We love a good hike. It matters not if we’re deep in the wilderness or in an urban setting, as long as we’re in motion and having fun. We’re so darn easy to please. Today’s outing finds us kicking about town – there’s just too much snow in the mountains – where sometimes we’ll be along a section of Calgary’s extensive pathway network, other times we’re walking the streets. It’s all good.
Come join us or better still let us inspire you to follow in our footsteps and soak it all up. A fine walk awaits.
Begin at the far north end of Edmonton Trail, just before the transit gate. There’s street parking here. Intercept the Nose Creek Pathway, which flows beside – you guessed it – Nose Creek. It’s all frozen on our visit. Head south and let the adventure begin. The pathway is cleared of snow (so much of it this year), but watch for icy sections. If you do it in July, ignore that last part.
Nose Creek Pathway – Mayland Heights: a fun and interesting urban trek. A Chris & Connie Adventure!
Come to an underpass. Duck! And if you visit when winter still has a grip on the city, watch for BIG sheets of Teflon slippery ice – we almost went down a couple times. Cross over to the other side of the creek on a road bridge. Another underpass – more ice and low clearances again. Pass the former Airporter Inn, soon to be converted into low income housing. Your author recalls partying there in the 1980s. Seems to me it was a rough place to hang out then. And a dump.
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Another underpass. Watch your head. And don’t slip. At a junction, just past an electrical substation, turn left. Over there’s the Spring Gardens Transit Garage. It’s huge – lots of buses if you’re into that kind of thing. Back when Calgary Transit had old GMC Fishbowl and MCI Classic buses, we used to stake ourselves out in this very spot and photograph them heading out for the afternoon rush. They’re all gone now. And the bus scene is a little less interesting.
Cross over the CPR Tracks (Calgary to Edmonton Line) and soon on bend south, paralleling Deerfoot Trail. The din is something. The golf course to your right is often open this time of year (usually thanks to warming Chinooks) but on our visit is still buried under a thick blanket of snow. So much snow…so much snow…
Cross Deerfoot on a pedestrian bridge and enter the community of Vista Heights. Follow the pathway till it reaches another pedestrian bridge and cross 16th Avenue North, aka the Trans Canada through town. Hit the sidewalk on entering the community of Mayland Heights. Most of the houses here date from the “Mad Men” era. Continue south on 19th St NE.
Come to a small strip mall home to “Family Grocery”. That arched “Marina” Roof, a most iconic design, tells us it was once a Safeway way back when. It’s quite historically interesting and so we’ll be back to look it another time. There’s also a pub and a Pho Place here if hunger calls. Both are good – we’ve been.
Continue south past the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology compound. A satellite campus, they teach railway courses here – see the old rail cars? Just before hitting Memorial Drive, cross over and take that dirt road heading into field, which leads to the Barlow/Max Bell LRT Station. The huge plot of land here was once a Firestone Tire Plant. Now only the tower remains.
Cross under Memorial. More ice here, even inside the building! Back outside, we make small detour here and head into the Max Bell Centre to have lunch. Mmmm, arena dogs! With cheese, and onions! We take in a Ringette game while chowing down. They play well…what an exciting diversion – we got right into it.
Back on the road, take the pathway heading west. Crossover Calgary’s busiest thoroughfare again (Deerfoot). There’s a nice view of downtown here. And if you’re lucky, as we were, you might catch a train on the bridge seen in front. Ah yea, trains. You see, we have this problem. You’re now by the Bow.
On crossing Nose Creek, head north again. Pass under busy Memorial Drive and the LRT Tracks, and soon on come to the Telus Spark Science Centre. The CPR tracks are busy this day. Another train passes. We could watch them ALL DAY. I so want a truck outfitted with rail wheels like that one that passed!
Continuing on we pass under 8th Avenue, then 16th Avenue. The Nose Creek valley is more pronounced here, with escarpments on both sides. Pass a golf course. Over there’s the Eagle Quest Golf Dome looking like some kind of giant cocoon. Looks like it was busy there – with all the snow it’s pretty much the only place where golfer’s with spring fever can hit a few balls. Spring is MIA.
Soon on arrive back where you started, a good eighteen clicks behind you – it didn’t seems like anything more than ten or so. There’s some good exercise and the chance to see all kinds of interesting things. Not a bad day.
If you wish more information about this trail, by all means contact us!
Date of adventure: March, 2018. Location: Calgary, AB. Distance: 18km loop. Height gain maximum: 100m-ish. Height gain cumulative: 100m-ish. NOTE: all distances and heights are approximate. Technical bits: Ice (rarely applicable in summer).
Beer Parlour Project Friday🍺: The Thorsby Hotel, built in 1929 & a photo by the manager's 7 years old daughter. More below 👇
Agreema politely asked if she could shoot a few photos & we obliged. A dark environment like this is very unforgiving & the camera she used quite temperamental, so she did an amazing job. We're out of work as photographers! Great food at this place, BTW!
Beer Parlour Project Friday🍺: The Tofield Hotel, built in 1912 & patron Lana, shot on Rob's vintage view camera. More below 👇
She's a sweetie & met her late husband at the hotel. The building from the alley side hasn't changed much since being built but the front brickwork is now covered by siding.
Crossley slides (unrestored), an unnamed fellow snacking on Sun-Maid Raisins - mountains of BC - 1950s. More below 👇
The distinctive red box is instantly recognizable! The location is listed as the Whitewater Valley & we think it's in the Sandon area close to Retallack. Perhaps some of our friends out that way can confirm. Sandon B.C., would Hal know? Crossley frequented Sandon so the location makes sense. Note the (mine?) road cutting across the slope in back. The slide is dated 1955 in the catalogue but 1956 on the frame.
Shout out to: Jason Sailer. _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Chris.
An old section of Highway #6 (BC) in the 1970s & 2021 - it's the second most shared post in our entire history! More below 👇
The original photo shows the road about the time it was decommissioned. This was always a troublesome section & so it got replaced by a new route further up the hill. While it hasn’t seen a car in eons, it remains overall in reasonable shape, save for some rockfall in places like this. These came down about ten years ago.
Happy Holidays from Off the Beaten Path w' Chris & Connie. Thanks for your continued support & encouragement. More 👇
🎄 🎄 🎄
CPKC's Holiday Train from a few nights ago. Rather than fight the crowds to see it, we wanted something a little more intimate. A bit of hike, but we brought mulled wine to help us keep warm while waiting. It's not a great shot & originally we had no intent to share it here, but what the heck.
Trainspotting is like fishing. It's not about the catch but rather getting out. If a train comes by, great, but if not, we had each other & a chance to get away from the day's problems. That's a BIG win in our books...even if we did freeze our bottoms off. _______
Out exploring with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Chris.
Free Bolr? Now that’s funny.
Well at least someone got it.
A fun time!
Always when we’re together!
How do you two do it? This looks like a mundane walk at best, but you made it interesting. You are good.
It’s our superpower. Keep it entertaining no matter where you are and life will never be boring. Make the best of every day and everything.
Looks like an awesome time was had by all!
Amen to that, it was fun!