Alberta Badlands

The author sitting beside a hoodoo that resembles a capstone resembling a dinosaur's head.

The Badlands.  The very name conjures up images of shootouts after an ambush in the Old West to some.  To other's it's means rich Dinosaur fossil beds.  I've taken many fabulous canoe trips down the Lower Red Deer River to the thickest band of the Alberta Badlands where it's 2 miles from the riverbank through prime badlands to the prairie above.  It was  there we made our usual camp close to the river bank in an area that you could only call an oasis on the river compared to any of the other choices to make camp at near the halfway point to where the next bridge is and where we get off the river,  pack up and wait for everyone else to come in.


Getting there was part of the fun with trying to ferry a bunch of canoes down the highway on top of various cars and trucks, often having to pull over and retie a knots in the ropes that would come loose,  and then the vehicle shuffles in the dark down unfamiliar back roads.
Finally getting into the canoes the next morning was exhilarating and everyone was raring to go,  as we had a long paddle ahead to reach camp by mid afternoon.  Once in awhile,  I would leave a few days ahead of everyone with another friend and we would put in up river from our usual starting point so that we could explore more of the area.  


What we found were old ferry crossings,  some of which probably ferried dinosaur bones across the river in the 1930's and 40's when paleontologists were jostling each other in the area trying to get specimens for museums. we found abandoned homesteads from different era's,  their roofs covered with the same rocks, dirt,gravel and grass blending in perfectly with the surrounding terrain.  we found 3 old cars that had sunk up to their rooftops in the soft muddy clay along the river.

The roofing material lends itself to almost completely making the place invisible from not faraway.

An Abandoned Homestead

An Old Bed Sits Inside The Cabin Waiting For It's Owner That Will Never Return

The 2 pictures above are of a newer homestead that was built,  after the original one we found closer to the river was probably destroyed when the river flooded higher than usual.  It's not hard to see why the First Nation's Blackfoot Tribe settled into the area as it still has a magical and spiritual feel to it.  

A Natural Cave

In the Badlands,  wind,  water and soft sedimentary rock combine to erode the landscape into odd shaped  Hoodoo's,  Butte's,  Coulee's, Canyons and gullies.  Coal seams are often exposed in Badlands,  which is why coal mining towns used to exist nearby.  There were 139 coal mines operating in the area at one time, and these Towns themselves died out when the mines closed all but a few.

Exploring

We hunted bones and teeth all weekend enjoying the desert like heat the area provides and in general,  just having a good old time.   Dr. Vladimir Markotic,  a one time professor of archaeology and paleontology at the U of C and the co-author of one of the books published on The Sasquatch,  even joined us on one of our expeditions in a Voyager Canoe.

Some of the best times of my younger days were spent there with friends.  We used to average 2 or 3 trips a year to the badlands including a Thanksgiving trip in October where we would enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings we would have enjoyed  at home, including Pumpkin Pie.  We cooked the Turkey in a fire pit refashioned to be an oven keeping hot coals under it and were never disappointed with the results.

Flat Rock Covering  4  Sides Of The Fire 

Different Location With No Usable Rock, Used Beaver Technology To Make This One

Main Camp in Fall

Looking For Dino Teeth

When it rains in the badlands, the hills become slick mud and you can ski down them in your running shoes for fun.

An Old Tepee Ring Up On The Prairie Above The Badlands

Red Deer River As Seen From High Up In The Badlands

Doe A Very Dead Deer

Nearly every year without fail as the May 24 weekend approached the number of people definitely going on the 1st trip of the year would go from 20 people down to about 7 or 9 of us.  Usually the excuse was that it was going to snow,  and while it often did in Calgary the weather was always hot out there in the badlands and we would have a great trip and return tanned. We once located remnants of an ancient forest complete with petrified trees,  or what was left of them.  Some of the specimens were really large and the grain of the wood was so clear and colorful. I couldn't believe I was holding a 65,000,000 million yr. old piece of wood in my hand. 

Over the years I found several tooth tips from an Albertasaur complete with clearly serrated edges like a butter knife.  I eventually made one of these into a necklace I wore for a few years.  Typically,  the teeth that turn up on the surface after rainfall is about 2 inches long and are just the tips that have broken off,  but I have seen friends find larger 3 to 4 inch teeth. The dinosaur bones wash up to the surface and are exposed the same way from the constant erosion. 


There are rattlesnakes and scorpions in the area,  but the deadliest predator some of had the misfortune to tangle with was when someone kicked a Prickly Pear Cactus,  while wearing sandals  when they were walking and not watching where they were going.  These cactus needles inject you with a venom like substance that makes the punctured  area swell and become extremely painful for awhile.  


There is the World Class Tyrell Museum not far out of Drumheller that has amazing displays and their is Horseshoe Canyon in the area that looks like a miniature Grand Canyon and the 48 km loop by car they call the Dinosaur Trail, but it's the Badlands I know faraway from all that,  with peaceful solitude where you can absorb the scenery and contemplate life while poking around for fossils.  Sit around a roaring fire at night and listen to Coyote's howl to each other. Jump in the river in the midday sun and sit down holding a big rock to cool off and not float away at the same time.  The ghost stories,  stargazing and camaraderie of friends. That's the Badlands I knew that still calls out to me. 

Do Have A Good Day And A Smashing Expedition.

                    Jeffrey R Hilton