Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Saskatchewan road trip - Prince Albert National Park

 After almost a week hiking and biking around in the Drumheller, Alberta area, it was time to move on.  We decided to head east, for a visit to Saskatchewan.  Stopped at the rural home of a college buddy, and solved a few world problems by a fire that night.  In the morning, all of a sudden, there were footsteps on the roof of the camper!
Hailey was a bit concerned!

 
I slowly and quietly opened the door and stuck my phone up to have a look on the roof of the camper, where this Canada Goose was perhaps looking for a nice place for a nest!

My 2008 GMC Sierra is still purring along fine after 14 years, with 509,000km (316k miles), hauling my 1999 camper around (all summer), and the Duramax has never used a drop of oil!  And I love the 4 doors it has - way better than all the newer trucks with standard doors.  It is so handy to move things from the front to the rear and vice versa, and when the camper is not on, the rear door folds back flat along the box.  My e-bike folds in half, and easily fits in the back seat, where it is kept clean, dry, and secure.

We ended up in Prince Albert National Park for most of our Saskatchewan visit, enjoying the views and scenery around Waskesiu Lake, and Kingsmere Lake.  I hiked about 7km up the side of Kingsmere, then repeated the trip the next day on my bike - in about half the time.  We could have gone further, but it seems that is as far as the trail crew had cleared the trail this year, and past that point were numerous deadfall blocking the trail.
We also spent some time around The Narrows - a favourite childhood haunt.
The weather was pretty decent, but constant strong winds limited some of the activities.
 
Sometimes, it was just better to stay inside and nap!
Other times, some hunting was in order.



Biking out on the old breakwater guarding the main beach.

 Since camping in the park is relatively expensive, and most of the sites are deep in the trees with little in the way of views, we opted to look for places to overnight outside the park.  Here is one 'nice' gravel pit we found!
Hailey enjoyed climbing the gravel mountains!
Then, we found this much better spot nearby.

Some of the trails we visited in the park had extensive boardwalks.

A decent overnight spot with lots of waterfowl - on our way home.





Meanwhile, back home, our crop of dandelions was looking good.
While we mow some areas, we leave lots for the bees to enjoy.







Pouring rain at home now, for an estimated 3 days, so good chance to update the blog.  But, as soon as it's nice, we'll be back on the road - somewhere!

 

3 comments:

  1. I would love it if my kitty would go camping with us. But she is afraid of loud noises when the camper is driving. Is your cat missing his left paw? Because my cat, Lucky, is missing her left paw, also. She gets along fine. It's fantastic that Hailey gets out and about on your camping trips, also.

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    1. She lost her leg in Vegas a few years ago, because of a bad infection. She still catches mice, and can outrun me when she wants to!

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    2. Bet you thought I had forgot about you guys eh. I like the mobility of those E bikes. Liked that boardwalk at the edge of the lake too. That's quite a life you two live. All the best in your travels...........

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