McKenzies' Trails West

Flying into Lake of the Falls, Purple Mtn on the left

With our neighbours, Icefield Helicopters, we offer a great Rocky Mountain scenic adventure package!  Both High-tech and ‘Horseback-tech’ our guests have loved the experience of seeing the expansive glaciers and mountain peaks by Helicopter, then heading across the highway to our Base Camp where we head out on a horseback trailride through the forest with Abraham Lk, Coral Creek Canyon viewing and photography stops along the way.  All this scenic excitement works up a ’mountain sized’ appetite!  Once our guests return from their trailride we treat them to our ‘5-Star Rustic’ Cowboy BBQ in our big Donut Tent.  Only AAA Alberta beef steaks are served here, BBQ’d to order.  Nobody ever leaves here hungry and we’ve served thousands from all over the world.

Ptarmigan

With my being a relative ‘newbie’ to living up here in these Canadian Rocky Mountains, I’ve had the opportunity to experience some great Helicopter flights over the glaciers, up Saskatchewan River and my favourite was when we were filmed for a new TV show.  That is when we flew up to Lake of the Falls and had an hour stop in order to film and experience the high Alpine meadow.  I am at a loss of words to aptly describe how beautiful this area is.  What I can tell you is that we saw Ptarmigans and Marmots,

who really didn’t seem to mind being so near to humans.  And the Air up there was so pure, like Heaven.  Even the plant life is so different, smaller, tighter to the ground with an abundance of colours.

Pretty Alpine flowers that are a mere 1/4" dia.

The cameras were hardly idle for a moment.  A true photographers paradise!  The hour passed all too quickly before we got back onboard and headed back down the Cline River canyon, out over Abraham Lk and landed back at the heliport.  The TV host, cameraman and myself had ear-to-ear smiles and hundreds of photos and plenty of ‘film’ to have memories of and share with the world.

Moss Campion. This covers the hillsides turning the landscape Purple!

Not only that, I want to go back and spend more time hiking around there and simply laying back, taking in the ’stupendous grandeur’.

Just a couple of minutes from the heliport is our Base Camp, the horses are saddled and it’s time to get another view of this mountainous area.

Young Cowgirl about to head out on the Trails!

Our horses are all mountain ‘experts’ and know this rocky terrain well.  They’re mostly Quarter horses, good, strong stock.  Whether a guest is a seasoned rider or a beginner, we match up the ‘Dudes’ (guest riders) with the right horse, give some instructions, ‘They all neck reign, don’t let them eat on the Trail, keep a little distance between them, we don’t run in this terrain, etc.’  Pretty straight forward, even for beginners.  They are used to following nose-to-tail and stay together on the trailride.

We have rides anywhere from an hour, which is a good one for families with kids, to a full day.  Our most popular ride is the Canyon Ride which is 2-1/2hrs up to a view point at Coral Creek Canyon.  There we’ll get off the horses, tie them up then hike down to see the very steep, narrow and rocky canyon leading to the convergence of Coral Creek and the Cline River.  More photography opportunities here for sure.

trailride

It seems there’s always something else to see on every trip I take.  Different lighting depending on time of day, the beautiful mountain flora and fauna which I’m working on getting all the names of as I’ve taken literally hundreds of pictures of.  I was excited this past season to discover that my camera had a Super-Macro setting.  That spurred me on to head out for several more trailrides with photo stops along the way.   With so much natural beauty here, it’ll be a long time before I’ll get my fill of taking pictures and sharing them!

Back to Base Camp after this incredible day of helicopter and horseback scenery, it’s time to light the big BBQ grill and get some good & hearty Cowboy food into our hungry bellies!Hmmm, big Alberta beef steak, baked potatoes, Cowboy baked beans, Ceasar salad, Ranch roll, desert ~ how good does it get?!

BBQ Tent

This is but a wee glimpse into an adventure and fun filled day here on the Eastern slopes of the great Canadian Rocky Mountains!  For guests of all ages (we even had folks here celebrating their 60th Anniversary, last season) come and visit, stay for awhile and take in some of the most spectacular scenery in Alberta and the world!

How would you like your steak? My Cowboy Ron at the grill!

As you’re finishing or beginning your Christmas shopping, might I make a suggestion?  Especially if you want to give an extraordinary & most memorable gift ~ we offer Gift Certificates for any of our packages and can custom tailor any Event for gift giving, groups, weddings and more.

Let the Alberta Rocky Moutains be on your gift list this Christmas and we’ll look forward to seeing you out here next Season!

(PS ~ this is only my 2nd Blog & am still learning the ropes of WordPress, some of these things aren’t displayed quite the way I had in mind, I’ll be working on that.  Always a learning curve.)