Alberta

There are 9 posts tagged Alberta (this is page 1 of 2).

Rockhounds in Ontario and Canada

A rockhound is an amateur geologist or collector of rocks, minerals and gemstones. It’s not always about the value or selling them. Not for me. I like the history of rocks. Such ancient things, far older than even the oldest of trees. Eroded by time and the elements (mostly water) found on and under land, sea and space, small enough to fit into a pocket or far too massive to consider moving at all. How can anyone not find even the most common rock a bit interesting.

There is some difference between being an ordinary rock collector and someone who actually knows whether the rock they just picked up (because it looks interesting) is a gem, mineral, or just another rock. I’m the ordinary rock type of beachcomber, streetcomber, forestcomber, (even though only one of those is a considered a real word at this time).

I like rocks, sometimes I carry one home in my pocket. It’s a casual hobby. But, I couldn’t say for sure whether the rocks I keep are anything but an interesting looking rock. I did study geology in high school, so I know (remember) a little about how rocks are formed.

Ontario (I live in Ontario) with links found for the other Canadian provinces afterwards.

Ottawa Lapsmith and Mineral Club
The Niagara Peninsula Geological Society – St Catharines
Barrie Gem and Mineral Club (Currently inactive).
The Gem and Mineral Club of Scarborough – Toronto

The British Columbia Lapidary Society
Victoria Lapidary and Mineral Society
Ripple Rock and Gem Mineral Club – Campbell River
Port Moody Rock and Gem Club

Alberta Federation of Rock Clubs 
Southern Alberta Rockhounds Association
Edmonton Tumblewood Lapidary Club
Calgary Rock and Lapidary Club

Prairie Rock and Gem Society – Regina, Saskatchewan

Montreal Gem and Mineral Club Quebec

The Central Canadian Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Mineralogical Association of Canada 
Gem and Mineral Federation of Canada

Do you know all of these, what they are or even more about each of them? They are all connected to rocks in some way. Not on this list was rock piling or stacking. I’ve seen people turn them into bridges which continue to stand without anything but friction and gravity keeping them together. Also, Inukshuks, traditionally used for navigation and communication in northern Canada.

  • lapidary
  • tumbling
  • carving
  • sculpture
  • architecture
  • fossils
  • geology
  • paleontology
  • prospecting

List from: Virtual Museum of the History of Mineralogy

Kevin McElheran’s Abandoned Church Photo

I tried to find the photographer, Kevin McElheran online. No luck, just more abandoned or broken links. I did find a description which was posted with another copy of the same photo, on two other sites. So, some background information about how the photo was taken. But, I still don’t know what happened to Kevin McElheran from Calgary, Alberta.

“This abandoned 100 year old church is what’s left from what was the rail town of Sorrento, British Columbia. I was driving through this area late one night when I noticed a train in the distance approaching which outlined this structure in it’s glow.”

I think the church is Notch Hill Church, not Saint Mary’s as the description says with the photo above. Notch Hill Church is in Sorrento, BC and it is located right at the train tracks. One sites says it is Tappen, BC.

One way or another, this seems to the the church photographed. It was being restored but the site stopped posting in 2014. In 2016 I read a report about building materials being stolen from the site. The project is on hold due to lack of funds to replace them. The photo below was taken before the renovations began.

DanOCan – STST2017: Notch Hill Church

Ice Bubbles in Alberta

In a post about beautiful places around the world, Alberta is one of those selected.

EarthPorn – 11 Mindblowing Locations You Won’t Believe Are Really on Earth

It’s beautiful, interesting, and explosive. This remote lake in Alberta is home to ‘ice bubbles’ – bubbles formed when methane gas freezes as its approaches the surface of the lake.

The plants at the bottom of Abraham Lake produce methane – a highly explosive gas that rises to the surface of the water during winter. As it approaches the surface, it freezes and creates the incredible ‘ice bubbles’ that make the lake such as popular destination for photographers.

Bankhead, Alberta, Canada – A Ghost Town

I found this post awhile ago, about abandoned places around the world. This was the only place in Canada posted. I haven’t seen it but the photo of the old train really makes me wish to see more of this place. I’m sure you can find more photos online, try Google Maps and the big urban exploration sites. Or just search for the name on your search engine of choice. Best of all, if you are in Alberta, go explore there yourself.

UFO’s in Canada

UFO CanadaI was a Canadian alien, according to the immigration paperwork at the time. (I was a Canadian who married a man in the US). So, I had my time to be an alien – but not a space alien.

Real aliens (from space/ another planet) would be entirely different. I wonder how they would look, what they would eat, do they breathe, have hair, how do they communicate and how they would live their lives. I think about UFO’s and I watch the sky, here and there. It doesn’t seem possible we can be the only life out there with all those other planets.

I haven’t seen a UFO yet. At least not that I’m aware of. What a shame it would be to see something and not really notice. People who make a career or hobby out of UFO spotting would be far better at noticing a UFO than I would. I wonder if I saw something and wrote it off as something ordinary and everyday. I admire logic and intelligence but at times it can blind us too. If we are too critical we won’t give anything a chance and will never believe in anything fully.

Canadian UFOlogy

Weird, Unexplained and Paranormal Canada

Paranormal CanadaThere are paranormal explorers all across Canada. Paranormal gets mixed in with everything ghosts. But, paranormal is a lot more than ghosts and haunted houses. In Canada we have a lot more paranormal, unexplained mysteries and mysterious monsters than you may think.

I tried sorting paranormal and ghost hunter links but it became a judgement call based on very little for some groups, researchers and societies. For the links here I read through some of the site’s pages, recent work and blog posts (if there were any). Then I decided whether or not they were truly paranormal in nature. Most were focused on ghosts. I guess that’s where the money is for a lot of them. My heart is with the real paranormal researchers – those who have an interest in the weird, more than just the haunted.

A Paranormal Explorer Needs a Good Camera

One nice thing about a digital camera for paranormal exploring is also a reason I really like the digital camera for exploring in general. – you don’t need to get your film developed. This means you don’t need to spend money on film and developing film. You also don’t need to wait. You can take your camera home, plug it up and see your photos right the same day or evening.

Once you add extra memory to your digital camera you can take all the photos you would ever need from one location. I’ve just bought a new memory card which stores up to 2 gigabytes. I’ve got an older memory card on my back up camera, it only stores 512 MB. Still funny to think of that as only 512 MB. It was a lot of memory at the time I bought that card. (If you want extra memory pick up another memory card and keep it stored safely in your camera bag to switch it out).

Some digital cameras will have a feature which lets you shoot in infrared light, or even low light will help get you something. Flash is not a good option because it washes out everything with bright light for that one instant. To find out if you have infrared on your camera, read the instructions or check the camera manufacturers site for a list of features and how to use them. Most camera manufacturers will have a downloadable instruction guide on their website for each of the cameras they sell/ make.

The new cameras, with more zoom, are becoming bulkier. I bought one for the extra range when I am photographing buildings from a distance. Or, even when I am close to the building itself but want to get close to a feature which is high up or very small. So, for my outdoor work, the bulkier camera with the added zoom is good. You won’t need extra zoom for indoor photos, looking for paranormal activity. You may want to find a camera with a lot of shutter speed. A fast shutter speed means there is very little time between you pushing the button and the camera actually getting the photo. This means you can use a smaller, slimmer camera – which means it is fairly easy to be portable and slip into a pocket or purse. Nice for leaving your hands free when you aren’t actually using the camera.

Paranormal Photography

  • Paranormal Photography Condensed, by Brian Schill
  • Camera Equipment – For paranormal research
  • Camera for paranormal photography of ghosts – Long Island Paranormal Investigators
  • FindersCreepers – Paranormal Photography 101

Canadian Paranormal Groups, Investigators and Societies

  • OSI Team – Other Side Investigations (Alberta based)
  • Canadian Ghost Society
  • Canadian Paranormal Society
  • ParaResearchers Quebec
  • PRS (Paranormal) Canada
  • PSICAN – Paranormal Studies and Investigations Canada
  • Weird Canada