Boy, did it ever feel good to get out on the road and see some different scenery for a change!
It was 200 kms (120 miles) one way from here to the National Park visitors center located in the town of Val Marie, Saskatchewan.
The little blue car at Grasslands National park visitors center.
The girl in the visitors center gave us some hiking ideas, and said that there is also an 80 km (50 mile) scenic drive through the park. We decided to first head to the 70 Mile Butte hiking trail which leads to the highest point in the park.
On the way to the trailhead.
Yep... there are rattlesnakes here!
We were the only ones on the trail.
Amazing how stuff even grows here.
Even more amazing is that the park has only recorded 4/10" of rain this year! How any of this stuff maintains any green at all boggles the mind.
We're headed up there!
Kevin, at the top.
Hang on to your hat, it's breezy up here!
The air was heavy with smoke from wildfires. None in the area, or in the park itself though. Just blowing in from British Columbia, and it was really thick yesterday morning.
Scenery along the way.
Can you see the little blue car waiting for us?
It was only a 5 km (3 mile) trail, and we did it in an hour and twenty minutes. Felt great to get out hiking again, even if it was only for a short hike. We thought about doing the longer 9 km (5.5 mile) hike, but we didn't have all day and we wanted to do the scenic drive and all the little stops along the way that comes with that.
In the middle of nowhere beside the dirt road.
You have to wonder what the story is with that old car! It was obviously hit very hard... by something!
Ruth spotted this coyote in the distance.
And there are lots of these little prairie dogs.
And apparently there are lots of buffalo, but we only saw three.
This one big fellow, and two others way off in the distance.
The campground.
The Frenchman River flows through the park.
Kevin, out for a walk.
Can you see the one buffalo, all by himself? No?
Here, I'll zoom in for you...
All by himself.
Ruth, at one of the Indian teepee rings.
Another viewpoint.
And another prairie dog.
What a good day we had! Great to be able to finally see one of Canada's lesser visited National parks.
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Hopefully, highway 4 reconstruction has progressed quite a bit further than it was when we came through a few weeks ago. That was the worst stretch of road of our entire trip! Probably snow accumulation in winter is the moisture supply?
ReplyDeleteIt must have because the worst section was the actual part that they were working on at the moment. And, that was way better than when we came through with the motorhome 2 years ago at the end of April. We vowed to never take this road again in the motorhome until it was fixed. Up until that trip from the border to Cadillac we had never been on such a poorly maintained highway, not even in Mexico, well there was one other one in Nova Scotia that was terrible as well!
DeleteNice photos! Pays to have a good camera when your a travel blogger-
ReplyDeleteWe too are anxious to get back on the road- next month for us.
www.oneincomedollar.com
Thank you! The camera is good but not great, however the person using it knows what he is doing. :-)
DeleteYep, not long now, the road is definitely calling us! Have you figured out where you are going this year?
We can hear the happiness and excitement in your writing of this. Wonderful pictures of your day trip - you're in your element for sure!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt shows that much does it! ;-)
DeleteThank you Connie and Barry and yes, this is definitely our element. Can't wait to get out there and do so much more exploring.
Glad to see you were able to get out and about. Looks like a very interesting place to visit.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sherry, we were sure glad to get out and see some different scenery for a change. It was very interesting, we would loved to have gone on the longer hike, there were supposed to be some great views at the end of it but we were so limited with our time, as it was we didn't get back to the campground until 7pm that night.
DeleteGreat header photo, Ruth.
ReplyDeleteThank you Elaine!
DeleteGlad you were able to take a day off! Isn't Wednesday usually your shopping day?
ReplyDeleteYes, but the weather forecast wasn't as good for today, so we went a day early.
DeleteThere is a mean park ranger in that park . He was very concerned that we did not have a camping permit. We boondocked at the end of the park by the trail head, a beautifull spot. He should have been happy to see someone, at 05h15 in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI guess they aren't used to seeing an RV unit anywhere but on their RV sites. We would most likely have done the same as you and just boondocked away from everyone. :-)
DeleteI love the prairie dogs - they're so adorable.
ReplyDeleteThey are very entertaining!
DeleteWow! Great hike and wildlife pics! Times almost up and you'll be on your way!
ReplyDeleteThanks Yep, not much longer now. :-)
DeleteRugged country, but great scenery and wildlife. Not a fan of rattlesnakes, have spent to much time trying to avoid them:)
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful day away. Didn't see any rattlesnakes the whole time we were there, we were rather disappointed about that!
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