"They had a pleasant ramble... over grassy dales, and camped as before, on a common..."
Kenneth Graehame - Wind In The Willows
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| Grateful To Find Some Trees |
Avoiding such temptations as Fort Whoop-Up and Gas City Campground (I am not making these place names up) I headed for Elkwater in Cypress Hills Provincial Park. I am not a flatlander by nature. I could feel the lovely energy of this place long before I arrived. Elkwater has been here long before the park, is very small, and has a Banff-type prosperous air to it. I slept last night in a lodge pole pine forest so very grateful to find some trees at long last. This morning I tried to perk up in the lake. There is a history here. Some of the people that came and settled initially made quite a ruckus, falsely accusing the Nakoda of horse stealing and murdering them. The North West Mounted Police were called in. This is a special area that has been an oasis basically since the glacier receded. It is a "montane" environment that is a combination of prairie and upper elevation species. They say it is the highest point between here and Labrador. Really? It seems so low.... I am on the Saskatchewan border now and I am sorry to be leaving this place. Fortunately there is a bit of cloud today as I head towards Grasslands made famous by Canadian author, Sharon Butala.