Gravel Road Adventures

So, BFF and I went away for the weekend. He has this absolutely perfect book that shows (inaccurately, we learned) all of the back roads in Alberta. I told him to find a place in his book where we could camp, and he could drive on some new roads.



This post is PHOTO HEAVY! Consider yourself warned.

First leg is on a gravel road that runs through parts of Alberta that are heavy with coal and logging. Meaning we got to see some cool, giant dump trucks (the 6 year old boy inside of me was very excited) and also I had a panic attack for 2 hours straight.

Whitehorse Creek Provincial Recreation Area Campground. No services. All the scenery.HELLO DELILAH I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR GETTING US HERE SAFELY!

Remember how I wrote that this is essentially "coal country"? The campground is on the edge of an active coal mine, so all access is restricted and done beside this road. It was a weird combination of concerning and awesome. I contain multitudes.

The unimproved gravel road led up to this pretty cool spot above the treeline. We found some hikes online, but with no trail markers, we kind of just wandered in the SLEET for 30 minutes and then called it.

This area is historically important for its coal discoveries and activity as well. Before the Cheviot Mine opened, there were more interpretive areas (so says my coworker-friend JK). As it stands, there is still a cemetery that you can drive up to, and wander through if you are so inclined. A lot of ashes of folks from this area are scattered on the mountains. We found some up at the Cardinal Divide.

Hiking in the mountains any time of year means you need to be prepared for snow. We were prepared but not happy about it, so we turned around when the sleet started pelting us.

The views were A++.

As an "environmentalist", my insides were screaming at me with all of this development...but the adventurer was just glad for maintained roads/

I couldn't handle how babely I looked in my hiking gear, and also our neighbours are fricken HORSES PEOPLE! This is my favourite campground potentially of all times.

So...about the horses. This campground offers campsites for people who want to bring their horses. They have a little corral (or whatever they are called) at each site, and all of those spots were full all weekend. We encountered a large group on one of the trails that heads out from the campground. There were some kids on their ponies - yes, I died - and parents with beer (jealous!).

I can't remember what this trail was called. There is a distinct lack of signage in this area. We have no idea where the trail was for most of the time. Still fun.

Dan is one of my favourite humans. He is the best hiking partner for me, as he has way more experience than I do and he is totally willing to explain so many things to me. He is also very funny and hella handsome.

We stopped for snacks, and I was all like "I'm just gonna go over here and see where this path leads..." twenty minutes and exploring up a mostly dry creek bed. The rocks reminded me of something we saw in Iceland so I had to take a photo. Forever grateful for the timer on my phone.

Most of this hike was in a dry creek bed....but as I wrote before there were literally no signs so who knew where the hell we were going.

I stop for all bugs. ALL. BUGS.

Our campsite was practically on the bank of a sweet little river, creek thing. I don't think I'm a water sign, but putting my hot, swollen feet into the ice cold mountain water was so refreshing and powerful. Planning my retirement over here.

That blue bridge there is blocked off to all traffic as it leads you into the active mine site. I'm adventurous, but even I obeyed that sign.

I took this three (thick AF) books with me this weekend because I forgot how much Dan & I chat and connect on these trips. There was barely any moment to read, as we spent all weekend chatting about camping, future trips, and life and whatnot. Ummm, he's kind of my favourite.

We just sat at the fire on our stump-chairs (because we forgot to pack actual chairs) and TALKED. It was so wonderful. We made friends with our neighbour and drank a bottle of whisky and I couldn't have planned a better night.

Babes in the campground and BEARS on the trail! There was a lot of fresh signs of bear on the trail we hiked on Sunday. We clapped, and sang, and whistled, and didn't see any actual bears so it must have worked!

If you are looking for a bit of an adventure without heading into the back country, I definitely recommend this area. There are loads of lovely hikes, and fun places to explore.

xo

FURTHER READING
One of my favourite places (in the world) to explore is Jasper National Park, in Alberta. For all of my previous Jasper posts, click here.
More Adventure posts here.
Whitehorse Creek Provincial Recreation Area