This is part six of a seven part series about my trip around Alberta.
September 6 began with Etzikom, a town name I never learned how to say properly. There was a windmill museum there, but I saw different windmills on the way—the beautiful ones generating wind power. I drove along dirt roads to get as close as I could to one and ended up finding an abandoned home too. The sun and heat were intense here with Days of Heaven vibes.
Along the way to Lethbridge I saw more Pronghorn Antelope with the funny coat and horns. They were running and jumping across the highway. Further up, I could see a dead one at the side of the road. Once big and free, and now a mass of flesh and bone with the life gone from it. I thought about stopping to make sure it was indeed dead and not suffering, but then a strange scene from the film Princess Mononoke came to mind. The one where the dead wolf’s head jumps up to bite Lady Eboshi’s arm off. I drove by.
I hadn’t seen this side of Lethbridge before (literally and figuratively) and the calibre of Henderson Lake Park was something out of much larger city. It’s a big lake surrounded by gardens and pools. I desperately wanted to get into the water park to cool off. Alas, the pandemic, no swim shorts, and the fact that I am a solo grown man with no kids convinced me otherwise. Off to the Japanese garden instead. I heard Japanese for the first time in a long time and the whole tour around the well-maintained garden transported me back to the country.
I made a brief stop at Cardston to see the Mormon temple. My trips to Salt Lake City for work have given me an appreciation for these temples in the same way someone might visit a cathedral in Europe or a mosque in Morocco.
However, the true destination today was Waterton. Along the way I thought I was looking at the Montana hills, but then I realized they were the mountains in the distance. The extreme haze made it difficult to tell. Once I stepped outside I realized the haze was in fact smoke. Despite this, Waterton was beautiful and the smoke added extra depth to the photos. I drove up and down the Red Canyon scenic drive. Unlike the deserted tourist sites of Jasper and the surrounding area, the parking/hiking area in Waterton was full. No trail run today.
The drive continued through the windmills at Pincher Creek on onto Highway 3 toward Crowsnest Pass. The smoke was getting thicker now. Always chills at Frank Slide. It’s hard to believe a whole town is buried under all that rubble when Turtle Mountain split in two and covered everything and everyone in minutes.
Tonight’s stay was in Coleman and after dropping my things off at a small motel I walked to ‘Old’ Coleman and waited for my restaurant reservation. Dinner was vegetable samosa with cranberry chutney, mushroom ravioli, and grilled veggies with whipped goat butter. It was dark by the time I was finished which meant walking home along the highway through a smoky old mountain town.
This is part six of a seven part series about my trip around Alberta. Check out the next part.