Got up to a cold and cloudy morning in Swift Current. The room we had in the Motel 6 had a kitchenette and since all they provided for breakfast was coffee and muffins, I dug into my stash of granola and enjoyed a lovely start to my day at my own little table in my own little kitchen. Buster prefers to eat when I eat so he had the perfect opportunity to join me. With full bellies we hit the highway.
I read on the news that Moose Jaw had a huge hailstorm yesterday morning. By the time I got there all I saw was the aftermath of the crazy rainstorm. I guess that must have washed any leftover hail away.
Whoever says the prairies are boring? The scenery from Swift Current down the Trans-Canada was gorgeous. Despite the grey cloudy skies, the golden wheat fields (with only stubble at this time of year) glowed against the green of the hay(?) fields. Especially when a stray bit of sunlight broke through.
Today’s bird was the hawk. They were everywhere – especially on fence posts (no boots and shoes today). I saw three with their backs to the road glaring intently at a field all within the space of about 200 metres. Magpies (at least that’s what I think they were) – black birds with long tails and white on their wings and chest and a raucous call – were everywhere as well. And lots of other birds. I didn’t see any sandpipers today though I did see a couple on the side of the highway yesterday.
We were headed for Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills. I read Guy Vanderhaeghe’s A Good Man a while ago and was determined to visit the site. Jas and I had spent a night at the Cypress Hills Provincial Park way back in the late nineties but we hadn’t seen the Fort. Fort Walsh was headquarters for the North West Mounted Police built in response to the riffraff conducting illicit alcohol trafficking from the States and also in response to the horrible Cypress Hills massacre conducted by these same hooligans.
By the time we got to Fort Walsh the temperature was down to 7 degrees and the rain was pretty constant. The Cypress Hills are absolutely breath-taking even in bad weather. What was really neat though was the fact that we arrived on the day they were unveiling a new plaque to the memory of those killed in the massacre and a delegation of Lakota had come to consecrate the plaque. It was also to celebrate the new Interpretive Centre – this being the third day since it had opened. It is really beautiful nestled near the very top of the Cypress Hills.
Bus put on his sweater and I bundled him into his carrier and off we went to tour the fort. Young kids in NWMP uniforms met us at the gate and a fresh recruit named Kyle took us on a personal tour of the fort. The fort was built in 1875 and then dismantled in 1882 – so it wasn’t headquarters for long. The main superintendent was James Walsh who worked hard to protect Sitting Bull and his Sioux nation from an angry American population, smarting from Custer’s Last Stand. Politics put the kaibosh on that though and Sitting Bull and his people ended up on a poor reserve back in the U.S.
Bus and I were pretty cold by the time we left Cypress Hills but the car’s heater works well. On the winding road out of the hills we met up with a group of annoyed cattle. And further down the road were some frisky horses. Not much further from here were nine beautiful white-tailed deer who didn’t stick around long once I pulled out my camera. We also passed what looked like an antelope (definitely not a white-tailed deer) on the side of the highway.
Once back onto the Trans-Canada it wasn’t long before we were in Alberta. The plan was to go to Drumheller but it is still cold and rainy so we ended up at Dinosaur Provincial Park – about an hour from Drumheller. It is a World Heritage Site. The park is surrounded by hoodoos and I can imagine if we had time Bus and I could dig up some dinosaur bones. The place is another spectacular spot.
We really do live in a magnificent country.
I forgot to mention that when Bus and I were out for a walk in the park trying to figure out where the washrooms and garbage bins were we spied a coyote not 50 feet away. He saw us watching him and slowly slunk away. I’m glad Bus and I decided to sleep in the back of the car tonight.
