This travelogue is dedicated to the memory ...
Trip Start
Jun 29, 1999
1
8
29
Trip End
Dec 04, 1999
Winnipeg,
Manitoba,
Canada
Tuesday, August 17, 1999
After entering my last travelogue I decided to have some lunch. As you may or may not know I'm quite the fan of Mexican fast food cuisine and I try to go to as many different restaurants as I can. Unfortunately, Toronto only has one Mexican fast food restaurant (Taco Bell) so I get all excited when I venture westward because there are many restaurants of this nature to partake of. This time I found a Taco Time inside the Portage Place Mall in Winnipeg. I ordered a "Soft Meat Combo" which is Mexi-fries, a regular drink, and a beef burrito. As always I started with the Mexi-fries. These things weren't very Mexi at all. They seemed to be McCain's tater-tots with Lawry's seasoning salt. It was a very poor start to the meal. The burrito, however, turned things around. It was fucking huge, almost a two-hander. They stuffed it full of beef, cheese, and sour cream. A few more layers would have good. Taco Time has only one hot sauce selection and it's not very hot at all. Worst of all it does not come in a squeeze packet which makes application on a burrito troublesome but the tater-tots were easily dipped in the swallow dish container. It was a decent meal but no Taco Bell (and definitely no DelTaco!).
Last Wednesday I cruised along the Trans-Canada Hwy across western Manitoba and into Saskatchewan where I camped at Moose Mountain Provincial Park. The Moose Mtn area is odd because it's an oasis of forest and lakes in the middle of the wheat belt. I went for a short hike in the evening and I got rained on (it was to be foreshadowing for much of my week). I did manage to espy a whole mule deer family (buck, doe and bambi) so my drenching wasn't in vain.
Thursday, August 12th
Thursday morning was quite cool and overcast. I headed south close to the border and then headed west along a small provincial highway.
I zigzagged along plumblines with waist-high grass shoulders passing excitable sheep and silent cow sentinels, and extreme-sport gophers who dangerously frolicked in the shadow of the hawk, humble cemetaries filled with shallow paupers' graves, obscene oil derricks infinitely pumping, open sore coal mines festering in the sun, towering grain elevators - beacons for towns still awaiting the their turn to boom, lumpy-faced farmers in their "Wheat Pool" baseball caps, and abandoned homes where memories leaked from empty window frames. Electric green seas and tawny gold oceans rippled in my wake as grasshoppers liquified on my grill. The horse was not pale but death had arrived.
(that's my tribute to William Burroughs)
The drive was excellent, especially the area known as the Big Muddy Badlands. I was headed for Grasslands National Park which is right on the border with Montana. The eastern block of the park is not developed at all. You follow a 16km dirt track into a research station that used to be an old ranch house. The researchers only come once a month so if you make it this way you'll likely be alone. There is a short 1km hike which takes you to the edge of the badlands and you're free to hike whereever you like after that but you are definitely on your own. I hiked in a loop for about 4 hours. The weather was much different from earlier in the day. This is definitely desert. Cacti and sage abounds and you have to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes. You'll also find quite a few sun-bleached bones in the area. During my trek I managed to spot a jackrabbit and some more deer. The geography isnd't quite as dramatic as the badlands of South Dakota but it is easy to see why Sitting Bull lived in these parts while in Canada. After my hike I drove a short distance north to Wood Mountain Regional Park where I slept beside a sod shack and in the shadow of a hill with a historical marker for Sitting Bull.
Friday, August 13th
It was another excellent drive northward to (if I can read this correctly) Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Most of my friends will recognize Moose Jaw as the hometown of Charlestown Chiefs defenceman Billy Charlebois (from Slapshot) but it had an even more famous resident (no, not Kevin). This is where Al Capone used to hang out while he was in Canada. Why? I don't have a clue. It's hard to imagine Mr. Capone saying, "Hey fellas, let's go up to Moose Jaw and party!"
I then headed eastward to Regina. I found a campsite on the edge of town and then went in for a look-see. I first went to Taylor Field, home of the Rough Riders and picked up a ticket for that night's game against the Calgary Stampeders. I got a front row endzone ticket for 8 bucks. I took in the RCMP Museum (RCMP HQ is here). The museum has many excellent artifacts but they aren't well presented. They could capture more attention if they focussed on famous RCMP cases such as The Madd Trapper or the exploits of RCMP superfly Sam Steele. In the gift shop I found these cheap books by a local self-published historian that are fun. If you're in the area you'll find them in most gift shops at historical attractions. They're published by Gopher Press and they are great little pulp non-fiction works. I then went down to the park surrounding the Provincial Legislature which is nice. The parliament building is quite bold and impressive and is the only real piece of architecture (other than the twin towers of the First National bank) that stands out. I also stumbled upon the Diefenbaker homestead which has been transplanted here from Borden, Sask. This is the house that former PM John Diefenbaker grew up in. It is worth your while to see from what humble beginnings this great man started. I made my way downtown and found a nice patio to enjoy the warm afternoon with some beer and nachos.
That evening's football game was fun but I would have enjoyed it more to have a friend along to make sarcastic comments to (right, Cool J?). The football product in the CFL is excellent but I think I enjoy the small-time stunts being pulled off to amuse the fans. The Rough Riders have two mascots - Gainer the Gopher and his cousin Lucky Leonard. Now that must have been a great brainstorm... "How are we going to amuse the fans? I know, let's get another mascot!" The crowd was also witness to a performance by the sea cadet band (no one questioned why sea cadets were stationed in Saskatchewan) and this cheezy "Up With People" style show being put on by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. It was more of a commercial than entertainment. I must admit that they did get one thing right. Whenever the Roughies scored a touchdown this white car with touchdown roared around the field. There was a sunroof in this car and they had created a giant gopher hole made out of paper mache so that Gainer could ride around the field. It was so hokey it worked. The game was a good one and since the wind was whipping up from the south all the scoring took place in my endzone. The Stampeders made a fourth quarter comeback to win.
Saturday, August 14th
I awoke at about 4am to the sound of a vicious thunderstorm. I remained dry but my site was slowly turning into a mudpit. My tent and everything that came into contact with it had mud on it. My mood was not helped by the fact that the previous evening's beer and nachos were not sitting well and the fact that I had spent 3 hours with facing into the wind during the game. I felt like shit so I quickly jammed all my muddy stuff into the trunk and headed to Saskatoon. I drove and watched the massive storm move across the plain (it was an impressive site) and by the time I had reached my destination it was a warm afternoon. I wasn't that impressed with Saskatoon but I think that was owing to my ill condition. I took in the 1910 Boomtown museum which is okay. The lighting really sucks and there is nobody to help interpret the exhibits. They do have a fine collection of antique cars and farm equipment all of which is still in working condition. Next stop was the Wanuskewin Historical Park. This is the site of an Plains Indian archeological dig on a creekside just north of town. The museum area is excellent and the interpretive walks were also well done. I was bushed afterward so I just headed back to camp and went to bed early.
Sunday, August 15th
I felt much better after a long sleep. A light rain had fallen overnight so things in my trunk got even muddier. I headed north to Batoche Historical Site. This is where the NorthWest Force put down the Metis and Indian rebellion in 1885 that became known as the Riel Rebellion. The site is great but the mosquitoes there are ferocious. I liked the way they made more of the involvement of Metis military commander Gabriel Dumont for it was his leadership that made this rebellion somewhat successful in the early going. I've noticed that whenever you visit a site connected to Riel they gloss over the fact that Riel by this time was a little off his rocker (i.e. talking to Jesus, getting premonitions about military tactics). Had the Metis followed Dumont's plans they might have been far more successful. There is alos very little about Indian Chiefs Big Bear and Poundmaker who were involved in this conflict as well. It's still a great place to visit but more detailed information could have been presented. I also saw a rare White Pelican on the shore of the South Saskatchewan river while I was there. I then headed in a south-easterly direction and stopped at Yorkton. Even my brain has limits on the amount of information that can be taken in so I passed up my chance to learn more about Doukhabours (Ukranian settlers, mostly Catholic) and did my laundry. I did make sure to pass by a large and excellent example of the Ukranian influence in the area. St.Mary's Ukranian Catholic church in Yorkton is very nice and although it's designated a Catholic church most Ukranian churches in the area offer services to both Catholic and Orthodox people. Shortly after I went to bed for the night another thunderstorm started that lasted until the next morning.
Monday, August 16th
This mudpit put the one in Regina to shame. By now everything in my trunk had a layer of dirt on it and I was actually looking forward to sleeping on a train for most of the week. I made it to Riding Mountain National Park where I secured a very sheltered camping site and let my stuff air out. This park has a herd of wild bison and it's a 30 km drive along a dirt road (now quite muddy) but I figured that it couldn't get any worse. During my trek I saw exactly one buffalo who was having a nice nap. The others were probably sheltered in the woods. And now my car was caked with mud. The rain stopped briefly and I went on a couple of short hikes. The hike I really wanted to do was the one to Grey Owl's cabin but apparently parts of the trail were flooded by beavers this year. The rain managed to hold off all night and now I just have dried dirt all over my stuff.
Tuesday, August 17th
I basically drove straight to Winnipeg with a small detour into Neepawa (population (996,600 short of one million). This was Margaret Laurence's hometown and one could substitute her fictional town of Manawaka with Neepawa. Now I hated "The Stone Angel" with a passion and the only person I know who likes this book lives in Bolton so you can immediately throw out any opinion she has but I did read "The Diviners" while I was out east and enjoyed it thoroughly. When I arrived in Winnipeg things were sunny but as I look out the window know it's raining cats and dogs.
Well I'm heading up to 58 degrees of latitude north starting at 10pm tonight. You'll hear back from me again on Saturday.
Riding on a train, riding on a train...
