the Greyhound station, after picking up our stuff from the hostel. I don't think she made her bus, as the traffic made progress downtown quite slow.
Our first stop was at Horseshoe canyon. It's was the first of a series of impressions on the weird way the landscape is formed in this part of Alberta. At one moment, you're driving on a prairy, then suddenly a canyon opens up, 14 km long, 1 km wide and over 100 meters deep. A remnant of the ice age, much as the rest of the landscape really. Next stop: the Royal Tyrell Museum near Drumheller, in the middle of the badlands. This museum is really very impressive. Lots and lots of fossiles of dinosaurs and other life forms since basicly the beginnings of life untill the more recent times of the Mammoths. The displays are set up in an appealing way, and you really get a good overview of the development of these massive creatures over time. Of course, the T-Rex is there, but so its the Albertasaurus (what's in a name?) and lots of other, equally impressive animals. Lucky for us, it wasn't too crowded...
After the museum, there was just enough time for me to take a quick hike around an interpretative trail in the badlands, telling something about the geological history of this area. Then, it was time to carry on with our trip, and take a look at the biggest dino in the world: a four times larger than life T-Rex in the middle of Drumheller. If you're into kitch, it would have been just your thing. There's a lot of dino sculptures scatered around the town everywhere, but none quite reach the kitchiness of this specimen.
Next up: the hoodoos. Basicly an area where erosion of sandrocks have created some very odd, almost mushroom like shapes. Mother nature can pull some nice tricks. Further into the valley, we drove up to the Last Chance Saloon. You pass eleven bridges (all the same river) within 4 miles (6,5 km). Supposedly a world record. The Last Chance Saloon is basicly just that: last chance for a beer (or anything civilized, for that matter) for quite a stretch of land to come after that. Nice place, breathing an old atmosphere, and for us indeed the last chance to get something to drink before driving back to Calgary. The owner had a Dutch flag flying, but it turned out he didn't speak or understand a word of the language. He did have a Dutch father or something like that though...
Petar brough a Japanese girl and me to the Greyhound station, after picking up our stuff from the hostel. I don't think she made her bus, as the traffic made progress downtown quite slow.
posted by André Somers at 8:20 PM
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