Rob-n-Hild, oot and aboot eh? Sorry - 2022

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Grasslands National Park

Last night we went to bed relatively early as there were a couple of thunderstorms (with a great rainbow, it must be said). However, that meant a bathroom break around 2 am - which developed into some star-gazing as it was very clear at that time - with only the moon and stars for light. Hild had planned ahead and downloaded an astronomical app (before we lost all contact with civilization - also known as being out of cell-phone coverage!) so we were able to pick out some of the major things - once we had come to an agreement on where the big-dipper was to be able to pick North! After that, we are pretty sure we picked out Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, but constellations were difficult as there were still some clouds around (and Rob not having his contact lenses in didn't help either!). Tonight we will try again - with the binoculars this time...

We had downloaded the map/guide of the Grasslands park which showed this as a 5km one-way Valley of 1000 Devils route and reports online were that it was a difficult walk because it was not well marked so we were a bit worried about today's walk. But at the campsite visitor center yesterday we had picked up a trail guide that showed this as a loop of just over 11km so we figured we could do this and set off nice and early - with a lot of water!

A good walk in badlands with ugly (you choose who'se the latter!).

In fact, it was a very well-marked trail (mental note to post something to this effect to TripAdvisor when we are next online!) and the women at the front desk said the markers had been up for about a year now. We are grateful that we could focus on seeing rather than navigating.

It was a day for combining the big-picture scenery with the small-picture flora and fauna. A really interesting walk through the prairie meadows to a valley with exposed sediments - a lot like Dinosaur Provincial Park, but with more vegetation. It was rated at 4-5 hours, but it wasn't steep so we were a bit suspicious that they were overdoing the difficulty, however we took just over 4 hours for 12.4 km - with plenty of stops for photos it must be said - so they were pretty good.

After the dinosaur fossil tour we were not as impressed by the exposed sediments, but I am sure we missed potential fossil beds as this is another area with a reputation for dinosaur fossils. Instead we enjoyed looking at the much greener vegetation - with some really pretty wild flowers. We took a lot of photos - in the (possibly optimistic) hope that we can identify them later.

If you are not into flowers - just scroll past the next few photos. Or if you see an error in our attempt at identifying them, let us know!

Yellowish

Whiteish

Redish

Blueish

Prickly

Other

We happily got to the end-point and enjoyed a 360-degree view of the valley! Here is 180 degrees of it.

While it was dry in the area there were creeks still meandering through. We saw old/established ox-elbows and some that were still in the making.

On our way back out we had a snack stop inthe one bit of shade we could find. Water, nuts, raisins, dried mangoes, and chewy bar was on the menu. While standing there we enjoyed the view of yet another coulee, and a rock formation looking alot like a mini-Uluru.

The exposed rock showed us now-familiar layers of sandstone, mudstone, and ironstone. It was noticable how heavy the ironstone was compared to its size in the hand. The fellas liked sitting in the mudstone. Looked like popcorn sometimes!

You would think that in this remote and fairly flat environment we would be experiencing a more relaxing walk. You'd be wrong. Wouldn't you know it that Hild was able to still find stairs to climb in the middle of nowhere.

We also learnt that the traces of cattle - foot prints and dung - were left here by authorized cattle! Not sneaking ones breaking into the national park. Park staff told us that they have agreements with local ranchers to graze the area every so often to keep the meadows healthy.

We also managed to spot a few new species - a black beetle and something referred to as a tent-worm which is a moth larvae (according to the park guide) which makes an extensive web-like structure on the upper branches of the shrubby-bushes. They looked more like millipedes than caterpillars to us, but they were working hard at whatever they were doing so we left them in peace.

We also saw a lot of birds, but not being good at identifying them we are limiting adding to our species list the to just the greater sage grouse - a couple of which flew up just in front of us from a patch of - aptly - sage brush.

... and then there were lots of ants and ant hills. Hard to photograph with just a phone-camera.

We saw a Pronghorn Antelope on our way into the park. It seems strange to have wild antelopes in Canada, but there it was! Without internet, we were unable to check if this was correct. We had to wait until the next day in Moose Jaw when we finally found internet again. It turns out that they are native to the area, but that they aren't a real antelope as we know them from Africa. Still, we thought it was pretty and very very fast! It can run 100 km/hr something that was very handy in the past when there was still an American Cheeta lurking in the area.

Of peculiar items we spotted today were a large piece of a petrified tree. a stink beetle (or five), and we also spotted the use for the fake bison: practicing lasso!

Back at the campsite, there are meadow-larks nesting up in the eaves of our oTENTik - and a pair of American Robins has made a pretty decent nest on the side of the tent - underneath the outer canvas using the A-Frame as base. They kept Hild awake last night getting up to something or other after dark!

At one point we need to consider whether they are nesting in our oTENTik, or if in fact we had rented space in a bird house for a couple of days! They were definetly here before us...

And speaking of getting up to things, the Minions had a fun time on the walk this morning. Playing in both the shrublands and on some of the eroded 'badlands'. In the end, we had to separate them in each their pocket on Hild's rucksack!

After the decent morning walk we planned on another trip after lunch, but as we had not got a lot of sleep a nap seemed a good idea. Said nap turned out to be rather a long siesta, after which we figured that it was too late to start another walk and we sat out on our small deck for a couple of hours watching the gophers, rabbits and birds and doing some reading. It was Sunday afternoon after all!

As there is likely to be more star-watching tonight, we will try to go to bed early again.

While trying to sleep in the bunkbed, Hild noticed that the wood used to build it came from Golden, BC. How fun: we were there not long ago driving past the wood processing plant!

May/June 2022

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