Saturday June 19th, Cutbank River, Grand Prairie, AB

150 Miles

I persuaded Ian to go walking with me before breakfast, just several k’s down the road to another little campground within the park. The air was fresh, about 3 degrees, but the sun was up and we soon warmed up. So picturesque walking through the stands of aspens and then open fields.  We got talking to a couple camping beside the river and they mentioned a Loon that was nesting on a nearby lake, the trail was easy to follow. It was so picturesque from the hill overlooking Graveyard Lake but the loon was some distance away. I had my camera, but hadn’t brought the long lens and Ian had left the new binoculars in the van! Must remember that no matter where we go walking we need to be like Boy Scouts and be prepared.

1 ½ hours later we got back to Ruakiwi, ravenous. A great start to the morning.

The drive through to Grand Cache was very picturesque, streams, rivers and lakes and lots of forests. Grand Cache has a population of about 4000, and is a coal mining town that supplies an electricity plant. There is also a timber mill that employs a number of the locals. It really had the feel of a workers town with pretty basic shops and facilities, although it was nestled in a valley surrounded by snow capped mountains.

The road north to Grand Prairie was rolling tree covered hills.

Last year we bought “The Milepost”, the bible for traveling to and around Alaska. Many people had mentioned that we must get it, and it is brilliant. The routes have a mile by mile listing of what to look for or watch out for, and mention all the campgrounds, either private, Provincial or free. We read about this one, about 20 miles from Grand Prairie that was a free public use camp. It is very popular but managed to find a spot beside the river away from some of the large groups of campers. By 6pm the temperature had reached 30 degrees, although with no humidity it is much easier to cope with. Summer has come.