Day 21 - Thursday June 8/17

Another beautiful weather day - sunny, 21C! Up early, and on the road by 9:15 this morning.

At about 8:45, Michael called the Rockglen Labyrinth folks - Carla and Charlie Yost - and arranged for us to stop by and walk their labyrinth on our way to Grasslands National Park.

One of the things we have noted, with some surprise, in this southerly/westerly part of Saskatchewan, is the large amount of francophone/métis presence/influence/history. We had not been aware of that.

We took a wrong turn in Rockglen, and went north instead of west! We found our way to the labyrinth site on about 50 km of dirt roads. Later, when we opened the trailer, we discovered that everything was covered by a thick layer of dust, as we had left the two roof vents open to keep the trailer aired out as we travelled! Lesson: CLOSE ROOF VENTS OF TRAVELLING ON DIRT ROADS WITH THE TRAILER!!!!!

What a delight to meet Carla (and later Charlie)(photo), 

who have set up this labyrinth and a memorial tree plot in memory of their son who died. They have planted over 13,000 trees on their farm property - most of them supplied free by the SK gov’t tree planting program.

Carla showed us to the labyrinth, nestled inside their huge ‘tree plantation’, with lots of commentary on the way.  We then spent about 45 minutes walking the labyrinth, which is set out with native grasses and shrubs, with 4ft wide walkways and dividers. It was a very moving experience.(photos)

From them we also learned that there are virtually drought conditions here in SW Saskatchewan - very little rain since winter.

After walking the labyrinth, we made our way to the Wood Mountain NWMP Post Provincial Historic Park. After wiping down most of the flat surfaces in the trailer, we enjoyed our lunch of cheese and fresh tomato sandwiches, and then walked around the historic site, learning much more about the NWMP, and Sitting Bull and the Lakota Sioux who had fled the U.S. to Canada in the 1800’s.(photos)

We then got back on the road and drove the last 170km to Grasslands National Park - West Block, where we had our campsite reserved for the next two nights.

A very sparse, wide-open campground here!(photo)

Spent an hour or more giving the interior of the trailer a further cleaning for the dust accumulation (even more after driving the 20+km of dirt road into the campground!). Several dishpans of grey water to dump out!

After a rest in the bracing wind, we enjoyed supper of hamburgers and salad, and are now doing this blog and emails over at the camper’s centre where there is wifi. 

Full moon tonight as we sit outside in the brisk breeze! (photo)