Photos progress southward.


Looking east at the CN Railway bridge across the Hay River north of (the settlement of) Meander River.


South of Meander River, the CN Railway crosses another bridge to the east, across an unnamed tributary with an impressive gulch.


You'll notice that AB 35 has a most unusual shield to designate it as the Mackenzie Highway, its primary name once it crosses north into NWT as Highway 1. The quill and inkwell represent Sir Alexander Mackenzie, who first documented the local First Nations people and lent his name to the river that lent its name to the road. The knife is a symbol of the hunting and trapping that has characterized life in this area for thousands of years. And the quill is in front of the knife because the pen is mightier than the sword. I made that last part up, but I might be right. Anyway, where was I? So I prefer Highway Gothic for the "35" numeral as opposed to whatever is being used in the first two photos, but I don't like the newer secondary route shields without the flowers on top and I definitely don't like Clearview (last photo).


Here are NB photos at AB 695. How do I feel about these? Do I hate the 695 shield and Junction banner for the font or appreciate that whoever put this up (doesn't seem like Alberta) kept a flower? Do I hate the "35" font on the upper shield or appreciate how old it is? Does the duplication of 35 shields amuse me or just seem like a waste?


Ah, here's a real flower shield. Much better. I think I've come to terms with the strange 35 font being part of the original shield. I also appreciate having a shield I can read as well as a shield that looks cool and different. I find the missing borders in the oldest directional banners strange, though. What else was going to go there?


M is for Moose, M is for Manning.


Heading south over the Notikewin River with a look east.


Now that I see one of these heading SB, I've made up my mind. No. I'd rather have flowerless but otherwise normal shields than whatever this is. It really seems like these were installed by the County of Northern Lights instead of the Province of Alberta.


Here, hopefully these cleanse your palate with their beautiful floral bouquet. I happened to find the highest numbered route in the province, by the way (and it's a reverse of the photo before it). AB 986 is being opened up as a development highway across the top of the province. And by development, I mean oil. It was renumbered up from 686, whereas most highways are usually numbered down from the 900s over time. We'll see what happens if the corridor is completed. Will it get a primary number, will it revert to 686 and take AB 686 off its current alignment, or will it all be 986 in the end?


This is the southern end of AB 35. AB 2 is a hook-shaped route with two southern ends, but this is not the time for its western segment to turn south. There is plenty more west to travel, 74 km out to AB 64, where it's again signed east and south. That one I agree with. Did you notice the "2" being off-centre?

Onto AB 2
Into Northwest Territories on Mackenzie Hwy., NWT 1
Back to Alberta Roads
Back to Roads