Here’s something right out of an old west movie, an ancient log cabin we had the honour to take in one fine winter’s day. We came to know it via a friend and this visit was to scope it out, gather some intel and plan a return for a more ambitious photo shoot later (which has yet to happen, but we’re working on it). In the meantime, enjoy this photo of a place time worn and weather beaten. It stands a little crooked, the roof is soon to collapse, but yet there it is looking almost inviting. Come on in! It’s warm and the coffee’s on.
There used to be a tall evergreen standing just a little behind, seen in photos others have taken of the cabin (including legendary Coinoath Sarsfeld) that sometime recently toppled over. You can see the shattered stump there. The wind is known to gust here at the edge of the Rockies and it’s possible that’s what took it out. That it fell parallel to the cabin prevented any damage to the building that we could see from our viewpoint on the public road.
We’re not sure when we can return. It’s going to be a crazy year coming (with a BIG announcement on the horizon) and that’ll make things hard. But we’ll try our best because for us, it’s more about the history than anything else. It’s important to remember what came before, be it good or bad or whatever, and learn and come away a bit better as a person. Pretty pictures like below are nice but history is awesome! We hope to “dig” some up here – we’re know of the land owner and we’re ready to jump in.
This is a random pick, a photo pulled from the collection that has never been publicly seen before. We had no intentions of publishing this one when it was shot and this was a reference photo for the cabin’s dossier file and nothing more. Yet here it is…and it’s not all that bad.
Short Subjects: reports that for any number of reasons are brief in nature. They might be updates to older articles, previews of posts planned or not yet published, brief snippets of things that don’t fit in anywhere else or subjects that are so obscure that information on them can’t be found. Or sometimes we just ramble on about Lord knows what.
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Date of adventure: December, 2018. Location: Rocky View County, AB.
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 👇
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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.
Quaint little home, years ago, maybe.
We always have to remind ourselves…someone live here once. Humbly so.
The way it sits in, almost with, the land does make it look comfortable.
A little fixer-upper.
A dream was the fuel for the folk who built this dwelling. Life unfolds in surprising ways.
Yes it does have a strange way of playing out sometimes.
I think I know that one.
Any photos?
I will bring the muffins.
And we’ll have the coffee on.
Oh so cute
You could move right in!
Like the saying says”if walls could talk.” Really Cool! Thanks for sharing.
It’s an overused saying, but still it’s so fitting here.
Looking forward to seeing more of this interesting cabin!
We’ll work to pay it a revisit.