Leaving Îls-des-Chênes, we headed west for Saskatchewan. I was struck by the sign we started seeing paired with the Trans Canada sign….
…so, I had to look it up. While looking disturbingly like a former U.S. President, it’s actually named after, and is the silhouette of, a fur trader and explorer named Pierre Bostonais. The Yellowhead Highway runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. The beginnings of the Yellowhead highway can be traced back to 1819 when Iroquois Metis Pierre Bostonais was engaged by the Hudson Bay Company to guide them westward through the Rocky Mountains. His nickname was, Tête Jaune/Yellow Head, because of his yellow/blonde hair.
This was the moment we passed into Saskatchewan, our last province on this trip:
And yes, Saskatchewan is still as flat as ever, but were we ever surprised when we entered the Qu’Appelle Valley area. It’s stunningly beautiful.
Image credit: Robin and Arlene Karpan
The valley runs from west to east along southern Saskatchewan. It was formed about 14,000 years ago when the last continental ice sheet was retreating and stalled at the site of this valley. Vast quantities of meltwater flowed west to east across the ice sheet face, cutting deep into the sediments creating a valley some 180 metres deep and roughly 2 km across. Our destination in the Qu’Appelle Valley was Crooked Lake Provincial Park.
We had site #31, so we could look out from our site to the water.
There are signs everywhere about not transporting wood from other places within the province, because of pests like Emerald Ash Borer that you can also be bringing with you. So, this Provincial park had a wood shed where, for free, you could go get wood for your fire. This was also the first time in our trip where there was no fire ban, so we had our first bonfire! I love the design of their fire pits, with the pivoting grills that you can rotate on and off of the fire. We were only there for two nights, but we did swim in Crooked Lake, and found a walking path to a lookout area.
There was a murder of crows that lived in the Provincial Park, that would congregate in empty sites, and stare at you as you walked by. So, those are not statues on the roof in the photo above, they were a couple of the resident crows. Our next destination was Bengough, for the Gateway Music Festival.