It’s a fairly hard ‘n’ fast rule for the team…as long as time allows. When driving the road to where ever we pay a visit to a random small town along the way. Or two. Even if it’s a place we’ve been before. Then, we wander the streets aimlessly for...
As it often plays out…we’re cruising down some highway, city street, back road to somewhere and out of the corner of our eye we glimpse a Boler. We’re getting damn good at it too! Sometimes they might be out in the open, easily seen, but more often than not, they’re...
When speaking of DeWinton Alberta, the cliched phrase “blink and you’ll miss it” comes to mind. A stone’s throw from metro Calgary, it’s just a tiny speck on the map. Well hidden in a small valley and only accessible via a winding back road, consequently not many people have heard...
On more than a few occasions we’ve been accused of being, ahem, a little “long winded”. We hear it all the time in fact…”more pics, less words”, or some such thing. Most say it nice and gently and we can accept that, even if at a personal level we don’t...
A good hike can’t be beat. All that fresh air, scenery, each step the blood pumping and the body feeling fine…an amazing wilderness high. Sorry, too busy to die, I’m out walkin’ in the woods. Taking it to the next level, making it all the better, a history angle, something...
We’ve been to Rowley Alberta before. Many times in fact. An “almost” ghost town, full of history, photogenic as heck, tiny and just a few blocks square, it’s populated by a mere handful of residents. Not forgotten or dilapidated even though most buildings are empty, it’s all kept up to...
This silly little post, number one thousand and change at BIGDoer.com contains some random photos, simple captured moments from a busy weekend in June. Nothing more. For our enjoyment and for yours, hopefully, the passing things, big and little that grabbed our attention while out of town on assignment. Between...
The road in is gravel, dry ‘n’ dusty. Same as all in the area. And all are similarly devoid of traffic. Stop, roll down the window and you’ll be greeted with silence. The location here is rural, well away from any town. Look all around…nothing to see but fields and...
It’s an easy hike, not long and requiring only minimal effort, with a fair reward, a fine view at the end. This is Death’s Head, a low wooded ridge in the foothills of Kananaskis, Ware Creek area. By itself it’s not a destination – alone it’s just not worth the...
Everyone knows we’re obsessed with tiny fibreglass camping trailers, those from the Boler company and of any other make. It’s an addiction, all consuming, the desire to search out these “wheeled-eggs” completely overpowering…and we make zero attempt to end it. We’re under a spell, broken and damaged by it all...
It’s under wraps for reasons unknown, a strange Boler cocoon – will a butterfly emerge? But we can guess what’s going on here…mostly likely it’s leaking windows. It happens, a common problem in fact, old gaskets rotting out and cracking, allowing moisture in. They’re probably original, so darn old. It’s...
Stop the presses folks…we’ve reached a milestone here. This post, which you’ll soon be enjoying, is the 1000th here at BIGDoer.com. Yes, our society has produced that many pieces and in only five years to boot! Not 1000 simple photo essays, but rather painstakingly researched history write ups, in-depth articles...
These are the words oftentimes heard when describing long forgotten places…”if these walls could talk”. It’s a catch all phrase really, some might say an overused one at that, when one’s thought are overwhelmed – “this empty old farm house…if these walls could talk”. Still, more often than not, it...
This is one easy hike, really just a lazy walk through the forest with some scenic views of surrounding hills and ridges to boot. Pretty nice, but hardly worth a long drive and best done if you’re already in the area. In our case we were doing some trail scouting...
All eyes on this strange empty building found in some industrial park in small town Alberta. Cold and sterile, yet at the same time all those odd and varied angles give it a kind of weird character, with a real bunker-like quality to boot. I know, it’s right out of...
It looks like any other pasture or field, something you might expect to see cows or horses living in. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. Yet, mostly hidden from view by tall grass, there’s danger underfoot. Scattered here and there, randomly and numbering in the dozens if not more, are...
It’s that close to being a guarantee, a rock-solid one at that. That’s how confident we are. When driving down the streets of near any random town of any reasonable size out west here, there’s more than a good chance one will come across a Boler. It happens all the...
We’ve been eyeing up the Strawberry Hills for some time now. These, a series of bumps, treed on the lower slopes, but with open tops mostly of grass, can be found in South Kananaskis, one of the least visited sections of that vast recreation area. Seems we know others who...
Twilight: that most magic time of day. The sun’s last and final hurrah, that warm golden glow enveloping the world dark shadows and a deep blue in stark contrast. It’s serene, peaceful, something damn powerful and words alone don’t seem enough. Then, add a train, a tour train taking in...
In the 1970s pinball was king. You couldn’t swing a dead cat, to use that always chuckle-worthy adage, and not hit one. They were everywhere…your local arcade, back when there was arcades, the corner store, the mall, the neighbourhood watering hole, pool hall, anywhere one could be plopped down. And...
It’s been photographed…an awful lot. Not that it should come as a surprise, the little grain elevator in Dorothy Alberta, a near ghost town in the Red Deer River badlands, is one photogenic building. Standing there, right beside the highway, in this lovely valley setting, below the sprawling plains, one...
Here we are, travelling down some back road we’ve never been before (and you thought we’ve seen every one), Crowsnest Pass area of Alberta, and we see this, an ancient boxcar in retirement. Once belonging to Canadian Pacific Railway it’s at the edge of a field sitting in a corral...
It’s convincing! Standing here in this town straight out of the American Old West, this 1800s roadhouse along a dusty cowboy trail or this stately ranch from the distant past…it just feels right. Look around, there’s no signs of today, no highways, no skyscrapers, nada, nothing. All about it’s grassy...
Wrentham Alberta, a teenie-weenie little village, the term “metropolis” never once used to describe it. In the far south of the province it was founded around a century ago when the railway arrived. The population, well, it’s a mere handful, hearty folks all, as people who dwell in these small...
It’s in our blood. It’s what we do. We take the “back way” when returning from adventures and we do it every darn chance we get. We have this insatiable hunger, us, this pair of restless souls with a never ending desire, a burning drive taking us to the point...
Let’s see…a nice easy hike taking one to a stunning mountain rimmed valley, home to a charming little lake. What’s not to like? Here, the perfect choice when ambitions are lacking but the call of the nature is loud and strong. This is about the easiest lake destination hike in...
This post is from 2017, and shot the year before, but with fall 2024 updates. It was never a town to speak of, more a locality or a dot on the map reference point for the general area. So not an incorporated community (for Barb Foran: one lacking a municipal...
This Boler could use a good wash. A common problem with these fibreglass trailers, Bolers and those made similarly of the same material, is the build up of mould, mildew and dirt in general as the gel-topcoat ages. For old trailers, the exterior seemingly becomes a magnet for grime and...
Nothing beats a good small town museum. Team BIGDoer is huge fan and think you should be too. They’re hidden gems, wonderful places to learn about local history, the people who came before, those tough and resilent folks from times past, on display at these venues the things connecting them...
This post should have been published last week. We meant to publish it last week. Really, honest to God we did. We started work on it, got about half way done, then something darn distracting stole us away for a couple working days. It’s only Chris & Connie holding down...
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