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world heritage

#3 – Dinosaur Provincial Park

This past Sunday was time to visit one more Heritage Site in Alberta. Dinosaur Provincial Park is located about 30 minutes north of Brooks, Alberta, and about 1.5 hours from where I’m staying in Drumheller.

It was very hot out, close to 32 degrees in Brooks when I stopped in there, and when I drove down into the Red Deer River valley at the Park it seemed to get even hotter because I was shielded from any breeze.

Not too much to say about this one. I went on one of the various hikes in the park and tried to look for some fossils but didn’t really see much. At the lookout point just before you enter the park there is an amazing view out over the valley, and you can see half a mile in most directions and see the river snaking through the badlands. Very cool.

#2 – Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park

This weekend Mark and Avis had the brilliant idea to head down to Great Falls, Montana to take in the Independence Day fireworks, and they were gracious enough to invite me along for the ride. Of course I was up for a trip to the States, considering the last time I was down there was a family trip to Disneyland 10 years ago.

I started out the trip in my usual style, by driving into Calgary to meet up with the guys, but forgetting my passport in Drumheller. So three hours and a lot of cursing later, I’m ready to go and we head out of town on Friday afternoon. The trip down there was pleasant, if a bit on the warm side. Mark managed to book us a really nice hotel right along the river where they would later be shooting off the fireworks, so we only had to walk down the stairs and out the door to have a great view of all the action.

One thing that was very different down there compared to any of the Canadian cities I’ve lived in was the number of fireworks being shot off by private citizens in their backyards all day! After about 6pm the explosions never stopped, and continued at least until we went to bed at about 3am. There were people walking along public sidewalks setting off firecrackers and some people even set up launchers for the bigger fireworks right on the sidewalk as well.

The city’s fireworks show didn’t disappoint either, although it wasn’t any bigger than Edmonton’s or Calgary’s.

We spent the rest of the night in the only bar in the city that we could find that was actually open for the holiday, and then woke up bright and early the next morning to head to the mall for the most important part of the trip in Avis’ mind – Victoria’s Secret.

And, now that you’re bored I’ll skip ahead to our drive back through Glacier National Park. The drive is about 70 miles, and took us about 2 hours after all the traffic stops, construction, switchbacks, etc. Unlike most of the Canadian mountain passes (at least the ones I’ve been through), Logan Pass is very high up, and is more of a road over a mountain ridge than anything. The first 50 miles or so wind up the side of various mountains, gaining in elevation (and the fear factor of the precitipous drops, for me anyway) until suddenly the summit of the pass pops into view, and there’s a fairly large parking lot and visitors’ centre at the top.

There was still 5 feet or so of snowpack at the top, so we got a chance to have a snowball fight and slide down the hill on our butts. Apparently there isn’t usually any snow left in most years at this time of the year, so it was a fun surprise for sure. After that, we continued uneventfully down the side of the mountain and back to Canada.

And that’s about it for the trip. It was an amazing weekend for sure. Two down, 849 World Heritage Sites to go!

travel / world heritage — No Comments
30
Jun 08

#1 – Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Not a bad place to start off the tour. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is located about 20 kilometres outside of Fort MacLeod, Alberta.

I headed out of Drumheller at 9am, and as usual drove through Rosebud on the way to Calgary, and then onwards south to Fort Macleod. I have to say, Rosebud is a wonderfully unique community that I have yet to see replicated to any degree elsewhere. The town is tiny – probably 200 residents or so – and no gas station, franchise of any kind, and only a few small tourist shops. The one thing that it does have that is very obvious as you drive through it is a theatre. Right in the middle of the town is a decent-sized building housing the Rosebud Theatre Company, and big signs announcing the current and upcoming plays. As I drove through I really got the vibe that the whole town exists just for the theatre. It’s the only really visible business in town, and right in the center at that. Very quaint little place, I must say. If you ever have then chance to head out there to catch one of their theatre productions, I’m told they are very well done and worth the drive.

Anyway, I’m getting away from myself. Three hours after I left I was pulling up to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, about 16km outside of Fort Macleod. It was a very well-done museum, with quite a few interesting displays. The museum consists of 4 or so levels built into the side of the cliff, and as you go (up) through the museum all the displays are laid out until you get to the top level. At the top there is a concrete sidewalk leading out a hundred yards or so to a lookout point where you can get a very good view of the buffalo jump itself, as well as looking out east to the wind farms located a few kilometres out.

Pretty neat trip overall, but short. Worth visiting if you’re within driving distance. One down, 850 World Heritage Sites to go!

travel / world heritage — No Comments
27
Jun 08

851 Sites in a Lifetime – The World Heritage Tour

So, I’ve had this idea.

My mother instilled in me at a young age a love of travelling. There is so much of our world that we will never get to see, and so much of it that is beautiful, stunning, heart-wretching, or extreme beyond description.

And then I ran across UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites, and I realized that someone else had bothered to go to all the work of finding all those hidden cultural and natural gems in this world.

So, I’ve decided to start a life-long journey to visit all of the (currently) 851 natural and cultural World Heritage Sites on the list. This isn’t going to be a mad dash to the finish by any means. I’m currently broke and heading off to school again for another degree, so this will be an “as I have the means” trip. The purpose is really just to point me in the right direction, and to allow me to easily keep track of just how many amazing places I’ve been to, and what I’ve seen.

I hope to keep track of every place I visit on this page, and count down over the years, and hopefully eventually make it all the way to #851!

I’m starting off the trip easy – tomorrow I’ll be heading to #158 – Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. I’ll post a picture to prove I was there and a summary tomorrow!

By the way, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has as wonderful RSS feed available that lists all 851 World Heritage Sites, as well as includes photos of each site.