Tuesday and Wednesday June 25 and 26

Travelled from Lake Winnipeg to Riding Mountain National Park which is west and slightly south. Along the straight roads I was struck that I had never seen a cyclist, even though the roads are flat, and there is a paved side which is Mennonite-wide! It is perfect cycling. With one exception perhaps – there is nowhere to go. The small towns seldom have Inns or B & B’s. People could camp of course, and I recall the cyclists making their way from Kenora to the Soo – a grueling trip! But here, nothing. Until, that is, I arrived at Riding Mountain which is more of a large hill. It’s old, and rounded like the mountains in the east. The road bisects the National Park which is wild and beautiful. There were several people cycling this road. While I’ll be heading to the campsites for trailers, there is a large portion of this park which is only accessible by walking in. I’d have loved it years ago.

The camping facilities are at the south end of the huge park. I scored a campsite with electricity surrounded by poplars (I think) and featuring wild roses. Tuesday afternoon I walked into town and toured the waterfront. There is a cairn on the beach of Clear Lake commemorating the dedication of the land as a national park. No mention of the Indigenous people who would have ‘owned’ the land in the first place. There is, however, in the town, an Anishinaabe lodge, so there is some kind of presence, but it was closed. The town is a typical tourist haven, but pretty, and a young man at the park headquarters gave me some good information about kayaking, bears, and camp life in general.

I drove to the coffee shop and book store he suggested where I updated my blog and enjoyed a cup of Manitoba Wilderness tea. I think I’ll stop here Thursday morning and do the same.

Wednesday morning, after my breakfast of oatmeal, I proceeded to the boat launch. The park officials determined that my kayak would have to be decontaminated since I had been in Lake Winnipeg, and worse yet, in Ontario. They are trying to keep Zebra mussels from entering the lake system. I followed a young woman to a compound 10 minutes away. All of the belongings (ropes, seat, life jacket) which had been in contact with the water were put into a cooler and steamed in hot water for 20 minutes. While that was going on, the kayak was washed with hot water in every crevice. The whole process took about 30 minutes, but then I received a seal of approval and was on my way. They were very nice and friendly. I think they were glad I wasn’t one of the grumpy ones. Apparently people get quite annoyed with them – people are interesting.

I paddled from the boat launch on Clear Lake through a narrow isthmus to South Lake. It was so beautiful. The weather was sunny with huge, white, flat bottomed clouds. The sky is so huge here! The lake is fairly shallow where I was paddling and I followed the shore line towards an orange marker which I assumed marked the entrance to South Lake. It was only when I got really close that I saw the orange marker was actually a pair of red lawn chairs! They have a sign attached inviting people to take their picture in the chair and post it to Facebook – advertising for the park I suppose.

South Lake was even more amazing. I passed two paddlers almost immediately on entering who declared the lake ‘full of weeds’ and ‘smelly’. It was in fact, delightful. The ‘weeds’ were full of birds – the most remarkable of which was brown/black with a yellow head and white wing badges when they flew. They were protecting nests in the reed beds and were none too happy with me being there. There were also many swift-like birds. Could they have been purple martins? There were also loons, although I did not see them, and what looked like an active beaver house. I returned to Clear Lake, ate my lunch on the beach, and paddled back to the boat launch. My arms felt like noodles – the trip was 3 hours with quite a bit of wind – but I felt so lucky to be able to do this. The images will stay with me for a long time. Such peace and well-being.

A woman on the beach offered to help me put the kayak on the car – I always seem to have an offer of help, which is lovely. She retired to the area 10 years ago, and lives here full time. She was rigging a Hobiecat sailboat and sailed off into the lake – there was an excellent breeze for sailing.

She mentioned that there were very few bugs because they’ve had dry summers for two years. Normally, we would have been dealing with bugs down at the beach. Since I left Ontario, there have been very few bugs. In a way I feel lucky. But it is also worrying.

I’d like to try and identify the birds I saw today and will post when I figure it out. I’ve also seen magpies (crows with managers), and there is a white throated sparrow who has been assigned to my campsite to make sure no one gets too bored. He starts at about 430 AM and continues throughout the day. I’m not sure how he finds time to eat. John, he’d give your wrens a run for their money! Ravens, crows, gulls, terns make up the rest of the birds I’ve seen here.

As for flowers, the campsites have wild roses, a shrub which looks a lot like salal but isn’t, and yesterday I saw a yellow lady’s slipper which was just finished blooming.

Laying low this afternoon. Working on my tapestry. Reading. I started to feel guilty about spending the afternoon sleeping and hanging out at my campsite, and then I decided that since I’m retired I can do what I like! I wake every morning promptly at 530, but then realize that I don’t have to get up. It’s a nice feeling. I sleep about 9 hours each night and nap in the afternoon. It’s bliss. And my sleep is full of dreams, which it never was before. I have only the haziest notion of them the next morning, but I think it’s a healthy sign.

Tomorrow I leave Manitoba and head to eastern Saskatchewan where I’ll find somewhere to spend the night and then arrive at Buffalo Pound PP on Friday for the long weekend. I’ll have to shop for groceries – things are getting a bit sparse. I still have not had any fresh strawberries – they aren’t ready here yet! Asparagus is just coming on. None of the small grocery stores have local produce and when I asked someone about that they said it’s because there isn’t any ready yet.  Perhaps as I move south, things will improve. Not that I’m suffering. Apparently Hawkins Cheesies are widely available!