Clearwater County Landowners 2

Several years ago I wrote a blog post about buying a lot out in the Nordegg subdivision.  That post was quite well read, and the fact that we were able to negotiate a purchase price slightly below the County's list price, was well noted.  I think something like eleven lots sold shortly after we bought ours. 
All of the lots on the uphill side of Tamarack Trail sold a couple years back.  This only left the ones down below.  A couple of these are very steep, and will be difficult to build on, but for the most part, they are pretty decent properties.  For some reason people seemed kind of gun shy to buy, and mostly these were in limbo for a couple of years.  One sold and was built on about a year and a half ago.  Then this spring, a second one sold, and the buyer started clearing, in preparation of building.  This, perhaps in combination with the Covid situation prompted a lot of interest.  In recent weeks, five more lots have sold, and I understand that at least a couple more are pending.

Then the lot next door to us was put back on the market.  Someone bought it three years ago.  But then, for whatever reason, never followed through and did anything.  Probably a good financial explanation for this...?  We never met the buyer, though I understand that they were out once or twice, shortly after buying the property. Since then neither myself, nor the neighbors, have seen anyone around.  The county bylaws state that once you take possession of a property in the subdivision, you have three years to put up a cottage and complete it to lockup stage.  The buyers of this lot never did a thing... did not put in a driveway... did not start any clearing... and probably never even applied for a development permit.  Recently the three year window expired and the County took the lot back.  Under the bylaw the original buyer would have been refunded the purchase price less $5000.  The lot went back on the market about two weeks ago.

I'd been kicking around the idea of buying it for the last six months or so.  Initially I decided against it, given the fact that I no longer have any income, and am about to retire.  But in light of all the recent activity, I changed my mind.  I pulled the trigger and bought the lot today.

I probably need my head examined...!  Margarit kind of rolled her eyes and gave up on me, and washed her hands of the entire fiasco.  My plan is to be build the minimum size cottage allowed under the bylaws, and use it as a guest house.  Mostly this will provide us with some level of privacy and isolation for our current cottage.  If we ever have a change of heart, I'm sure we can sell the place and recover our investment.  These lots are of a finite quantity, and this was the last really good one left.  We can probably realize a sizeable profit on it in a few years if we choose to.  But I didn't buy it as an financial investment... I bought it as a lifestyle investment.  I think it will pay off.

Over the coming winter months I will take some time to consider what I would like to build, and apply for the development permit.  Then next spring we will put in a driveway and clear a few trees, and hopefully get a foundation in.  I will hire the local contractor to do the foundation work, and framing.  At that point I will be retired, and can take on much of the work myself.  We will keep it fairly small and simple, and may take several years to get around to fully finishing the interior.  I probably won't put in any heat, other than a wood stove.  Likely not any indoor plumbing either....  And, still deciding whether or not to bother with any electrical.  But, it will be an overflow to our existing cottage.  When the girls want to bring out friends, or if we have any friends or family that we invite out, there will be a place for them to stay.  We might consider renting it out, to recover some of the construction, insurance and tax costs.

Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done... but what the heck... God hates a coward...!

Tipple Ceiling

Last week I processed a batch of Fuji Neopan Acros 100 film.  This included 20 sheets of 4" x 5" large format film.  One was blank, due to a shutter error with my lens when the image was taken.  The other 19 turned out pretty well.  This shot was taken inside an abandoned coal tipple down in Crowsnest Pass.  I took the image in May of 2019 when I was in the area for several days.  Some friends from the Monochrome Guild were out with me, and we were working on a project documenting the history of coal in Alberta.  That project is still ongoing and has to some degree been put on hold by the Corona Virus Pandemic.  The tones and patterns in the concrete of the ceiling are what first attracted me to this subject.  It is virtually impossible to point a view camera straight up and even to set up at this steep angle was rather involved and complicated.  It is very difficult to focus and compose in this orientation.  I think the image is successful.  More scans from that batch will be posted here in the coming days.

Outcrop

This is a shot of some Limber Pines on an Outcrop at Whirlpool Point.  One of the oldest trees in Alberta is here.  It has been dated by growth rings to over 600 years old... but the center of the trunk is dead and rotten, so the experts aren't sure exactly how old it is.  Possibly as much as 1000 years.  I'm not sure exactly where that specific tree is, but many of the trees at this location are very gnarled and very old.  I took this shot back in June when my friend Rob and I were exploring in the area.  It was part of the recent batch of Acros film that I developed.

High Country

On one of the days in mid-July, when Hailey and I were staying at the cottage together, we took a drive west into the Banff National Park.  On our way there, we made a brief stop down along the North Saskatchewan River at Whirlpool Point.  The water was running really high and fast, partly due to the mountain runoff, but contributed to significantly by all the rain we've had this year.  Once we got to Saskatchewan Crossing we headed south in the direction of Lake Louise.  We never did travel that far, but we did make some stops at Upper and Lower Waterfowl Lake, Silverhorn Creek and Bow Lake.  It was REALLY busy everywhere, and to make matters worse there was some road construction on the Icefields Parkway.  Every trailhead parking lot and viewpoint was packed with cars.  This was much the same as it had been a month prior when my friend Rob and I ventured into this area.  Seems the virus pandemic has shut down international travel, but since the parks and campsites reopened earlier this summer, all the domestic tourists have headed for the hills.  We quickly tired of the crowds and by mid afternoon we made our way back towards Nordegg.  The David Thompson highway was very busy as well,  This was all somewhat surprising as it was the middle of the week, and not a weekend.  This all makes me look forward to fall, when all the summer tourists are gone, and things quiet down again....

Chuckers

For the past couple of years there have been two Woodchucks [groundhogs] hanging around at our cottage.  The lighter colored one of the two has not been around much this year.  The neighbors call him Mr. Tubbs.  The darker of the two is a very dark brown color.  The neighbors call him Shadow.  My girls have called him Marty.  Turns out Marty is a she.  It has become obvious that Mr. Tubbs must also be around somewhere too.  These past few weeks Marty has been hanging around her usual spot... on our woodpile.  But this time around she has three little baby woodchucks hanging around with her.

Ram River

In mid July my oldest daughter Hailey and I spent a few days up at the cottage in Nordegg.  I was on the second of my six weeks of vacation this year.  I have never had this much vacation time during my forty year working career and I must say it is really nice to get these breaks.  I'm really looking forward to cutting back on my work commitments through the rest of 2020 and gradually moving towards retirement.  By the beginning of 2021 I hope to be fully retired.

The first full day that Hailey and I were out there we decided to take a drive south on the Forestry Trunk Road.  We crossed the North Saskatchewan River and continued south as far as the Ram River.  We used to camp here on a fairly regular basis in years past, before we built our cottage.  This time around we never actually bothered to hike in to the viewpoint overlooking Ram Falls.  Instead we wandered around down on the gravel bars beside the river.  With all the rain we have had this year the rivers are all running very high and there is not as much shoreline and gravel bar to explore.

We stopped and checked out a few places along the way.  Later, on our way back north towards the cottage we made a stop and photographed a hillside grove of Lodgepole Pines.  I was shooting with my big view camera and Hailey was shooting with the Hasselblad.  I recently processed some of that film and will have some scans to share in an upcoming blog post.  For now, here are a few snapshots taken during that afternoon that we spent together.

Game Camera Visitors

I took my second week of vacation from work during the week of July 13 to 17.  For the first few days, Hailey and I spent some time together at the cottage in Nordegg.  This was from Saturday the 10th up until the morning of Thursday the 16th.  We hung out at the cottage and went out for some day trips during the day.  We took a drive down the Trunk Road south to Ram Rive on one day, and drove up into Banff National Park on another.  In the evenings we've been watching the Twin Peaks TV series, and the later follow up movies, on  DVD.  Near the end of the week we headed back to the city as Hailey had a couple of shifts scheduled at work.  Before we left I remembered to pull the memory card from my game camera and switch it out for a fresh one.  We saw a little wildlife around while we were there, but it didn't seem particularly active.  Mostly it was really busy with traffic, even during the week, as a lot of people seem to be taking time off to travel locally.  All the campsites are full, the highway is really busy, and the trailheads are packed with parked cars.... much to my dismay.  Over the course of the last month or so the camera recorded the visits of a few guests....

Icefields Parkway

Near the Big Bend, the North Saskatchewan River comes off of the Columbia Icefields.  It only flows a short distance before it disappears into a deep gorge.  Here there is the remains of the old highway, and an old concrete bridge that spans the gorge.  The date on the bridge is 1938.  I remember my parents telling me that they drove the Icefields Parkway back in the 1950's, on their honeymoon.  In those days it took two to three days to drive from Banff to Jasper.  Now you can do it in about 3 to 4 hours.

Mount Athabasca and Hilda Peak

Mount Athabasca was shrouded in clouds, but Hilda Peak was prominently visible when Rob and I stopped to shoot there in late June.  The mountains looked really spectacular under the clear light, and with all the patchy snow.  But, it was only about 12C and there was a bitter wind blowing down off all those snowy peaks.  I was wishing that I had dressed a lot warmer.  Mount Athabasca is shrouded behind all those clouds in the panoramic image below.  Hilda Peak is more prominent near the center.  Athabasca is one of the tallest in Alberta.  

The Weeping Wall

When my friend Rob and I were out shooting in late June, one of our first stops was at the Weeping Wall, in Banff National Park.  I rattled off these snapshots with my digital camera.  Then I put that piece of junk away and dug out a real camera.  We spent an hour or so here shooting with our 4x5 film cameras.  I haven't processed any of that film yet, but once I do I will post some of those images here on my blog.

Cathedral Grove

Taken in heavy rain, at Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island.  This was one of the first shots on the trip out to the Island last October with my friends Rob and Brad.  All of my camera gear got totally soaked during the couple of hours we spent shooting here.  My notes got so wet I have trouble reading them.  Had to spread all the gear out at the rental home in Courtenay that evening so that it could dry out.  Fortunately the weather improved drastically for the rest of the week we spent out there.

ATV Ride

Back in late June Hailey and I took an ATV ride out at Nordegg.  We drove up into the hills behind town, where back in the day there had been some mining activity.  Later we stopped in town and took a short walk along the old rail line.  The tracks that once ran all the way up to the Brazeau Collieries are long abandoned.  We found some date spikes in the ties that said "1959".  This must have been near the end of the line.  There was once an old railway station along the line, just above the church.  The church still stands and sees fairly regular use, but the station is long gone.  Hailey and I found several rail sidings, and old switch, and a platform.  Not sure if that platform was the station, or just a dock for unloading freight.  Kind of cool to find all this stuff right in our own backyard.