Fall in Alberta

 Happy Fall! I can't tell you how great it was to have a flat night last night despite frequent dusty hunters on ATVs... After we left Hinton's car part stores last evening we made it further down the gravel road (#40) that we continued on today.
The road parallels the great Rocky Mountains but it is what is called "the coal patch"  here... all the hills and mountains are either laid open or covered with a fine struggling grass which is the official remediation after the coal is exhausted. Below is an unfenced run-off pond. You can see the white tail deer in the photo above but not the big horn sheep grazing up the ridge off to the right on this photo.

 The air was filled with dust throughout the area and this processing area was like Mordor, a grim gray place. (What is funny is that this morning the CBC News from Edmonton was about 'cap and trade' and the argument was whether costs would be passed on to consumers. Perhaps if consumers could see the true costs of these industries they'd demand far more of themselves and industry and the fat cats who profit.)

 So we went down 40 until it became 734 and we will continue down it tomorrow after this brief stop in the historic mining town of Nordegg. What I wanted to say was after the coal there were miles and miles of oil and gas land and then into massive clear cuts. The entire corridor has been a sacrifice zone and is completely unsustainable.
While the weather holds Michael will do repairs and VV oil processing tomorrow so we can continue south. Peaceful Equinox to you.