Walking and riding the river trails in Calgary, Alberta, was easier when I was a kid. For one thing there was only one trail along any stretch and both bikes and pedestrians were welcome on it. Second, they were less crowded.
The Missus and I had a nice lunch at Salt & Pepper in the neighbourhood of Bowness yesterday and then headed to Shouldice Park to bust out our eScooters. We soon discovered that there are pedestrian trails and there are trails for bikes/scooters, and there are some combined trails for both. The manner they are marked in is confusing.
Calgary, AB, 2024-09-30
Calgary, AB, 2024-09-30
There was nostalgia for me along the way as I was all over these trails on my various bicycles as a kid. The Bow River pathways are still one of the best parts of living in Calgary, which is why they are so crowded now as the city’s population has exploded. You can’t blame people for wanting to enjoy them.
Our goal was a short ride from Shouldice Park to Edworthy Park, which is at the end of the neighbourhood of Montgomery and just across the river from it. Edworthy Park is accessible via the Harry Booth Bridge, which I somehow didn’t think to get a photo of.
While we did make a few mistakes on the way there in terms of winding up on the wrong chunk of pathway, we showed good ettiquette by walking our scooters across the bridge, not trying to weave through the pedestrians like a lot of cyclists were doing. It’s not good for large adults on bikes to blast past toddlers as the kids could easily get hurt.
I did have one nostalgic moment in the park. We came around a bend and found this picnic shelter. I suddenly recalled hiding in here from a light shower and eating PBJs on a picnic with my mom one summer day. I think I was about eleven. We had ridden the bus to the stop at the end of Montgomery and then walked across the bridge into the park. I also remember her Seeing Eye Dog, Addy, enjoying wading in the Bow River. It was a good memory. Another thing I had forgotten about until it came back.
We headed out the back of Edworthy Park and tried to ride the trail behind the river along the railroad track, but gave up after several kilometers. That section of path has always been poorly maintained and I have never seen it that crowded. It just didn’t feel safe to keep going, so we turned around and headed home.
It was a pleasant fall afternoon, we had a good meal, and I got to revisit my old stomping grounds again, even if mistakes were made on the pathways. I am pleased to report we got everything right on the trip back as we finally figured out the arcane marking system. I’m hoping we can explore some other chunks of the city on eScooters before the snow flies.
All images are from my OM System (formerly Olympus) Tough TG-7 pocket cam, save for the portrait of me with my scooter. That one is from my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra phone. I’m not sure how the OM System became my default carry around camera this summer, but it did.
