Westworld Alberta

t a up front good clean FUN Many of us played in the mud as kids, frolicking in squishy abandon. The Plamondon Mud Bog Event August 16 to 18 in Lac La Biche brings the joy of mucking around to a new arena, delivering an equally satisfying rush. Imagine beat-up pickup trucks and vintage SUVs, muscled with 1,200 to 1,400 horsepower, hauling it side-by-side through 50 cm of thick sludge. HOG WILD for Jasper "They're going 150 feet in two-point-something seconds, so there's lots of mud flying," says Plamondon Mud Bog Committee president Leon Schaub. The event consists of timed trials sanctioned by the Canadian Mud Racing Organization (CMRO). Aside from the official race, there are amateur races, lawnmower races, a vintage tractor pull and activities for kids. Qualifying trials are on Saturday, and competitors with the best times will race in Sunday's CMRO-sanctioned "Shootout." The driver who slides into first place takes home a cool $7,000. —S.R. No mode of transportation is more exhilarating than motorcycling, and no motorcycle brand symbolizes freedom like Harley-Davidson. But most of us won't have the chance – or the gumption – to combine the two in our lifetime. Now, thanks to Jasper Motorcycle Tours, tourists without biking chops can do just that, with a Harley sidecar tour of the national park. Just choose from one- to three-hour tours and hop into a sidecar with your personal guide and driver. You'll wind through mountain roads and hug sweeping S-curves, cruising to turquoise Maligne Lake with stops at the eponymous canyon and mysterious Medicine Lake. Unexpected elk and mountain goat (clockwise from left) sightings will have you grinning from ear to ear – Mucky business at the though the real reason for the giggles might be Plamondon Mud Bog event; a sidecar tour seeing yourself decked out in the mandatory black of Jasper National leather chaps. jaspermotorcycletours.com –Tracy Hyatt Park; asparagus farmer Elna Edgar brandishes some spears. Field of GREENS If you grow it, they will come . . . . About 2,400 of them as it turns out, which is the number of people who attended last year's Asparagus Festival at Edgar Farms in Innisfail. This year, the festival takes place June 1and 2 and is expected to draw even more of a crowd. "The idea was to bring our customers out to the farm and educate them, because it's a crop that's not normally grown in Alberta," says Elna Edgar. Of the difference between locally grown and store-bought asparagus, she says: "It shouldn't even be called the same thing. Our climate, with those cool nights, really increases the sugar content and brings out the flavour." Festival-goers can pick a spear out of the soil and taste the difference for themselves. But it's not all down and dirty. Foodies will enjoy tasty morsels prepared by chef Andrew Winfield of Calgary's River Café and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs made with Edgar Farms' own Angus beef, garnished with asparagus relish. There's also a farmer's market onsite. edgarfarms.com —S.R. (above left) Plamondon Disctrict Community Development Society, (top right) Jasper Motorcycle Tours, (right) Edgar Farms p12-15 _Up Front.indd 13 Wes t w o r l d >> may 2 0 1 3 13 13-04-12 1:29 PM

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