Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/53603
PROMOTIONAL FEATURE The bilingual community of Falher, self- proclaimed Honey Capital of Canada, has the world's largest bee. The Manning Moose statue sits on the main street in Manning. The Battle River Pioneer Museum, one kilometre from Manning, has some unusual artifacts, including an Albino Moose, the famous Windigo Moose Horns and a two-headed calf. The 12 Foot Davis Memorial Site, near Peace River, honours Henry Fuller Davis, who struck it rich on a 12-foot gold claim in northern British Columbia in the 1860s. Recycling takes on a whole new meaning in Fort Vermilion, a Métis community that dates back more than 200 years. Many of its original buildings have been preserved and given a new lease on life. A log house is now the visitor information centre and a former grain handling facility was converted into a golf club. Passenger trains don't run to Peace River anymore, but an old railway station, complete with the ticket booth and waiting room, houses the visitor information centre. A marker at Historic Mile 0 Mackenzie Park and the Tom Baldwin Memorial Arboretum in Grimshaw points to the start of the Mackenzie Highway heading north. You would be hard pressed to tell that La Crete, a Mennonite farming community where people speak English and German, got its name in 1918 from a pair of francophone brothers who fl ed conscription in Quebec. The Tompkins Landing Ferry is a short ride to High Level and the Mackenzie Crossroads Museum and Visitor Centre. Magic Moments in the Northwest Territories A large stuffed polar bear stands inside the 60th Parallel Visitor Information Centre on the Northwest Territories border. At Alexandra Falls, south of Enterprise, frothing water plunges 32 metres into the Hay River. At the Hay River Territorial Park on Vale Island, I wander along the beach looking for driftwood that Mother Nature left behind. She created what looks like a giant pothole at the Angus Sinkhole and Fire Tower in Wood Buffalo National Park. The park, which is the size of Switzerland, turns 90 in 2012. Close to Fort Smith, missionaries once collected salt at the Salt Plains, in what is now Canada's largest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In town, pelicans nest on islands in the Slave River. In the territorial capital, the winding streets of Old Town take me to Bush Pilot's Monument, the Wildcat Café, Ragged Ass Road and views of Yellowknife Bay. At the Legislative Assembly downtown, the round Chamber is probably the only one in Canada with a polar bear pelt sprawled on the fl oor. During a short hike at Sambaa Deh Falls near Fort Simpson, a rainbow arches over a gorge. Once we reach the village, a self-guided walking tour takes us past the home of gold prospector and trapper Albert Faille's cabin, and the Papal Grounds, where Pope John Paul II said mass in 1987. A fl oatplane provides (clockwise from above left) Lac Cardinal Pioneer Days in Grimshaw, Alta.; Tompkins Landing Ferry on the Mackenzie Highway; Sambaa Deh Falls, N.W.T.; Peace River Visitor Information Centre; (below) chainsaw carvings in Chetwynd, B.C. a bird's-eye view of the breathtaking rivers, valleys and mountains in Nahanni National Park Reserve. I have trouble tearing myself away after a hike to Virginia Falls, which is twice the height of Niagara Falls. At the Acho Dene Native Crafts store in Fort Liard, shelves are lined with rows of locally made birch-bark baskets adorned with beautiful quillwork. My credit card doesn't escape unscathed. Two lovely baskets later, we head south. A bear insouciantly shuffl es across the highway in northern British Columbia before breaking into an ungainly but effective lope. We also spot a mama moose marching her two young ones along a narrow highway. I'm not sure who is more surprised – the moose or us. No matter. A feeling of discovery is part of what defi nes this journey. ■ by Helena Katz Information: www.dehchotravel.ca NORTHWEST TERRITORIES 45