Ghost Towns and Badlands - July 19 - 21, 2019 - Canadian Camera Conference 2019
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Ghost Towns and Badlands July 19 - 21, 2019 (Rain or shine) Field Trip Leaders: Allan Brooker Cost: $825 Number of Participants: 8 Included: Transportation between SAIT and the Drumheller area. Accomodation for two nights (double occupancy). Admission to the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Dinosaur Provincial Park tour. ww.ccc2019.ca Canadian Camera Conference 2019
Old fossil and new life in Dinosaur P rovincial Park The Badlands Heading west from Calgary to the beautiful Rockies is a photographic bucket list destination. But just to the east of Calgary is a landscape so diverse and unique that it can’t be found anywhere else in Canada. Over 75 million years in the making, Alberta evolved from lush, subtropical forests and rivers teeming with plants and small mammals and where dinosaurs ruled the earth. The changing earth and sedimentary deposits created the otherworldly landscape that dominates the Drumheller region and resulted in vast oil and coal resources which helped
Otherworldly landscape of the Alberta Badlands. fuel Alberta’s prosperity. The Badlands seem to come from nowhere. Gently rolling, fertile grasslands abruptly give way to deep craggy crevices and g eological formations which give a snapshot into the earth’s history. Layers of sediment from a variety of sources over millions of years are clearly seen in the landscape. This perfect storm of organic matter and geological change helped create beds of coal that sparked an industry with small towns springing up almost overnight.
The train station at Rowley. Ghost Towns Your trip departs SAIT at 5:30 a.m. as you make your way towards Drumheller and the town of Rowley. At the height of the coal boom, there were over 139 mines operating in the region. Many small prairie towns like Rowley prospered especially with the railroad passing through town bringing homesteaders and a healthy economy. However, as the mines closed down and railroad service decreased, many of the towns were abandoned. Rowley managed to avoid ghost town status as it rebranded itself as a heritage town. The sentinels of the prairie, the grain elevators, are still
Dinosaur detail. standing as is the train station. The old saloon is opened up once a month to host a huge pizza party that is known for miles around. And yes, there are abandoned buildings which make for fantastic photographic opportunities. A short drive will take you to Dry Island Buffalo Jump to enjoy the changing prairie landscape to the start of the Badlands and to have a picnic lunch. You’ll head for your hotel in Drumheller to get checked in and freshen up before going to the world-famous Royal Tyrrell Museum to explore this stunning one-of-a-kind museum. Never in his wildest dreams would Joseph Tyrrell imagine his name would become synonymous with paleontology after his search for coal in 1884 resulted
Gorgosaurus libratus. The Real Dinosaur Hunter in the first dinosaur fossil to be found in the region. The Royal Tyrrell Museum opened in 1985 and has become the preeminent destination for dinosaur-loving kids, geology buffs and research scientists. The museum chronicles the history of the dinosaurs as well as the natural landscape and how it has evolved. It is a working laboratory and research centre as fossils are found every year which need to be carefully excavated and catalogued. But what really draws the crowds are the dinosaurs including an assembled Tyrannosaurus Rex looming over you in the
Even the deer love the view. e xhibit hall. A unique exhibit that shouldn’t be missed is the Cretaceous Garden filled with lush plants much like those which blanketed the earth during the era of the Dinosaur. You’ll return to your hotel where you can get some dinner (not provided) and join up with your group for some evening shooting or to just relax and get ready for the next day. You’re off to an early start again, leaving the hotel after breakfast at 6 a.m. to head south towards the UNESCO World Heritage Site
Dinosaur Provincial Park. of Dinosaur Provincial Park. This leisurely drive allows for a few impromptu photo stops if desired before reaching the park for a guided tour. There is a restaurant at the park where you can have lunch before heading back out to explore. You’ll leave the park around 4 pm for a leisurely drive back to the hotel for dinner and the chance to go through the breathtaking images you took at Dinosaur Provincial Park. Dinosaur Provincial Park is bit of a secret to many tourists. Many bypass it in order to stay in the Drumheller region or choose to head to the mountains believing that only prairies and farms lie to the east. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Bluebirds and fossils in the Badlands. inosaur Provincial Park appears as if the earth D decided to crack open just enough for us to take a look inside. One moment, you are driving next to farm fields and then, suddenly, you descend into a landscape dominated by deep crevices mixed with multi-hued hills and desert-like vegetation. This is the land of stark beauty that time forgot; the land of the dinosaurs. The park offers one of the best records of the Cretaceous period in the world. Over 50 dinosaur species have been found here, many intact, and are currently exhibited in museums across the globe. Despite its barren appearance, Dinosaur Provincial Park is home to many plant species including cacti as well as over 160 species of birds. The
Church at Dorothy. ndulating rock forms and layers are the perfect u subjects for extra wide angle images. Photographic opportunities are limitless. An early start again this morning as you head towards the ghost town of Dorothy after breakfast and checking out of the hotel. This leisurely drive allows you to enjoy the Drumheller region and to reflect on how the area was once filled with families and workers in the coal mining industry. Dorothy, Alberta never had many more than 100 residents. It was a vibrant little town having, at one time, a post office, three grain elevators, two churches, a meat shop and a school. As with many small towns, Dorothy benefitted from having the railroad nearby and enjoyed prosperity into
The grain elevator at Dorothy. the 1950s. Photographically, it was best known for its sole remaining elevator and the two churches. For many years, the churches languished and were in danger of being home more to pigeons than parishioners. However, both churches have been restored beautifully and are a joy to photograph both inside and on the outside with the distinctive Badlands landscape as a backdrop. A leisurely drive back through Big Valley and the Red Deer Valley allows for a few last shots if the opportunities present themselves before arriving back at SAIT around 3:30 p.m.
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