1. CANADA | ALBERTA
Alberta High
An eight-day trek through this western province offers awesome views and memories
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY FLASH PARKER
A
n Alberta road trip is the stuff of
Canadian legend, packed to the brim
with all the marvels of the great
outdoors, cowboy culture and Wild
West adventure (and all the grizzly
bears you can shake a honey dipper at).
Yet there’s a hypnotic otherness to Alberta that exists
beyond the immediate allure — culinary charms, arty
wonders and historical cachet lend the province a
verve and vigor that is unique and often unexpected.
I suppose what I’m trying to say is that while I came
to Alberta expecting to dance among the wild things, I
was swept away by a wholly affecting gentility.
It’s the wind, and not a provincial sense of elegance,
that knocks me off my feet at the summit of Bears
Hump in Waterton Lakes National Park.The trek to the
Hump, which begins at the Visitor Resource Centre, is
short at 0.9 miles, but the views from the Hump’s flat
dome — which encompass Waterton Valley, the lakes
and Mount Cleveland (the highest peak in the park) are
sublime.
I’ve spent the past three days exploring the park:
flitting over snow at bombastically gorgeous Bertha
Lake; dipping my toes into the chilly water that
flows through kaleidoscopic Red Rock Canyon;
soaking my hair at towering Blakiston Falls; and
spying grizzly cubs on the trek to Wall Lake. Now,
from up here on the Hump, I have a moment to
revel in the experience.
I’ve come to realize that I love this park — and
this province — because it offers experiential
travel in its purest form; I’ve tested my mettle on
pre-dawn treks, lunched on elk meatballs with
The view from the top of
the iconic Bears Hump is
spectacular. The sweeping
panorama encompasses the
Waterton Lakes, Waterton
Village and swaths that
include Montana.
MAP:KATHLEENRUDELL
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2. mushroom port sauce and PEI
mussels at Vimy’s Lounge &
Grill, and skiffed across Upper
Waterton Lake (with a glass
of wine in hand) as the sun
two-stepped with snowcapped
mountain peaks. And I’ve done
it all at my own pace.
As the wind ceases its tan-
tara and I find a perch on the
precipice of the Hump, I see
the winding road that brought
me to Waterton snaking back
out across the prairies, up and
over the horizon to where this
journey began.
Some 370 miles north of
Waterton — as the buffalo
flies — is Elk Island National
Park, a gem of an outdoor
playground that sits on the
eastern doorstep of Edmonton.
One morning, over the
course of a few hours, I meet
a painter committing her
vision of Alberta to canvas,
hike five miles of what feels
like entirely untrammeled
terrain and flip a kayak into
the waters of Mud Lake (a few
breathless moments beneath
the water’s surface gets my
blood pumping).
The park is home to all
manner of iconic Canadian
wildlife, such as elk, moose,
deer, beaver and bison — some
of which keep to themselves,
while others enjoy chasing a
frightened journalist, scream-
ing in bloody terror, across
open plains. Not all bison are
CANADA | ALBERTA
While I came to Alberta expecting to dance
among the wild things, I was swept away
by a wholly affecting gentility.
Blakiston Falls is one of the most beautiful
features of Waterton Lakes National Park
and is accessed via an easy trek from the
Red Rock Parkway (roughly 30 minutes).
Tour Waterton Lakes for two hours on a Waterton Shoreline Cruise Company boat and other
rides like this one to take in sights of Alberta and Montana that only can be seen from the water.
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3. CANADA | ALBERTA
as sheepish as they appear to be, of course,
and not all things at Elk Island are as they
seem; the antiquated buildings that stand
just across the way from the park belong to
the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, a
living history museum of significant interna-
tional renown.
The village is a fascinating glimpse at life in
western Canada between 1892 and 1930, and
features more than 30 restored buildings and
interactive exhibits — and plenty of genuine
Ukrainian folk who are happy to share tales of
the Old World over steaming bowls of borscht.
I feast on pierogies while a blacksmith
pounds out a pair of red-hot horseshoes, and
I take a turn behind a scythe in order to teach
some naughty roughage a lesson.
I returned to the 21st century by exploring
Edmonton, Alberta’s arty cultural capital, and
took my revenge upon ornery bison at the
RGE RD restaurant, where whimsical gastro
marvels like bison bone marrow and country-
style terrine roamed across my palate.
A Segway Alberta tour afforded me the
opportunity to experience the beauty of the
river valley and delivered me to the doorstep
of the Art Gallery of Alberta, an architectural
masterpiece that houses some of the finest
I remember
fondly each of the
500 miles I have
covered over the
past eight days,
and can’t wait to
see where the next
road takes me.
Residents of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, including this police officer and farmer, adhere to the life of Alberta pioneers of
the 1920s and 1930s. The village has more than 30 buildings, including St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
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4. CANADA | ALBERTA
local and indigenous art in Canada.
Yet the road waits for no man, so
I set out in search of history, first
rattling old (dinosaur) bones at the
remarkable Royal Tyrrell Museum in
Drumheller, where more than 130,000
fossils — mostly collected from the
nearby Badlands — stand on ceremony
for awestruck visitors. I went out in
search of T. rex teeth in Dinosaur
Provincial Park; got lost deep down
a dusty shaft at the Atlas Coal Mine;
feasted on Zeke’s Famous French Toast
at the Heartwood Inn; and fell for the
nuanced romanticism of cowboy poetry
at the Bar U Ranch.
I also was dazzled by the culinary
culture of Calgary, gobsmacked by
the views over Cowtown — the city’s
nickname because of its cattle produc-
tion — from Riverfront Park, and grilled
my own stegosaurus-sized steak at the
Patricia Hotel, all the while cognizant
that the farther I traveled, the more
far-flung the destination or obscure the
attraction (the world’s largest dinosaur
in Drumheller comes to mind), the
closer I moved to the essential nature
of my home and native land, eh.
From the top of the Hump, memory
transforms into feeling, and with fresh
air swirling around me, I remember
fondly each of the 500 miles I have
covered over the past eight days, and
can’t wait to see where the next road
takes me. ●
Counterclockwise from top: Dinosaur Provincial Park is marked by a number of interpretive trails that you can travel on your own or with
a well-versed guide. The Royal Tyrrell Museum houses Canada’s premiere collection of dinosaur fossils, many of which were discovered
within walking distance of the museum. Not far from Drumheller, on the road to Wayne, are 11 steel bridges, once important for
transporting coal from the region. Dinosaur Provincial Park visitors can camp in style at the park’s posh riverside digs.
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