Topic: Dent buys a semi convertible thing 2017 Mazda MX-5 RF GT

[bridgecity]

^ Ya, no kidding eh?  Great pics Mr. Dent.

[PJungnitsch]

Beautiful scenery all the way down from Waterton to Utah, could have some great road trips with that thing eventually

[Golly]

Great pics, Dent!  Southern Alberta has some magnificent scenery.

 

The last time we went through Waterton was late Sep 2014 and the Prince of Wales Hotel was already closed and boarded up for the season.

[Scaerio]

Great car, great pics, great day out!

[Arthur Dent]

Took the wife on a five day get away in the Miata. The trunk meant we packed everything in tightly. We drove up to Nordegg, Alberta. Nice drive up.



The next day the weather turned to snow. (June 7th!)



Rwd, summer tires and not great ground clearance meant we gave up going to road to our hike that day. Downed trees on the road as well.



So we made a snowman. Yes, he has a cigar.



The next day was muddy but weather was good for the rest of it. We took the Mazda down several rough roads and it made it just fine.



David Thompson Highway



Back via the Banff/Jasper highway



and Moraine Lake.

I've put 3k on the car already.

[dkaz]

Great road trip!

[PJungnitsch]

June 7th, my goodness. That's the mountains for you

We went to Kanaskis country last fall, early Oct. Beautiful, sunny, warm. The next week they had 6 inches of snow

[Gurgie]

WOW, great pics! That must have been an adventure in the snow, can just imagine how my SLK would be in that.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

[KD]

Awesome stuff AD! 

[Brig]

As with any conditions, as long as you know how your car behaves, you can get around.  I learned to drive on a RWD manual Celica, and learned very quickly how to handle it in snowy conditions.   No sudden movements!   . And full focus. 

[blur911]

As with any conditions, as long as you know how your car behaves, you can get around.  I learned to drive on a RWD manual Celica, and learned very quickly how to handle it in snowy conditions.   No sudden movements!   . And full focus.

Summer high performance tires in snow are a whole other deal.   I pulled over once on the way to work to change tires as I wasn't going to make it there. (I had winters in the trunk)
They really can turn into hockey-pucks.

[me_2]

Took the wife on a five day get away in the Miata. The trunk meant we packed everything in tightly. We drove up to Nordegg, Alberta. Nice drive up.

David Thompson Highway



Back via the Banff/Jasper highway



and Moraine Lake.

Just wow, you have a great photograph talent

[Scaerio]

As with any conditions, as long as you know how your car behaves, you can get around.  I learned to drive on a RWD manual Celica, and learned very quickly how to handle it in snowy conditions.   No sudden movements!   . And full focus.

Yup!

While we had FWD cars when I got my licence, I spent the summer of '91 driving my grandmother's '78 Aspen (drum brakes all around) in St. John's.  Learned very quickly that a rainy night, steep hills, and those brakes meant you drove downhill slowly, lest the light turn red at the bottom of the hill. Four-wheel lock up and skidding straight through an intersection at 3am (no other cars around, thankfully) is a great teaching moment.

[Triple Bob]

As with any conditions, as long as you know how your car behaves, you can get around.  I learned to drive on a RWD manual Celica, and learned very quickly how to handle it in snowy conditions.   No sudden movements!   . And full focus.

Yup!

While we had FWD cars when I got my licence, I spent the summer of '91 driving my grandmother's '78 Aspen (drum brakes all around) in St. John's.  Learned very quickly that a rainy night, steep hills, and those brakes meant you drove downhill slowly, lest the light turn red at the bottom of the hill. Four-wheel lock up and skidding straight through an intersection at 3am (no other cars around, thankfully) is a great teaching moment.

Same. My first car was RWD. Drove home in the rain, gave it too much gas at an intersection and ended up facing the wrong way. Lesson learned.

[Arthur Dent]

Thank you.

That lake is famous for its blue water. Apparently the blue-green will peak later in June as is a result of rock flour from the glacier run off.

Rwd + snow is fine. I drove the Mustang all winter. Rwd + high performance summer tires which the MX-5 has makes things a little less comfortable. Later I found out that the highway was rated "not recommended for travel" that day.


A few of our better hikes.



The first one was Stiffleur Falls. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/canada/alberta/siffleur-falls
 
The falls are impressive but hard to photograph the whole thing. Nice hike with a suspension bridge, regular bridge, boardwalk, flat and some uphill at the end.





The second is Crescent Falls/Bighorn canyon.
 
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/canada/alberta/crescent-falls-bighorn-canyon
 
You don't actually have to hike to see the falls. You drive there instead if you want but its a very nice hike at the side of the very deep canyon.
 
This one actually took us three attempts to do. The first day we did not even get to the trail head due to heavy snow and downed trees on the road (first photos). The second attempt we made it up most of the muddy road dodging the downed trees. The trail is not well marked at the bottom but we found it. It was still snowy and muddy on the trail we sometimes goes right on the edge which made it more than a little sketchy. We lost the trail in the forest and gave up again after a few kms.
 
The third attempt we could now start from the falls and do it in reverse order as the (terrible) road was less muddy and I had some confidence we get back up the steep end portion. The downed trees on the road were now gone! We managed the whole thing. Beautiful falls. The lower portion was still inaccessible due to mud and high degree of slipping and dying.
 
We did a few others but those two were the best.

[PJungnitsch]

That's a surprisingly nice area once you get off the highway a little

[quadzilla]

Great pictures of the car and hikes. Glad to see you are getting the most out of your little roadster. Keep the posts coming.

[Bubba]

Great pics of stunning scenery, Mr. Dent.

[Arthur Dent]

A little light on car content but another update. Apparently I am due for an oil change already. Ordered a stubby antenna to replace the huge one that makes the car look like an RC car. Also ordered parts to delete the sound tube which pipes in intake noise from the engine bay.

Took it for another drive on the weekend - this time to the Crowsnest Pass.



A North American spec 300ZX seen outside Brocket, Alberta. You can see some of the many windmills in this area.



The parking lot was well sign posted and marked. The trail head not so much. There was four. I picked the correct one last of course. As a result I accidently climbed the next over mountain first.



No 4wd required



Met a bear on the wrong trail. 5x cell phone zoom but close enough!



After a somewhat sketchy climb at the beginning with lots of steep uphills and loose rock the trees started to thin out a bit. I made it to the peak in this photo which is actually only the first (false) peak. It was raining a bit and cloudy so that is as far as I went. (Plus I'd walked about 10+ kms trying to get to correct trailhead - ugh).



Somehow my photos at the top didn't save to the phone which was annoying (happened once before, lost a little batch) but this was pretty close. You can see the down on the town of Blairmore. The elevation gain is around 925 m and this would be somewhat less at this point.



The "trail" back down.



At the bottom you can drive the historical road through the rock slide near the railway and river and the other side of the mountain. For those not familiar Frank’s Slide which is a well known mining disaster. On April 29 1903 the eastern edge of mining Town Frank was covered by 90 million tons of rock sliding down from nearby Turtle mountain. The mountain was the site of an active coal mine which likely contributed the slide on an already unstable mountain. Ironically many of the men working in the mine were safe and returned to find their families and homes gone. Total loss of life is estimated to be between 70 and 90. The railway was covered but quickly repaired, the mine re-opened and the remains of the town re-located. With the exception of the highway and railway cutting through it the site of the slide remains as it was in 1903.

Still spitting rain so no top down.

[Blueprint]

Just picked up "your" car this morning. Nice crossover relief! Got 5.7 l/100 km on the way back, felt like I was going 160 at 110 

Took pics at near-sea level, much lower than yours!