Grasslands National Park

En route to the Grasslands!

An abandoned old church on the side of the road

Yesterday was one of my favourite days of the trip so far, and I’m not quite sure how to accurately capture the beauty or essence of the Grasslands.  It was one of those perfectly sunny days, the kind where everything is bathed in a golden light and the sky seems endless.  It is a place that seems both empty and full, empty for the expanse of space it occupies, yet full for the detail and beauty it radiates.  It’s one of my favourite memories, marked by moments of reflection and silliness. 

The park itself was so different from any of the other parks we’ve visited.  It was the type of place you catch yourself simultaneously trying to absorb the near and the far, the horizon that stretches out for miles and miles and the little details underfoot – the lichen on a rock, or a blade of prairie grass dancing in the wind.  Needless to say, much of my time was spent desperately trying to commit every last detail to a memory I know will eventually begin to fade, snapping photos through a camera lense that seems just too small to truly capture the vastness.

It was a long, full day, exploring the boundaries of the park!

Shortly after entering the park, we were greeted by one of two Black-tailed Prairie Dog colonies, the only remaining wild prairie dogs in Canada.  They’re cheeky little things, popping in and out of their tunnels with sweet faces that seem to be stuck in a permanent expression of shock or surprise!  In an effort to determine which one of us was more stubborn – me or the prairie dogs - I spent some time patiently sitting on a nearby rock, waiting for them to emerge from their underground homes.  The prairie dogs were pretty good at that game, but we did manage to capture a few sneaky photos.

Our next stop was a little hike along the ridge of the Frenchman Valley river.  We stopped to take a few photos on the top of the ridge before clambering down to find the actual hiking trail, once again trying to take it all in.

After our hike, and having reached the end of the park much earlier than expected, we decided to backtrack and wait out the remaining hour or so of sunlight in order to try and capture some night photos of the stars.  We drove a short ways back to the second prairie dog colony, where we parked on the side of the road and had an impromptu picnic on the hood of the car, snacking on crackers and cheese. After a few crackers, we decided it was time to put our adventure shoes to work to chase the setting sun, peering down prairie dog holes, while skirting around patches of mud and dodging clumps of cacti, hidden in the crevices of the cracked, arid earth.  J captured a few photos as the sun sank behind the rolling hills before we decided it was time to turn back to the car [having learned the hard way that chucks and vans are not the kind of adventure shoes that were made for cacti-trekking ;)]

By the time we got back to the car, the sky was painted with all the hues of twilight, deep purple and gray with streaks of pink and orange.  We killed some more time with J playing his acoustic guitar in the middle of an abandoned park road, me listening, and the moon (crazy bright last night) just overhead, beginning to peek out from the clouds.  It was kind of perfect, and easily one of my favourite memories from the day.

Anyways, we (read: J) managed to capture a few starry night photos, including the big dipper which has been eluding us since a previous adventure when we decided to chase after northern lights in Kingston.  But, that about brings us full circle and the perfect place to end for now…