Week 5
Week 1 | Week 2 |
Week 3 | Week
4 | Week 5 Act 2
Day 29:
Hauled myself out of my nice and warm bed to take advantage
of the continental breakfast (hey, free food, and I don't have to cook it!).
The temperature was 1 above with a wind chill of -13, ouch.
The weather had dried up, so I headed north under cloudy
skies. Saw my first sign of snow - a few flurries, but it counts. An
hour farther north they got a few feet, so I'm not complaining.
I arrived at Riding Mountain National Park (not provincial,
as I thought) and started to look around and get some info on trails, etc.
Almost everything official, and most things unofficial, seem to be
closing today, so I have little choice but to check everything out today.
All of the campsites I checked into were closing/closed, so I started calling
for hotel rates.
I drove by a small campsite along the highway a few times,
so I figured I'd better check it out. It's called Feed My Lambs; a Christian
camp/retreat. They were more than willing to let me set up my tent,
and, at only 8 bucks a night, I was willing, too. They have a winterized
cabin, so there's no worry of the water being turned off anytime soon.
I set up my tent then headed out to the Bison Range.
Drove through most of the area then, on my way back, I saw about 30 or so
bison doing their thing, whatever that is. Off on another side road
I saw another pair of bison, so I guess that's a good day. To top it
off, on the way out, I saw the end of an elk rushing off into the woods away
from my car.
I treated myself to another restaurant dinner then headed
back to the campsite. It's supposed to drop to -3 degrees tonight, so I settled
in for a chilly night.
Day 30:
I woke up to a temperature of 0 and some frozen water;
aside from that, I survived.
Headed out for some mountain biking since I figured they
couldn't have called it Riding Mountain for nothing. I started off
with an extended loop travelling to Grey Owl's cabin where I ran into one
of life's little ironies. Grey Owl was one of the first conservationists
in the 1930's and he came to Riding Mountain with the intent of reintroducing
beaver to the area. He brought 2 beaver (no 's') with him, but they
weren't able to thrive because the water level was too low. Grey Owl
asked to be transferred, with his beaver, and established himself, as did
his beaver, in Prince Albert National Park. Back to my bike ride...
As I was travelling along, I suddenly encountered a rather
large pond totally engulfing the trail. Now here's the irony: the pond was
created as a result of, you guessed it, beaver! My trip to visit the guy's
place who unsuccessfully tried to reintroduce beaver was thwarted by those
same animals. Anyway...
Having been unsuccessful in finding back the trail after walking
around the pond, I headed back, with a side trail out to the Kinosao lake.
Back at the car, I decided to check out some of the trails I was considering
for the next day. Half the fun was driving down the road to the trails,
but I ended up with a bit of a surprise. Seems the park is on the top of
a mountain, and the trails go down off it. As I pondered my plans, I drove
down the mountain, then back up, just for fun. Along the way, I drove past
the above mentioned trails, I passed a mom and baby moose wandering along
a pond, eating lunch. Nice pics.
Headed back to camp, picked up a steak, and had a nice
dinner.
Day 31:
Woke up expecting rain, and I was disappointed. The sky
was just darkening, and the weather then one upped itself by adding in some
thunder and lightning.
I decided not to take my bike with me, but instead just
started driving. I started off by heading through the park to the city
of Dauphin. I then swung around to get better look at the 'mountain'
but the low clouds obscured the view. I headed back along the same dirt road
as the day before and saw the same moose duo as well.
The rain was letting up a little bit and I decided to
hike a few trails so that the whole day wasn't wasted. Started with
the Arrowhead trail where I noticed a cow moose in the brush eating lunch.
I didn't want to startle it, so I made some increasingly loud noise
and it casually got up and sauntered off. The rest of the trail was
quite quiet, although I think the forest has grown since they last updated
the trail guide since I couldn't see any lake from the lookout platform designed
to give a "great view of Clear Lake". I also stopped at the Ma-ee-gun
trail, named after the wolf, but I didn't see any animals, just a varied
collection of their droppings.
When I returned to the campsite, the camp director, Melba,
invited me to cook my dinner in her cabin instead of out in the cold. After
dinner, we talked a bit about her gospel-based charismatic denomination and
her less than fulfilling catholic past.
Day 32:
Packed up and headed off into the great white north,
expecting to see increasingly more snow on the ground, but not much in the
air. I started off in fog and pretty much finished in fog as well.
Most of my travelling was through Saskatchewan; its
reputation wasn't tarnished - it's still flat, very flat. The snow
did become more common, as expected, and the sky remained very overcast with
grey haze. As I approached Saskatoon, I began to experience both bright
haze and dark haze, as there appeared to be variable clouds above the haze.
Upon entering Saskatoon, I was greeted with a city that
was still experiencing the aftereffects of a winter storm, with salt covered
roads and brown snow banks on most of the main thoroughfares. I picked
up some dinner (no Keg, it's only been a few days) and rented the movie Fallen,
with Denzel Washington. Interesting movie, but a little disconcerting.
Day 33:
Checked out and headed to the Wanuskewin Heritage Park
on the northern edge of the city. It's a native cultural center with a set
of interpretive trails explaining the surrounding geographic features and
their historic uses. Very interesting to actually see a buffalo jump
and learn about how it was used.
From there, I headed north to the booming metropolis
of Prince Albert. The town must have a few fairly popular attractions
since I had to call a few different hotels to find a room. Settled at the
Prince Albert Inn, hit McD's for dinner and went to see Antz at the movies.
Day 34:
Started off my day with a drive to Prince Albert Nat'l
Park. I was greeted by a few flurries along the way but the sun still tried
to shine through as well. I picked up a brochure at the southern entrance
(along the "Scenic Route") and took a look at the trails. Only a few
trails looked appealing, but those were quite snow covered, and since there
were no more leaves on the trees, I decided to travel on. I hit the
town in the park where I was greeted with many 'closed for season' signs,
and moved on. I headed out the east gate then headed north for some
fun on some logging roads. The road started off a little boring, since
I could travel at 100km/h with ease, but did start to 'improve' as I went
along. As I neared the far highway, I was actually into ruts that were
deep enough that I bottomed out a few times.
Without a firm camping destination in mind, I headed
for my sister and brother-in-law's place for some home cooked meals. Along
the way, I decided to check out Meadow Lake PP, just before the Alberta border.
I travelled along the main dirt road through the park with the intent
of checking out the trails. I didn't find any trail maps and the park
office was closed for the weekend, so I just drove through. I only
noticed one trail marked along the road, so I'm not too hopeful for many
more.
As I was on my way out of the park, I approached a white
pickup. The driver flicked on a blue, flashing light, so I slowed and stopped
beside it. A female park officer (or similar official, I think) stepped over
to the car and asked me where I was headed. She immediately said I
was lost and should be on the nice, paved highway. I explained I was just
enjoying the nice and twisty dirt roads and that I was checking out the park
as well. It helped convince her when I pulled out the map and showed
her where I was headed, and how I planned to get there. In the end, she gave
me a phone number - for the park, not hers :( - and gave me a bit of
info on the park.
As evening was quickly turning to night, I took the well beaten, and
paved, path to Shirley and Rob's place. My arrival there, in Cold Lake,
AB, on October 17, 1998 signifies the end of the first part of my journey.
I'll update things again in a few weeks, or so!
Week 1 | Week 2 |
Week 3 | Week
4 | Week 5 Act 2
See planning for Act 2 if you can't
wait for the real thing.