June 25th, 2019
After a peaceful night camping, my brother and I got up for some back truck breakfast. Charlie cut up the vegetables ...
I set up the kitchen ...
... and cooked the omelets.
After a hardy breakfast we headed out.
We made our way to Hillcrest and stopped at the Hillcrest Miners cemetery. On the back of this memorial stone is engraved all the names of the men who died in this disaster. Encircling this memorial are smaller stone memorials of other mining disasters across our great nation from BC to Nova Scotia.
An information board outlining the disaster and the tragedy all the way to the cemetery.
This story board explains the mass graves.
Some of the miners final resting place.
The sad reminder of companies greed over the care of the families.
The site of the mass graves.
Located beside the cemetery is a memorial park.
Walking a loop are sorry boards giving detailed description of what happened on that trafic day and events that followed.
To my surprise, the 3 worst disasters in Alberta history happened in my own backyard: Frank Slide, Bellevue Mine Disaster and Hillcrest Mine Disaster. All of these disasters are nearby.
From the Hillcrest cemetery you can see Frank Slide.
What added to our somber day, was to actually visit the site where the mine disaster took place.
To go from the cemetery, read about the details in the memorial park and then to visit the actual mine site was truly an unexplainable experience ... it was like stepping back in time.
These particular remnants are believed to be part of the wash house. This is where they initially brought all the bodies they took out of the mine.
The growth over and around these old structures show how time changes everything. These structures are slowly becoming a part of the natural surroundings.
Even though these structures may have become forgotten and left to rest. The miners on that tragic day will never be forgotten.