Road Trip to Yellowknife, Day 8: Peace River to Lac La Biche, AB

Text and images (c) Robert Barry Francos, 2010
Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

We woke up to a light rain, and we packed up our stuff between the drops, fortunately not getting wet, even with us making breakfast. We sat on plastic bags because the picnic table benches were wet.

We left the Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park at Lac Cardinal, located outside the town of Grimshaw (AB). A quick check on the closed Pioneer Village along the road, we drove through the gateway pictured below. We stopped there for photos. Just outside park by the metal gate was some cars parked in a ditch with protests about the government bringing in nuclear power.


Heading back up Highway 35 and back east on Hwy 2, we went once again entered Peace River. We stopped into the Tim Horton's for some coffee and a muffin, and across the street was this liquor store / gas station. So much for promoting not drivin' and drinkin'. For those in the States, note that the station is Esso, rather than Exxon.
After our morning refueling, we headed east over the bridge, and onward on Route 2 through the river valley. Moxy Früvous's "River Valley" was playing in my head.
Not only was there a railroad bridge next to the roadway, there was another, possibly older one, off in the distance, passing over the Peace River. Highway 2 can be seen to the left, where we would be in minutes.
Along the road, we passed through a town called Nampa (AB). Here we found a combination Country Inn and liquor store, for those who want to crash and drink. Note that they both share the same door.
It must be doing well, as it has survived when the other hotel in town was up for sale.
Along the way, the river valley gave way to farmland, including bright yellow fields of canola.
The clouds built up and were dramatic and temperamental. Rainstorms could occasionally be seen in the distance, and we passed through a few here and there.
The No. 2 highway rode along the south end of Lesser Slave Lake, and after passing some small towns, such as Faust and Kinuso, we headed to the town of Slave Lake. At the airport, we saw these yellow planes on the tarmac. These are used to dump water on forest fires, and were most likely being used to help out in the many fires that were plaguing large parts of British Columbia.
We came to the town of Slave Lake, and stopped at the exact same gas station / A&W burger joint we had on the way to Yellowknife. We had made a complete circle through northern Alberta, going one way up (route 88) and coming back another (Highways 35 and 2).
I'm guessing this RV park is under repair?

Being in the area, we decided to check out the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park. A wooden stairway led us down to the windy beach. It was pretty quiet with a few visitors coming through while we were there, but no one stayed long. The picnic tables told of warmer days and happy campers, but this day was desolate and windblown. It was a lovely spot.







We motored along Highway 2 (joined with Highway 55 after a bit), and arrived in Athabasca in mid-afternoon. This was where we had spent the first night out on this road trip. It was near dark when we had gotten there last time, so now we had time to check out more of the town. We crossed over the bridge on route 813, and found our way to the Athabasca Centennial Park, which was behind the huge letters placed on a cliff directly on the other side of the Athabasca River from the town. We had a great overview from there.










On the way back to the main road and our way east, we stopped just before the steel bridge to take some photos. There were lots of flowers around, and some racist and scary graffiti.



The bridge had a narrow wooden bed, and no walkway for pedestrians, but we still went to the middle to take some shots of the river. John and I were conscious of the occasional traffic, and stayed as much to the side as we could.




On our way out of town we saw the beautiful Ukrainian Orthodox Church Of St. Peter and St. Paul, There is a large Ukranian population in Athabasca.
Highway 2 split from 55 just out of town, so we stayed on the latter, which headed due east. We had come up Hwy 2 at the beginning of the journey, so we took 55 as an alternative route. Along the way, just east of Atmore, this cloud caught my eye. It looked just like North America, right down to Mexico on the bottom. See it?
We stopped in the town of Lac La Biche (AB). We asked some locals where would be a good place to camp. A couple of teenage girls giggled but hadn't a clue. Eventually someone suggested the Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park, which was on a beautiful - albeit windy - peninsula.
The sun was golden as we cooked up our soup and cut up the veggies for dinner. The light during the golden hour was bright on the tops of the trees, making them glow.

The place felt a bit open, but it ended up being just fine and surprisingly quiet. It would be our last night on the road, so we savored it.
As the day ended, we figured out we had come 568 kilometers / 353 miles, which means we have traveled 3928 K / 2441 M in total. Our last full day of travel had ended, and we knew the next night would be be in our own beds. John estimated we'd be home late evening. That was good, because I wasn't sure about how much more John could stand of my snoring...

DVD Review: “Leonard Cohen’s Lonesome Heroes”

Text © Robert Barry Francos/FFanzeen, 2010
Images from the Internet

Leonard Cohen’s Lonesome Heroes
Pride DVD (UK), 2010
110 minutes, USD $19.95
MVDvisual.com

Along with the likes of Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen is considered one of North America’s great singer-songwriters in the poet tradition. The focus of this bio, as with a recent one about Frank Zappa, is to look not just at the man and his work, but what influenced him to be such a macher in his field.

While I have seen a few documentaries about Cohen, they rarely go beyond the singer-songwriter, whereas this one discusses his pre-song work during his time in Montreal at McGill University, and in New York (1956-57) while attending Columbia, and carries through when he had retired to seek solace in Buddhism.

But surpassing even that, there is a secondary level that increases the interest to me. For example, the film describes how a young teen Lenny becomes impressed with Spanish martyr poet Federico Garcia Lorca and decides to write poetry as well. At this point, there is a narrative of Lorca’s poetry followed by a Lorca expert describing both his poetry and Leonard’s, and compares them. Later, when Cohen lives in New York during the beat era, not only do we hear a recording clip of Allan Ginsburg’s Howl and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road,” and we also hear some of Cohen’s two novels, which has a similarity in style to Road,” and a Beat Generation expert discusses both. So you get a play-by-play not just by experts on our Canadian subject and how he was influenced, but also analytical details about the heroes.

With the many clips used of the influences, of the experts (including the expected music-related academics, and two critics from Rolling Stone magazine), of the original artists, and of course Leonard himself, the pace is actually pretty fluid, and is kept interesting. I found Judy Collins’ taking about how she acquired Cohen’s songs for an album before anyone else, and how she helped him as a performer, as riveting. It’s interesting how she describes how he played her “Suzanne” in a hotel room, and he tells the tale as doing it over the phone. Ah, gotta love oral histories.

Among all these influences are ones the viewer may not have thought of, such as Hank Williams and Ray Charles, but played beside each other, the flux is definitely there. As for the two Hanks mentioned (Williams and Snow), well, Cohen has done country songs, such as “The Captain” (Various Positions).

An obvious one here is Bob Dylan. Dylan’s breaking away from traditional folk and moving into singer-songwriter poetry styles – not to mention that Dylan can hardly be called a classic style singer – surely showed Cohen that his voice could be accepted as-is. Though closer to Dylan in voice, Cohen often wished he could sound as versatile as Ray Charles, who also was influenced – and was influential – by and in country & western (“Unchain My Heart,” “You Don’t Know Me,” etc.). Another is phenomenal French songwriter Jacques Brel, whom Cohen would certainly have heard growing up while living in the French city of Montreal. Brel’s complex lyrics and song structure, and even occasional themes (for example, both write about prostitutes, such as Brel’s “Amsterdam” and Cohen’s “Sisters of Mercy”), can be found in both.

As a quick sidebar, I’d like to ask an open question to all Leonard Cohen documentarians: why is it no one ever interviews Jennifer Warnes? She is seen in the background of one of the clips doing back-up, but she was as much a muse as she was a support, as she was as well to Mason Williams. She is part of what made albums like Various Positions so magical, especially the much covered “Hallelujah.” But I digress…

To bring this digression into the review conversation, there are a lot of clips of Cohen’s songs throughout the DVD, obviously from many periods of his career, which compiled together make an interesting notation of watching him aging, as a performer. As he looks more and more like another Leonard – Nimoy – after all these years he still sings with his eyes closed, and his voice has mellowed and deepened (from cigarettes?).

Those who have followed his career know about his dive into Zen Buddhism, which lead to his retirement for a number of years. For me, this only makes sense as he as been exploring religious themes in his music since the beginning. It is interesting to hear from both is mentor, Kigen, and also from another Zen Buddhist priest (one of those experts I was mentioning earlier). There are clips of Cohen in the Buddhist Mount Baldy Centre, where he has also achieved priesthood, which I have never seen before. This later period was as much a mystery for me about the man as was his pre-“Suzanne” days, when he was a published poet and novelist.

While this DVD was not authorized by Cohen, it is respectful without being genuflecting, which is a nice break from the norm. Perhaps because it is more “experts in the field” rather than other musicians, there is less “we’re-not-worthy” moments, and more introspection to output, which is a nice touch for a tributary discussion. Even Judy Collins, who is just a bit gushy, pre-dated Cohen’s music, so she comes off as much as mentor as fan. It’s also a risk as Collins is probably the only recognizable name to most people, but that is also part of what makes this so compelling.

As these kind of DVDs go, this is one is one I can happily recommend, including to people not very familiar with his music. By the end, the viewer will have more of an idea of L. Cohen’s work.

The bonus side is kind of slim, though I’m not complaining. Along with the bios of the “panel” (as the talking heads who discuss Cohen are called), there is a further clip of Judy Collins discussing Cohen and his music. There is one thing she says that bothered me a bit, is when she states that perhaps it was for the better that all of Cohen’s retirement money was ripped off so that he had to go back to touring and working (two albums have come out since), thereby giving the world more of Cohen’s words and music. That comes off as highly presumptuous to me. But as she did some of her best work in the later stages of her career (e.g., “The Blizzard”), and she is perhaps viewing the situation though that filer, I’ll give her that much.

Bonus Video:

Road Trip to Yellowknife, Day 6: Yellowknife to Louise Falls, NWT

Text and photos (c) Robert Barry Francos, 2010
Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Day 6 had come, and we were well past the point of return, and yet that is what we set out to do. It was Saturday, July 24, and it was time to turn around and leave Yellowknife (YK) and start the long journey home. Our plan was that we were either going to take different routes, or if that were not possible, stop and see different things where we could.

After our usual breakfast and especially coffee (gotta fuel up, after all), we packed up the gear, and at around 10 AM, set off in a non-rush home. We were still having fun.

One last interesting fact about YK: Margot Kidder was born here, and there is a street in Old Town named Lois Lane; it was not for her, but rather someone named Lois Little. Because of Kidder's fame, however, some claim that it is named after her character.

We exited the Fred Henne Territorial Park campgrounds, which is near the airport, and stopped the car long enough to take pictures of the Bristol Freighter Monument, right at the intersection of Old Airport Road and Highway 3 (our route), just beyond the turn off out of Fred Henne. The Bristol Freighter is an airplane with some history to this town, and is made to look like it is rising above the trees. Below is the official YK sign and logo. It all looks impressive except for the dirt parking lot just below the plane.



The ride down Highway 3 is filled with rocks, as I've stated earlier, as this is the beginning of the Canadian Shield. Along the way, many of these boulder groupings were personalized, with wagons, graffiti (e.g., Dene Tha 2010, which translates to "people common to the territory"), and in one case, an entire family represented in stone figures.


The sun was shining and it was a beautifully warm day. We stopped to take pictures of some of the wildflowers along the road just out of town, as the sun made them glow.

The weather was variable, though, and as we drove south, it became cloudy, and near the Staff River, north of Edzo, it started to pour. Fortunately, while it was a hard rain, it did not last very long, and let up as we approached the bridge at Edzo.

At the bridge over the River Kwa...er... I mean over the Great Slave Lake at Marion Lake, we exited the car, and took pictures of the double-hump steel bridge, and the town of Edzo, which we had just passed. At the bottom, we could see the pier from which we had taken pictures of the town and bridge on our way north a few days earlier.


Once again, as we drove down the highway which butts against the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary, we saw a herd of bison / buffalo at the 185 K marker. They were standing among the trees. We snapped some pics, which were hard to get due to the foliage, and then started on our way once again.


This bull was checking us out.

Not much further down the road, at marker 167 K, we had to stop, as the bison were standing in the road. We didn't mind, and took more photos. I mean, how often does this happen (unless you live there)? This was the biggest herd we had seen so far, as there must have been close to 50 of them. They are beautiful animals, and they make great burgers... no, I'm serious. I would happily eat a bison burger before beef/cow. It's less fatty and has a better taste.

The bison scratches an itch (bugs were thick and fierce) by rubbing against the bark of a tree.


Gives a whole new meaning to "on the road again"...




The bison left some DNA along the highway.
It was getting time for lunch, as we approached Ft. Providence, the last town before the ferry. Of course, we explored the town (by car) first. There were many churches of various denominations scattered throughout the small area. This was the Our Lady of Providence Roman Catholic Mission. We actually went inside the church, which was empty at that moment, and could see the mix of Catholicism and Dene Nation imagry.



The church was alongside the Mackenzie River, and I took this lucky shot, not realizing the bird was in it until I looked at it after we arrived home.

The Deh Cho (Big River) Health and Social Serivces building is colorful, but more from repairs than intent. Social Services are important in the Northwest Territory, but underfunded, as it is just about every else in North America, especially with a conservative government.
This is the local Dene gathering hall. We were respectful and did not enter.

Here is the New Life Pentacostal Church (affiliated with PAOC, or the Pentacostal Assemblies of Canada) . . .
. . . and another church associated with Our Lady of Providence. Gotta love those early Jesuits.


Just inside the town is the Sunshoe Inn. It is a restaurant (that looks more like a cafeteria) with pictures on the wall of local people and events from over the years, and to the left is a gift shop. The shop was closed, but I took some pictures through the door window.
There was a definite sense of humor about the place, as shown by the tree just outside, and the cigarette dump next to the door.
Sign on the door.

Year-round Christmas lights visible from our table.
Gift shop.

Sign on wall just inside of restaurant hallway.
The aforementioned ashtray outside the restaurant.

The view of the Mackenzie River from the front of the Snowshoe Inn.
Shortly after leaving Ft. Providence, we were once again at the ferry. The Merv Hardie was waiting and we fortunately made it on the boat.
Again roaming the ferry for the 10-minute journey across the river, I noticed the men's room, which I did not use.
We headed south along the river, where the stantons were placed for the future bridge, and there were construction crews working away, even though it was Saturday (thanks in part to a short working season due to the weather).
This door has a sign that says, "Keep water tight door closed at all times."
This is the only safety boat on the ferry, so obviously the only one who gets to escape a scuttle is the captain.


Once on the other side, construction continued to rear its dragon head. We switched from Higway 3 to Highway 1, which would take us all the way to Alberta.
We stopped at the Louise Falls campground at the Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park. While we were at the falls before, we only took a passing view knowing we were coming back this way. This time we stayed the night, and took our time looking at the charming and oddly cake-shaped falls.
The light and muddy water gave a chocolate look to the Louise Falls.
While we only saw the falls from the upper level when we were here last, this time we took the long and winding - and narrow - circular staircase down towards the water. There was an unassuming boardwalk that led to the stairs.



Once down the stairs, there were still the stairs to go. Going down was tiring, but coming up after, more so. However, I figured if I could climb all three Teotihuacan pyraminds near Mexico City, this was doable.




John took some snaps unaware while I took one of him.

After supper we all talked for a while, and then headed off to bed, me in my red sleeping bag, and John in his brown (Ian has his own tent). My overnight bag and jacket were used as a wall, giving as much privacy as we would get. However, our snores were not hindered by this separation, at all.
By time we stopped to camp, we had traveled 477 K / 296 miles, the most we achived in one day, for a total of 2721 K / 1691 miles since we left Sasaktoon. Even with all the moving during the day, we had managed to see many sites and were psyched about the next morning's travel.