Gorgeous morning but still too cool to eat outside. I am beginning to think that may never happen on this trip. We took our time since we are only changing campsites/campgrounds in the same Park between provinces. This Park is divided into 3 blocks: West (Alberta), East ( Saskatchewan) and Center. Its about 40 miles as the crow flies between blocks. However we aren’t crows, so it was a bit farther than that and we dawdled along the way. I love it when we can ‘dink around’ as my husband puts it.
I am having an argument with summer which refuses to appear even though it’s after June 20th. In retaliation I have put all my summer clothes away.
From our campsite in Alberta, we drove up to Horseshoe Canyon and took a walk along the ridge in the beautiful warm sunshine. This is the highest spot in Canada between Labrador in eastern Canada and the Canadian Rockies in the west. I don’t think we could quite see Labrador from where we were standing!
The wild flowers right now are amazing. In a grassy field that looks like it has nothing going for it but grasses, there is an abundance of flora if you just look closely enough. Some of it neither I nor Google Lens could identify. (See photos end of today’s blog)
Coming out of the park, I spotted a Prong Horned Antelope grazing in a field. I thought I was wrong until 3 more ran across the road in front of us. What a gift. There were more along Hwy 1, the TransCanada. Pronghorn are fast runners but they don’t jump fences. This puts them at a disadvantage for these animals living in cattle country when trying to evade predators. They are indigenous to southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The government is working with cattle farmers to install fences that they Pronghorns can crawl under.
We stopped in Maple Creek Saskatchewan to do some personal shopping and have some lunch. Maple Creek is a typical southern Saskatchewan town with grain elevators along the railroad and the parallel main street. We also made a phone call to our traveling buddies whom we are supposed to meet in Ottawa at the end of this trip and spend a few days together. We are rearranging our plans a bit so some rescheduling is in order.
I am always curious as to why small towns in rural and/or remote places exist in the first place which is why I like writing about them.
After the North-West Mounted Police had been established at Fort Walsh, settlers began to explore the Cypress Hills area, living along the creeks and doing small-scale ranching. The Department of the Interior was operating a First Nations farm on the Maple Creek, a few miles south from the present town site. In 1882-1883 the First Nations (mainly Cree, Saulteaux, and Assiniboine) were moved to Qu’Appelle. In the winter of 1882, a Canadian Pacific Railway construction crew of 12 decided to winter where the town of Maple Creek now stands. This marked the establishment of Maple Creek.
Our campsite for tonight in the Saskatchewan part of this park is brand new this year. We are the first to use the electricity in this site (Brian had to take the manufacturer’s cover off the outlet when we plugged in). The TransCanada Trail (hiking) runs through here.
What else is in this area besides the provincial park?
- Cypress Hills Vineyard & Winery. I mention this because we bought some of their Rhubarb Grape white wine to try. I’ll let you know how it is when we drink it. Not with the steak we are having tonight, that’s for sure!
- Fort Walsh, a reconstructed North-West Mounted Police fort and part of the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. As a National Historic Site of Canada the area possesses national historical significance. It was established as a NWMP fort after and near the Cypress Hills Massacre.
- Grasslands National Park, represents the Prairie Grasslands natural region, protecting one of the nation’s few remaining areas of undisturbed dry mixed-grass/shortgrass prairie grassland. The park is in the WWF-defined Northern short grasslands ecoregion, which spans across much of Southern Saskatchewan, Southern Alberta, and the northern Great Plains states in the USA. The unique landscape and harsh, semi-arid climate provide niches for several specially adapted plants and animals. The park and surrounding area house the country’s only black-tailed prairie dog colonies. Other rare and endangered fauna in the park include the pronghorn, sage grouse, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, prairie rattlesnake, black-footed ferret and eastern short-horned lizard. Flora includes blue grama grass, needlegrass, Plains Cottonwood and silver sagebrush.
- T.rex Discovery Centre, a facility to house the fossil record of the Eastend area started many years before the discovery of “Scotty” the T.Rex in 1994.
It’s sunny and finally warm enough to take jackets off but as soon as the wind comes up about 4 pm it cools off quickly. We have no firewood so no campfire tonight.
It was very windy this morning while I was trying to photograph the wild flowers. Sometimes the wind blew them right out of the frame. I have been trying to identify them so let me know if I am incorrect.
Louise and Brian McLeod Travel Blog 
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