Calgary is a hub for some amazing hiking and summertime is the perfect time for going out and seeing a number of trails. Last weekend, a group of us headed out to Kananaskis Country, a hidden little gem on the way to Banff that apparently is what locals head to when they want some piece and quiet from all the international visitors. Locals often refer to it by its abbreviated name “K Country”.

Our goal that day was only a small 6km hike, although predominantly an uphill/downhill hike where we’d leave a lake at the bottom, only to reach a smaller lake at the top of the mountains. We were so high, that even in the middle of July, we still saw some snow covering some of the mountain side. Fortunately the weather fluctuated between relatively cool temperatures, to much cooler at the top, making the hike that much more enjoyable. The weatherman had predicted a little bit of rain and although it dampened the surrounding forest and muddied the track, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Getting to the top was definitely worth the short although steep hike up. We brought a packed lunch with us to eat, stopping just after midday where we sat by the crystal clear waters of the lake accumulating in the basin. With the group that we had, it was pretty leisurely climb and sprayed over with plenty of mosquito repellent, we were prepared for anything.

Check out the rest of the pictures from the hike here.

With only three more weeks left to go, I thought I’d do my list of things I’ll miss so that I can appreciate any of them I can before I leave:

• Living close to Prince’s Island Park and walking around its plush green grounds
• Going to Café Artigiano for a coffee on the weekend
• Having a curry at Mirchi on 11th
• The skiing at Sunshine and Lake Louise
• The fun neighbourhood that makes up Kensington
• The underground rock life easily found at places like The Palomino and Broken City
• Calgarian’s level of friendliness and hospitality

Every city has their major annual events and just as Brisbane has The Ekka, Calgary has it’s own country-meets-city event called Stampede. It’s the time when the people of Calgary trade in their suits for chequered shirts, wide brimmed cowboy hats, boots and large buckles. It’s the time for lucrative corporate Stampede parties, attend free pancake breakfasts around town and indulge in the large number of other events easily found around town. It’s the time when painted murals and large letterings like “Yahooo” or “Yee-haa” cover the large glass windows of typically very clean cut buildings, sometimes providing a nice contrast to some otherwise drab buildings.

Thoughtworks held their annual Stampede party upstairs at the Barley Mill on Friday where we had a great number of current and previous clients and a handful of other random people. It proved to be an exceptionally warm evening and the outdoor patio, and later, torrential prairie rain providing some relief from the heat. It certainly wasn’t as crazy as I’d heard Stampede parties could get (that’s a good thing!) and had plenty of chance to chat with people about lots of interesting things and have a bit of a laugh.

Check out the photos from our party here.

“A long time ago, according to one legend, the people were driving buffalo over these sandstone cliffs. A young brave wanted to watch the buffalo tumbling past. Standing under the shelter of a ledge, as if behind a waterfall, he watched the great beasts fall. The hunt was unusually good that day and as the bodies piled up, he became trapped between the animals and the cliffs. When his people came do the butchering, they found him with his skull crushed by the weight of the buffalo carcasses. Thus, they named this place “Head-Smashed-In”.

– The story behind the name of this place as described in the Interpretive Centre’s brochure.

Last Sunday, eight of us living in Calgary headed down to Fort MacLeod to visit a well known place where the natives used to stampede buffalo over cliffs in order to find the materials and food they needed to survive the winter. When we arrived in Fort MacLeod, it seemed pretty desolate with winds blowing dust through the streets and, at some point, I thought I might see a tumble weed roll around the streets. Our plan, to stop at the place best known for their buffalo burgers failing, since the restaurant didn’t open on Sundays. We ended up at A&W for lunch instead, the first time I chowed down at this particular fast food chain.

After lunch, we drove to the Interpretive Centre for Head Smashed In, a building constructed right into the hillside and just down from where people used to stampede the buffalo over the cliffs. The centre reconstructs the experience extremely well, with many different scenes reconstructed following a progressive time. A short fifteen minute video continues to rotate through, explaining and simulating the entire experience, with the typical disclaimer, “No animals were hurt in the making of this film.” Instead a computer generated image simulation of buffalo running over the edge finishing off the story for us.

It’s a great destination if you ever find yourself in Calgary, and if you’re ever so inclined, they even rent Tipis for groups of people to camp in to experience the prairie land way of life. Find the photos from the day trip here.

This weekend, a bunch of us visiting Calgary from overseas including Megan, Chris and JJ, decided to head out to Drumheller (also known as Dinosaur Valley), located in the Badlands, an area north of the city holding vastly different terrain from the flat, generally brown prairie land that surrounds Calgary. We visited a number of attractions including a mini hike around Horseshoe Canyon, a visit to the world’s largest dinosaur statue, a visit to the Hoo Doos and the world class dinosaur museum, the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Surprisingly for a Sunday, the town of Drumheller seemed awfully quiet, with many of the stores shut around town despite the small number of tourists arriving constantly in vehicles. Being a dinosaur-themed town, plenty of the visitors had tiny kids in tow, although besides us, I noticed a large number of other non-kid toting groups of people.

The World’s Largest Dinosaur, of course, a T-Rex menaces about the local Aquaplex. Towering at about 88 feet, all the cars look miniscule in comparison. Of course, the sharp teeth also mean it’s pretty menacing if you can’t tell by the people running away from it in the picture to the left. The climb up gives a pretty nice, although limited view of the surrounding area, and almost feels like you’re about to be swallowed whole. We thought a slide down it’s throat to leave would have just made the entire experience.

On to the best dinosaur museum ever, The Royal Tyrrell Museum, a surprisingly modern museum holds a wealth of everything fossil and dinosaur related. Apparently the surrounding area is rich in fossils and keeps people busy uncovering new things all the time. It’s a fairly interactive museum and so well designed it managed to keep the four of us entertained at least for a couple of hours. It’s well worth the entry price, and apparently they even organise sleep overs for groups of kids that it almost makes me want to be back in school (almost!) I have to admit, even though my favourite dinosaur ended up as the massive skull, triceratops, I couldn’t but help but be amazed by the weird creatures they had including the Axolotls (picture from patrie71’s Flickr stream under Creative Commons).

We finished off our trip to Drumheller with a trip to the Hoo Doos, a series of interesting rock formations that look like a bunch of smurf huts. Apparently erosion and plenty of human intervention mean that the formation is unlikely to last for much longer, so I certainly appreciated being able to see them before their demise.

It was great to get out of Calgary and a road trip away from the city. Check out the pictures here.