dabidc's VirtualTourist Home Page

The first third of my life was spent in northeast England, the formative years in Hexham in S W Northumberland, from the local school then on to the Grammar School in nearby Newcastle and later work in Newcastle and Sunderland. I have many vivid and happy memories of those early days.

A typical family of 4, mother, father, a sister and me, in growing up, we enjoying good access to rural places, mostly done on foot and undoubtedly that is where the interest in hiking came from. Food rationing for a while ensured healthy meals that included many vegetables.

The foundations of life. Indeed.

What was to follow? Well, a marriage to Kathleen then two children, a girl and a boy. Visits to Alpine Countries in 1958 and 1963 introduced us to the majesty of the alpine vistas and the delicious food.

A change of Country in the mid 1960's and our choice was Canada, especially when a job offer introduced us to Calgary, a City of 300.000 people and close to the Rocky mountains. With a population now of One mIllion people from all over this world we call Earth.

The family grew up enjoying the wide open prairies and the playground of the Okanakan for summer vacations. We celebrated our good fortune by having our English relatives and frieinds join us whenever they could.

Together with visits to the mountains west of Calgary from the newly formed Kananaskis Provincial Park, to the distinctive splendour of the combined National Parks, Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho. Experiencing everything from animals in the wild to Hot Springs, massive castle like hotels, vivid green lakes and seemingly ever snowy mountain peaks.

Yes this to my wife and I was the ultimate experience.

Then after 29 years with the Company that hired me in 1966, I retired and I had the urge to travel. This included many hikes in the Rockies but also visits to some Countries that had mountains I wanted to see, to hike in and over them and to take my share of photographs. Some have been added to my pages on Virtual Tourist, for your perusal and I hope, pleasure.

I have driven the Trans Canada Highway west from Calgary so many times that one would imagine that it could become a boring journey. Not really for the sky, the sun and the clouds make for an ever changing picture. In truth I have never driven west at sunrise, mainly because sunrise can be before I get up in the summer. Yet just this week, I drove west at about 9.00 am and saw for the first time the golden rays of the sun striking the east facing mountains. An exhilerating sight.

Incidentally Kathleen joins me on many of thse visits to the mountains.

We love the beauty and the everchanging vistas.

Yet it is a simple pleasure.

I add a photo for your enlightenment.

I hope you can visit our part of the world.

Mt Kidd in Kananaskis Country is about an hours drive from the City limits of Calgary.

It is used by Calgarians and their visitors but few tourists venture into this part of the Rocky Mountains.

The tourists rush on to visit Banff National Park and on to Jasper or Yoho or Kootenay National Parks. All excellent places to visit especially if you have limited time to stay in the mountainous world west of Calgary.

The traveller is more content to wander around and maybe walk or trek on the hidden paths alongside the mountains or the creeks.

Welcome to my world and indeed the world of many Calgarians.

As mentioned above I will show the places visited in Europe after 1985 in this chapter.

1987, Northumberland, England.
1989, England.
1990, N.E England.
1992, Grindelwald, Switzerland.
1993, Bochum, Koblenz, Basel, Berlin.
1995. N.E. England.
1996,Bregenz, Wels, Prague, Bavaria.
1997,Wels, Gmunden, Villach, Kranska Gora( Slovenia).
1998, Bludenz, Zell am See, Villach, Ljubljana, Bled.
1999, Zurich, Lugano, Landeck, S Cristina, Val de Gardena, Bled and Bohinj.
2000, Porto, Braga, Coruna and Santiago de Compostela.
2001,Zurich, Chur, Tirano, Val di fassa. Landeck.
2002, N America.
2003,Niteroi, Rio, Ilha Grande and Petropolis.
2004, Budapest, Graz, St Johann in Tirol, Bludenz, Zurich.
2005,Turgi, Zermatt, Chamonix, Montreux, Geneva, Hexham, Glasgow.

It is hard to realise that the approach road to this serene place is a gravel surface for about 30 kms no matter if you drive from Canmore or from Lougheed Provincial Park

This particaular place is at the end of the road, since there is no way through the Rocky Mountains at this location. It is usaully quiet and the only visitors are hikers, mountain bikers, horse and riders and campers who enjoy the serenity.

Yet it is just an hour away from Calgary. It is part of a large Provincial park, called Kananaskis Country , west and south west of Calgary.

The second photo on this page the one taken at Spray Lakes is just about 60 kms away as the crow flies, but it requires a drive of about 90 minutes from this location to get to Spray.

Visitors and Calgarians can take full advantage of the area especially when you find there is no entrance fee. ( At least not yet)

What better way to display my favourite photos than by using this page.

It may then suggest to the traveller to view some of my other pages, in turn to ask questions about my travels.

To the VT traveller --enjoy.

The day was perfect for a walk from Ukanc to Ribcev Laz and the peacefulness of the scene is self evident.

Bohinj is just 30 minutes by bus from Bled which draws many tourists, though it is maybe only the travellers and backpackers that go just a little further.Since the rivers are well stocked with fish I must say that there were a few fishermen in the area, especially on the Savica river.

Stop at Ribcev Laz for a meal then look north and from a spot near the statue of the four men who first climbed Mt Triglav, you might just see the tip of Triglav. The four climbers were 3 Slovenians and an Austrian , way back in 1778.Then cross the bridge and head back to Ukanc along the north side of Bohinj. I believe you go left after crossing the bridge.

It was an early start, 8.00am from the station, the day was cold and going to be clear and sunny. A great day to travel from Grindelwald to the Jochpass between the Jungfrau and the Monch all easily done by train of course.

On a recent visit to Rio and then on to Petropolis I went hiking with two other Brasilians, one a mountain guide and my Carioca friend Rafael. We intended to hike to Janela do Bomfim, but reached a waterfall called Veu da Noiva. This view was on the way and is a view over the valley we had just climbed. It is an exceptionally beautiful area, a view from the top would have been the ultimate photo but I found the path too rugged or I was lacking lots of energy. Or maybe a combination of both.