Thursday, August 07, 2008

This morning I woke up to a whopper of a headache that leaves my brain having a hard time trying to think of sentences to put together into paragraphs that would make any sense. So guess what? You get to be subjected to, forced to, hog-tied and a contraption used to make your eyelids stay open ala Nick Cage in Next to look at my holiday pictures. So grab a coffee and get comfy!

We headed into British Columbia for holidays this year. We thought we'd do a really nice holiday considering one of my little birds is about to fly the coop. *Gulp* *Sob* Okay, deep breath. I'm ok. Moving on to the pictures.




Here we are heading into the mountains that will take us from Alberta to B.C. That's Turtle Mountain you see straight ahead on the road. I must pause here to say I took a lot of scenery shots that I may or may not subject you to entertain you with. I was trying different features on my camera, one of them being the SuperSteady Shot Anti Shake (Sony). I must say it's an awesome feature. Here we're whipping along at about 110 km or 65 mph. And most of my pics came out clear. Anyhoo, this looks like your nice, average little mountain, doesn't it?



Well, don't let it fool you, it's not. If you take a close peek you'll see that the front face of the mountain is all rubble. Big rubble.


Big, big rubble. (P.S. Mr. Bikerman, please don't be mad at me for posting your pic all over the internet. But you wouldn't move and I really needed this shot.) Below are my teens climbing around on a small portion of the boulders in the direction moving away from the mountain.



In 1903, the crest of Turtle mountain literally broke away in the early morning hours and slid down the mountain breaking into boulders (74 million tonnes worth) and burying about 7 houses on the outskirts of the town of Frank. It all took about 90 seconds. In a town of 600, 70 people died. The opening of the mine was also buried but some miners managed to tunnel their way out. The rest of the town eventually returned and thrived until 1911 when the provincial gov't shut it down because of more instability.


Today the highway runs right through the middle of it. You really cannot fathom the overwhelming feeling of being there and seeing this. Picures don't do it justice. It is a huge area that is covered in these limestone boulders. Geologists are monitoring the mountain today believing that one of these fine years the other side will eventually do the same thing.

So there you are, the first snippet of "Holidays 2008". How did you do? Don't say you never learn anything here at Living To Tell even while you are being highly entertained. I'll now let you move on, but never fear, I have more.

14 comments:

ellen b. said...

That really is some fascinating history. I'll look forward to more of your holiday shots!

Laura said...

Well look at that, I didn't know that. I like the holiday shots so keep em coming!

Faith said...

I LOVED this!
My oldest one (Courtney) would be scrambling all over those boulders!! She has always preferred hiking on rocks vs. pine needles. I'll show her these pics.
I would LOVE to come out with our camper and camp in BC....I've only camped in Canada once and it wasn't that great (not because of Canada...Canada and Niagara Falls, and Marineland were all great!). We were at a KOA and it was way too crowded. My hubby wants to get out to BC and someplace called Banff? I probably just spelled that wrong? anyhoo, he says it is gorgeous out there and we need to take the kids before they go to college!

Islandsparrow said...

Great pictures! I hope to go to BC sometime.

Hope your headache is better soon.

Pam said...

Susanne~

Hope you feel better, but I was thoroughly entertained by the lovely photos. Bring 'em on, friend and get thee an ice pack. : )

Barb said...

What a terrible thing, that 70 people in such a small town died.

I hope you have lots more holiday photos. These are great. I personally like the biker man photo. LOL

Sandra said...

Really enjoyed the photos Susanne :)

Our Home Schooler and Jen said...

pray you feel better soon

wonderful photos
thanks for sharing
whats on the other side of the mountain if it does decide to give way on of these days

imagine losing 70 people in a small town like that I guess a lot of the people knew at least one of those people real well - family maybe -
must have been a very sad town for a while
thanks for the history

Jen

Beck said...

That's a very tragic history... but the pictures are GORGEOUS!
And I'm sorry about the headache. Ugh. I know how you feel - I wonder if it's the weather?

PastormacsAnn said...

Boy, that last photo gives us a little perspective. Great photos. Thanks for taking us on vacation! ;-)

(hope your head is better now)

Anonymous said...

That first picture of the eye operation really creeps me out -- I hope I don't ever have to have eye surgery!!

The other pictures are making me nervous about driving next to hills and mountains.

We had friends who were driving next to a hill that sudden;y experienced a small landslide and a boulder nearly the size of their van landed right in front of them. Augh!!!!

gail@more than a song said...

Looks like y'all had a fun time! Good shots...no kidding, they think the other side will fall in too? So much neat stuff out there to see!

Oh and that's one huge vehicle in your wednesday shot!

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

I actually did learn something about Turtle Mountain. Bring on more pics if you so desire.

FlipFlop Mom said...

BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved em.. I thought it was snow!! LOL LOL