Earlier we took you on a crazy tour of Sandon British Columbia (link a few paragraphs down if you missed it), a must see ghost town in the East Kootenay region of the province. Today, we mix it up and take in some old metal found scattered about the community....
We’re always looking for curious things while out on road trips, some fresh meat for our minds and camera. Be it some old building, something train related, a subject with with a weird or quirky slant, a Boler or two (yeah!) there’s any number of things that pique our interest....
Without a doubt it ranks as one of Calgary’s most unique dwellings. I know the first time we drove past it prompted a triple take from both of us. “Did you see that?”…as we spun around completely in sync. Found in the exclusive Calgary community of Upper Mount Royal there...
It’s three veterans of many miles keeping company. Over there it’s a thirty year old Lincoln Town Car, a big old land yacht if there ever was one, with this example standing out account its fantastic condition. Across the road it’s a Triumph Spitfire, a couple decades the elder, with...
With our most incredible El Camino de Santiago trek still a fresh memory (goodness, we never wanted it to end) we’re off to take in adventure anew somewhere down the road. Next stop, it’s a place called O Pindo, a charming and scenic fishing village on the rocky coast of...
It’s an honour bestowed to us, not once, but twice by artist Francis Marte. Here for your viewing pleasure, it’s the second painting by this watercolourist extraordinaire inspired by a photo from this website. And he picked a most incredible subject, a pair of old grizzled hands cupping grain, a...
We’ll let you in on a little secret…in our minds some of our earlier stuff…well…it doesn’t fill us with the warm and fuzzies. Mainly it’s the images we don’t like and not so much in regards to composition, but specifically how we processed them when we started shooting RAW (in...
We did this hike once before a few years back. Well, part of it anyway. On this visit to High Noon Hills, however, out in the Sheep River Area of Kananaskis, we take in both of them instead of just one. These two little bumps are located right at the...
Sometimes just going out for a walk will reward the dedicated and vigilant Boler Spotter with some new discoveries. Case in point here, two little trailers, one a thirteen foot Boler and the other a plain old Trillium seen while the Team, on foot, headed to a Calgary Street Festival...
Welcome to day two of things seen and places visited from the 2018 edition Alberta Ghost Town Convention (called the Mini-GTC, it’s anything but). It’s been going on a half dozen years now and has been attended by Team BIGDoer from the beginning, along with a wonderful group of friends,...
If you find yourself in the historic ghost town of Sandon BC, in the “Silvery Slocan”, and are looking to stretch the legs a bit, we’ve got an excellent adventure to recommend. Starting right in town, the Payne Bluff Hike takes in the old “Kaslo & Slocan Railway” roadbed, an...
Out near Wetaskiwin Alberta there’s a wonderful attraction you and the family can visit, home to a collection of vintage train equipment…and who doesn’t like that stuff? Drop in, say hi, explore the grounds, go for a ride around the loop and make it part of a grand day. On...
Here it’s a most interesting take on what’s a most remarkable place. We’re in Fort Steele Heritage Town, out in the East Kootenays of British Columbia, a popular “living history*” museum operating since the 1960s. We’ve been given an assignment to document the park for a photo-tour type article, but...
Smithbilt Hats has been doing it since the late 1910s. Most of what they make are cowboy hats, fitting given this is cattle, farming and ranching country. If you’ve seen a “white hatter” during stampede and or at the airport greeting new arrivals to the city, that topper came from...
The entire Kootenays of British Columbia are home to disproportionately high number of Bolers. You can’t swing a dead cat, to quote that overused adage, without hitting one of these trailers. Just driving about and you’re sure to spot an example or two…or sometimes even more (six in about an...
by Chris Doering · Published May 10, 2019 · Last modified February 11, 2020
It’s our final day on the legendary El Camino Trail in Spain, and we’re both elated and more than a touch blue. These crazy conflicting emotions when you realize something epic is soon to end. There’s just some ten thousand more steps to go and it’ll all be behind us....
Deep in the precipitous mountains of the West Kootenays of British Columbia, there’s a most historic place. Built on mining riches it was a boom town like no other, once home to some ten thousand folks that today has a population which can be counted on a hand or two....
It’s located in the quiet Sibbald section of Kananaskis, a loop trail in the foothills, moderate in length with zero challenges and a real pleasure to hike. It keeps to trees mostly, but there’s still lots of scenery and occasional far reaching views of mountains beckoning to the south and...
We do them out of fun and for that alone these “then and now” posts are sadly the first ones to be put on hold should other projects come up. It frustrates us, but we have little choice. The last was published in 2018 (yikes!) but here we (cautiously) announce...
To some it’s known, variously, as the Castle, Tower or Turret House, account its distinctive style of architecture. To others it’s the Robertson or Koopman House, after some folks who once called it home. But most famously it’s known far and wide as the Superman House due to its appearance...
Not like we need another obsession here at BIGDoer.com, but it’s happened. Great…just great. And it’s well known history buff Johnnie Bachusky we blame. If not for him bringing up the subject of water towers recently while chatting, the seed would have never been planted. Sure, we noticed these structures...
One weekend every July for the last few years, a group of close friends gets together and explores the countryside in search of historic and abandoned places. It’s always an epic adventure, taking in abandoned farms, charming villages, near ghost towns and vintage vehicles long put out to pasture. But...
It’s of the era and has a style and vibe that would make a Brady (famously from that quirky ’70s TV show) proud. There’s thick shag carpeting, mirrors and pillars, pastel shades and rich wood panelling. There’s avocado coloured appliances, rock and brick work, marble, brass and all things satin,...
As we often do when we’re on the road we’ll stop and explore small towns along the way. One never knows what they’ll find, some disused building to photograph perhaps, a cool old car sitting out on some empty lot, or maybe something else worthy of attention. Heck, we’re easily...
It’s the Doublemint Twins, a 1979 Boler (13 foot model) and the rig towing it, and all painted up the same minty green, a 1962 Chevrolet Pickup. These two roam the land appearing at campgrounds and car shows. Here we found them at an event in their homebase town of...
Almost a year ago the Team got to be part of a most amazing event, the Edmonton Pinball & Arcade Show, aka YEGPIN. An entire day was spent roaming the venue and recording all the action for an article published recently. In that piece (link below), it was about the...
The colder months usually means it’s urban hikes for us, especially with Connie on the mend. We don’t want to push it and so doing our thing “in town” makes it’s easy to bail and catch a ride back to the car should there be a problem. Even so we...
And we’re back! Here’s the much anticipated second instalment where we take in a most amazing collection of old machinery. There’s cars, trucks, tractors…you name it…stretching off as far as the eye can see, all of them old and with tons of character, a showcase of that moody decrepit vibe...
by Chris Doering · Published April 3, 2019 · Last modified February 11, 2020
It’s strange how time on the El Camino de Santiago can both stand still and rush by. One moment, everything’s in slow motion, a step or movement taking an eternity and with others it’s as though living in a hyper-lapse and the world a blur. Such is our experience, walking...
Sometimes things move at a glacial pace here (damn, it’s complicated) but finally here’s the second instalment in the “Frostbite Hotrods” series. It’s been a long time coming and for this we offer our apologies all around. Better late than never, they say! Right? In this series, we spend a...
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
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Ghost Railways: Fort Macleod Alberta
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Berte George’s William’s Grocery Lethbridge
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Union Bay (Vancouver Island) Coal Wharf
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1 Day: Denman & Hornby Islands (BC)
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Crossley Slides: A Corner in Erlton
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Ghosts of the Crowsnest Subdivision
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Moose Jaw SK Train Station (~90 Yrs Apart)
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Kart World or Kart Gardens? (2014)
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Prairie Sentinels: Cadillac Sask
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Dominion Bridge Calgary (Ramsay) ca1960-2014
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World of F.E.A.R Figure-8 (Abandoned)
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Forgotten Coal Town Cemetery
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Shandro Historic Village (Closed)
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