Trails and Trailers

Have you ever walked by something every day of your life, and then, one day, you see it in a different light and everything makes sense?

The railroad was pulled out of Athabasca around 15 years ago. And it's always remained a mystery to me as to how trains got into Athabasca. For you see, Athabasca is at the bottom of a valley. It's surrounded by steep hills on three sides...and a river on the fourth. So I've always kept my eye open for some evidence of how the trains got in.

And then one day, as I was roaming around town, I was crossing a bridge over the Tawatinaw Creek. Now, out in the creek there's this large mound of dirt, just enough growth on it to make it seem natural. But, on this day, there there was just enough snow on the mound that I could make out a trail...a trail that extended far back into the bushes. "Of course!" I exclaimed.

I had finally found the remains of the rail bed.

The upside to this was, not long after, I finally found the trail head for the Trans Canada Trail.

We've all heard of this project, set-up to commemerate the 125th anniversary of Canada. A hiking trail all across this nation. As of 2007, the only province that's completed its part is Prince Edward Island. And, following PEI's example, most sections of the trail are...abandoned rail beds.

Now, there's a leg of the Trans Canada Trail that starts in Edmonton and goes up to the territories. And that leg slices through Athabasca. And, again, it's built on the old rail bed.

I found the trail. It's really cool, actually. It's a street in Athabasca that gets narrower and narrower until it turns into a hiking trail. And then it just goes into the bush...forever.

I'm going to have to hike it in the summer. See if I can make it to the neighbouring hamlet of Colinton...a hearty, 12km hike, according to Google Maps.

Of course, once I got to Colinton, I'd think I'd call a friend to drive me home to Athabasca.


In the meantime, check out this sweet new TV spot for Transformers. I love that mid-air transformation with Starscream!



I know, a lot of my friends and fellow TransFans have given up hope for this film...but not me!