Badlands, Dinosaurs and Hoodoos.

Sunday July 17th

Last night there was a short sharp thunder storm with a torrent of rain. We awakened this morning to no signs of rain. Skies are blue and the sun already hot. Today we go to somewhere even hotter, to the Alberta Badlands to see Dinosaurs and Hoodoos.

 We set off and are soon crossing the Alberta Prairies. The Prairies are a vast area of flat lands. In Alberta it's grass for cattle and arable. The crops seemed to be rape and wheat. Both acres of crops seem to be months later than out UK crops.

Gradually the landscaped change and became hilly and as we approached the Drumhella valley and the town of Drumhella the  land changed again to the arid moonscape of the  badlands. The badlands are like no other place on earth. Home to the worlds most extensive dinosaur bonebeds. It's an inhospitable environment,  very cold in the winters and extremely hot, dry and arid in the summers.

  Drumhella is a small town that came into existence in such an inhospitable place when coal was discovered in the valley in 1911. Since the 1980's it has become a world  famous tourist attraction because of the amount of dinosaur bones and fossils discovered in the area. Two young boys on a fishing expedition found the blackened fossilized bones of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The bones were black because of the magneseum in the water. The fossil took months to get out of the ground and became known as 'Black Beauty'

All around the town replica dinosaurs are to be seen and in the park and playground they have recreated the 'Worlds biggest Dinosaur'. 

We pass through Drumhella and out towards the site where most of the fossil were found. Here a large modern museum has been built. It's bustling with people all wanting to see these amazing fossils. The  Royal Tyrrell Museum was named after Joseph Burr Tyrrell in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the geological survey of Canada. The Royal title was added after a visit by  Queen Elizabeth II.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the science of palaeontology. In addition to housing one of the world’s largest displays of dinosaurs, the Museum offers a wide variety of creative, fun, and educational programs that bring the prehistoric past to life.   * from web site

The museum itself is only a part of the site. There's a trail to be walked around to see some of the excavation site and site where fossils have been found. The heat hits us when we climb out of the air condition comfort of the van. After a light lunch in the excellent cafeteria we split up and explore. The museum is so well set out and is interesting for all ages. I'm afraid we gave the trail outside a miss. It really was too hot for us. 32+ degrees

The Royal Tyrrell Museum.

paleontologists work space behind a glass screen.

After we  had browsed the museum we got back in our air conditioned van and drove to Drumhella and a quick photo stop at 'The Worlds Biggest Dinosaur' 

John and 'Himself are in the mouth of this monster!

On the road again and out to the Hoodoo's It's even hotter here, so we don't stop for too long. The strange geological formations are definitely a must see .

John and 'Himself' climb up a short distance but some intrepid explorers go right to the top of the ridge.

We only make the first platform.

In the badlands of Alberta, Canada, one may come across oddly shaped rock-formations which stand up to 20 feet tall. Blackfoot and Cree traditions hold that these rocks are petrified giants who come alive at night to protect the land around them by hurling stones at intruders.

Today we know the rocks were created by erosion - perhaps as amazing a force as giant-petrification. Naturally shaped by wind and water, these hoodoos (also known as fairy chimneys) have been carved over millions of years into pillar-like shapes.

Made of soft sandstone, the hoodoos are generally topped with a harder rock "cap," slowing the process of complete disintegration. Climbing is not permitted, for the sandstone structures are quite fragile. Eventually these hoodoos will be eroded so thin that they'll break, and the harder top rock will come crashing down. * from web site.