Millarville to Highwood Junction - Cowboy Country!
Today's ride is a highly refined distillation of the trilogy that defines modern Alberta. We first rode through the birth place of the Alberta oil & gas industry, then through the heart of the most iconic ranch land imaginable before finishing in the Rocky Mountains along the eastern side of the continental divide.
Not bad for one day!
I would be remiss though not to acknowledge that what I've described is 'modern' Alberta, and the Western culture that displaced the people of the Bearspaw and Chiniki bands of the indigenous Nakoda nation who lived on and in these lands for millennia. They have now been relegated to a very small reserve in the Eden Valley along the Highwood River. This is a cycling blog, so I won't dwell on this, but there's a lot to be answered for, right here, and everywhere else in the America's.
Back to the riding. I know I'm biased, but a day like today, with more or less ideal weather, and some of the most beautiful and varied landscapes you can imagine, is about as good as cycle touring gets IMHO.
We started on hwy 762 just north of Millarville. This winds its way through classic ranch and hay cropping land along the foothills for about 20 km's when it meets up with busier, but still very good, hwy 22. This is the iconic Cowboy Highway that basically runs from the Alberta Montana border north along the foothills for about 500 km's.
So what did we see, smell, feel in those 20km's? Largely cows and hay fields (making food for ... cows) interspersed with small stands of aspen and birch trees. But the feeling was one of being totally blissed out. Very light traffic, fields and trees erupting in that intense early spring green (yes .. early spring in June ... this is Alberta high ranch country!) and soft early morning sunlight giving everything a gentle glow. I was seeing and feeling all of this even without doing any yoga this morning!
Millarville is a pretty tiny place with a gas station, a small school and a friendly and well stocked general store, catering mostly to the passing tourist and day tripping traffic. It was still pretty early in the morning when we got here but it was starting to heat up so a cold drink and water refill was on order.
Next stop was Turner Valley, ~10 km further south along hwy 22. Turner Valley and neighbouring Black Diamond, plus Millarville, are more or less satellite communities of Calgary now. However back in 1914, all of these were boom towns with the discovery and development of oil and natural gas at Turner Valley, the first in Alberta. There is still a lot of O&G infrastructure in the area, but it's old and largely in it's twilight days now. The main industry in the area is reverting back to ranching (which never stopped) and tourism. Turner Valley is now home to the very good Eau Claire Distillery and it's a day destination for a lot of Calgary folks. There was even a paved bike path connecting Turner Valley and Black Diamond (originally a coal town) ... not something you see much of in rural southern Alberta but an indication of how the times have changed.
Once we headed south out of Black Diamond towards Longview we were into much more wide open ranching country. Still lots of long rolling hills with the Rockies framing the western horizon and the prairies stretching out some 1500 km to the east, framing nothing but the huge blue sky!
Another 20 km's south and we were at Longview ... an aptly named very small ranching village. Hwy 22 continued on south rolling through the foothills toward the US border. It would be a great ride .... moderate traffic but good shoulder ... but be prepared for wind ... lots of it from the west, but that's for another day. At Longview we turned back west and started to ride back to the Rockies. Just after leaving the village there's a sign saying that the road is a dead end after 45 km's. Not quite true though! It a dead end for motor vehicles from December 1 through June 15 each year, as the road is shut down over Highwood pass as part of a winter wildlife refuge. But if you're under you own power you are free to go on!
As a result, the vehicle traffic was extremely light for the remainder of todays ride. A car every 5 minutes or so going our way, and maybe one every two minutes going east. Virtually all of these were folks transporting their bikes to the road closure barriers for a day ride to the pass.
Again, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves (and sorry , there's a lot of them), but it was once again a beautiful ride with mountains, endless blue sky, and quite a few cows to keep us company. The only blemish on the day was a stiff headwind for the last 20 km's or so. Can't complain though as we had tailwinds for at least that long earlier in the day.
We camped along the Highwood river and had another great dinner and great sleep with only ourselves as company. Priceless
SOTD- Cows Around, by Corb Lund
Yep, more Corb, because, well ... it just works. I was thinking about the folk classic Four Strong Winds by Ian and Sylvia Tyson, as we ended up with a pretty strong wind today, the song is about heading back to Alberta ... and Ian Tyson still lives in Longview, but this little Cow ditty by Corb defines the day. It was Cows all day long, start to finish.
If you like riding through rolling foothills with ranches and mountain views, you need to do this ride!
Looks like someone is heading in to hold-up the General Store. It was starting to really warm up (the day would turn out to be hot, with temps near 30°C) so the first cold drinks were on order
Turner valley was the birthplace of the Alberta oil & gas industry when discoveries were made in 1914. The historic gas plant dates from this era (it is no longer functional and has long since been replace by more modern facilities). There is still some production activity in the area, but the industry has largely moved on from this area and it's reverted back to ranching and tourism as the main industries.
... because you couldn't get near the front! the entire street had been tore up for utilities replacement. Great place though, very friendly staff, great products and restaurant. Worth a visit if you're in the area.
"The Model" getting her picture taken at the eponymous Black Diamond. It wasn't only oil & natural gas that was extracted from the earth in this area but coal mining ended a long time ago around here.
Ha... not for us! Heading west from Longview towards Highwood Crossing where the road north over Highwood Pass is closed to motor vehicles until June 15th! Almost no traffic from here on!
The Highwood river carving its way through Eden Valley, about 30 km west of Longview. About this time the wind really picked up out of the west. Suck it up and pedal, it was still a beautiful ride.
Not that we had a lot of traffic for the last 45 km's, but from here (Highwood Junction) until we hit the Kananaskis Lakes junction 55 km north on the other side of Highwood pass, it's only bikes! Super sweet! Since it was Monday and later in the afternoon, there were just a few day riders left. On weekends there would be hundreds!
