The Road To Hell’s Basement Is Paved With Good Libations
We didn’t have to venture far out of Cranbrook before arriving at a nice, secluded campsite along the Wild Horse River. We set up camp there for several days, with prime real estate next to the river. Shane met some campers from up the mountain who were walking their dog. They told him that bears were spotted in the area very recently. So off we trotted up the road to the Fort Steele general store to purchase bear bangers (fireworks, essentially). I also armed myself with my megaphone when we trekked into the woods, ready to hit the siren button at the first sign of bears, lol. But we didn’t encounter any bears when all was said and done, and our time at the river was just super peaceful and restorative. At times, it was as if we were the only two people on the planet. It’s funny to realize how much we neglect our need for time in nature when we live in the city. Sure, there are day hikes and trips to the beach. But nothing beats getting away from all of the noise, lights, and technology. This is supposed to be our basic, human state, right? We’re already becoming very different people than we were a month ago.
Someone exhausted himself with the great outdoors:
We next headed east to Fernie, home of one our favorite BC breweries. Fernie is also just a stunningly beautiful town that’s surrounded by mountains and river. It’s like living in a postcard 24/7. We parked Kitty Kitty by the train tracks, where they offered RV parking. We pushed our luck and stayed the night, despite the “no camping overnight” signs. One of the advantages of living in a converted box truck is that people will often mistake us for a work or utility truck instead of an RV (one guy even pulled over to ask if we were a tree storage cooler, lol). So we didn’t get the dreaded knock on our door. But we were given the surprise of trains bellowing by us to the tune of screeching metal at 3:30 and 5:30 in the morning. The railroad never stops, apparently.
On our first day we met the lovely Veronica, a local who chatted with us and showed us where the river trail was. (Thank you, Veronica!) Shane and I hit up that trail the next day, walking all along the perimeter of town and back, getting back to the truck just in time for thunder and hail to hit. We also met a really cool lady who renovated a school bus and turned it into her art studio/shop (“a shortcut to the brick and mortar” route, which is a lot more costly). I didn’t get a pic of her bus but you can take a look here: https://www.instagram.com/acefergusonstudio/. I love seeing more and more people out there who are just following their dreams, it’s really inspiring to see what people come up with.
Fernie Distillers was open for business and the cocktails were out of this world:
Then it was time to hit the road again and make our way further east. After a month of soaking up the beauty and nature of the province, we finally said good-bye to BC and crossed into Alberta. It was wild to see all of the majestic mountains eventually give way to flat farmland. Our first destination was Lethbridge, Alberta’s 3rd largest city. We needed to do our shopping and supply run, so it made sense to head there. And apparently casinos are camper-friendly, because we found one on the free camping website. Sure enough, they let you park for free for up to two weeks, and the staff couldn’t have been nicer. There seemed to be this little RV community already in place over in the RV lot. It was such a hot day when we arrived, and after driving around all afternoon all we wanted was a cold beer. So we treated ourselves in the casino bar, buffalo butt and all. Shock Top never tasted so good.
The next day we hopped on our bikes to explore downtown Lethbridge. One shopkeeper told me that they’re known for their food, although a lot of restaurants were still closed. We did have a patio beer and some Alberta-made mead at Telegraph Taphouse, then had an amazing lunch of authentic Mexican food at a place called Tacos Made In Mexico (yes, I definitely think they could’ve spent more time on that name). We also found out that Lethbridge is the mecca for restored vintage cars. Oh, and there’s a huge Mennonite community there as well. Other than that, we just biked to the base of the Lethbridge viaduct, aka the “Train Bridge” and sat by the river, watching people play fetch with their dogs.
Finally, it was onward through the Canadian Badlands to our next stop on the trail, Medicine Hat. Aka “The Gas City” (I know, hardy har, but it’s apparently built on one of North America’s largest natural gas fields). We made a pit stop at Hell’s Basement brewery on the way into town because I’d heard good things about their beer. They had pineapple milkshake IPA and a Golden Retriever pup named Mary running around, what else could we want? That’s also where we found out that Rudyard Kipling had a connection to this place. He’d traveled across Canada in the early 1900s and developed a soft spot in his heart for good ole Medicine Hat. The brewery’s name is a nod to one of his quotes: “This part of the country seems to have All Hell for a basement, and the only trap door appears to be in Medicine Hat.” He’s also somewhat responsible for Medicine Hat keeping its name. They were going to change the name to Gasburg but he persuaded them to do otherwise: “And don’t you ever think of changing the name of your town. It’s all your own and the only Hat of its kind on earth.” I’d say that that was the right decision.
(The town actually got its name from the Blackfoot term Saamis, which refers to the eagle feather headdress worn by their medicine man. That legend is here: https://www.tourismmedicinehat.com/content-detail.asp?ID=231&CatID=5 .)
And then we went to find home for the next couple of days, and are experiencing our first Walmart parking! Hey, we might not be fans of their business practices but we will for sure freeload on the free parking. And there already was a small herd of RVs in place when we got there. The funniest part is that little Xiao Meow has never looked as riveted this whole trip as he currently does stalking the people of Walmart from his window perch.
We spent our one day in Medicine Hat biking around, first to the Saamis Teepee, aka the “world’s tallest teepee”. It’s made of steel and concrete and has ten beautiful storyboards. Then we headed on over to the Medalta Museum in the historic clay district. Medicine Hat once thrived off of the production of clay products, which they were able to make with all of that gas of theirs. It was a cool site to walk around. Then it was back to ye ole Walmart, with a pit stop for a pint along the way home.
Today we’re headed to Alberta Auto Wreckers to find a cheap part for the truck, and then we’re off to the prairies of Saskatchewan.
Hard day kitty:
