January 24, 2019: Driving the Cowboy Trail on a late January afternoon

One of the most underrated scenic drives in Canada is Alberta's Cowboy Trail, highway 22X.  The 100-or-so mile stretch from the Crowsnest Pass to Longview contains nothing but an expanse of prairie rolling over the foothills and abutting the lovely Rocky Mountains.  It's especially scenic in late spring/early summer, when the prairie grass is lush and green and there's still some snow on the mountain peaks, but winter has its own charm.

We had an early winter here in Alberta (starting mid-Sept), but January has been mild and there's not that much snow on the ground.  The winter daylight so far north is soft, especially in the afternoon.  Lots of cattle grazing, a few ranches here and there, including the Bar U Ranch, now a Canadian National Historic site.  The Bar U Ranch is only open for visitation during the summer months.