Day 20 – Wednesday June 7/17

A day in the Big Muddy Badlands under full sunshine, light breeze and temperatures in the high 20’s.

We drove 35 km to the town of Coronoch (named for a local racehorse who won the Epsom Darby in the 1920’s) to pick up our guide for a full day of touring. Unfortunately Tilly, the 90-somehing woman who was to show us the area, wasn’t feeling well today so we were left to explore on our own. Brenda in the Tourist Information Office gave us several booklets, a detailed map and personal directions. Then headed off on our own tour.

Our first stop was the village of Big Beaver where we visited Aust’s General Store whose motto is “IF WE DON’T HAVE IT YOU DON’T NEED IT”.(photos)

We explored this vintage store and picked up a few items we needed like bread, maple cookies and a tomato. We found rain suits, horse bridles, cowboy boots and the post office as we walked around.  When Nancy asked to use the washroom, she was told to go upstairs and down the corridor. The building had at one time been a hotel and the toilet that must have been shared among the 14 rooms was at the end of the corridor. The floors were dusty, but the wood was beautiful. The doors all had glass transoms. (photos) 

 You never know what you will discover!

Leaving Big Beaver we drove north watching for distance markers in order to make the correct turn on a gravel road to Castle Butte.  This is a huge solitary mass of rock that somehow resisted the flow of glacial melt waters. (photo) 

The butte stands 200 ft high and is ¼ mile in circumference. Intrepid explorer Mikey climbed the steep path to the top (photos) 

While Nancy took the gentler option and walked around the base(photo). 

We also explored a cave at the base after making sure there were no occupants inside. (photo)

 It is said the Butch Cassidy and other US outlaws avoided their American pursuers hiding out in similar caves in the badland area.

Castle Butte stands in the midst of other similar badlands topography(photo)

Still at Castle Butte, we ate lunch in the truck again today as there was no tables and no shade in the area. We are calling this a trucknic.

Interestingly the spot where we had lunch was on the continental divide. The boundary that sends waters either to the north or the south of the continent.

As we were leaving Castle Butte, we had to negotiate our way past a 'cow hazard' on the road - including a nursing calf! - they wouldn't move even when Nancy called out the window, "moooove!"

Continuing to drive north we soaked in the variety of landscapes, leaving the crenellated gulleys of the badlands and re-entering the sweeping prairie fields. 

Back at our home base of Willow Bunch we visited the town’s museum. The first exhibit we saw was about the life of “The Willow Bunch Giant” Edouard Beaupre. (photos) 

This young man was born in 1881 here in willow Bunch SK and died at age 23 in 1904 working for the Barnum and Bailey Circus at the St. Louis World’s Fair. At 8’3” he is one of the tallest men ever. His life however seemed very sad.

The next display we investigated was on Sitting Bull. Just before being forced to return to the US, Sitting Bull and his followers spent their final winter in Canada here at Willow Bunch. We watched an excellent 20 minute documentary on the Lakota Sioux Leader made by the Saskatchewan government. Unfortunately Sitting Bull’s story is another one of broken promises and misdealings between European settlers and the Native Peoples of North America. 

The museum which is housed in an old convent also had interesting displays of household furnishings, fashions, home appliances and tools. We spent an hour and half exploring the various rooms.

We got back to Rocinante about 5 pm. We had a short nap then listened to ‘The World at Six’ on CBC as we enjoyed wine, cheese and pea soup outside.

Having had difficulty last night getting the blog pictures to upload, Michael continued the struggle with yesterday’s blog post. After several hours he eventually overcame the difficulties.