(No) Bears and Big Things

This weekend, Heinrich and I decided to venture into a provincial park I had never even heard of before, although it is just over two hours away: Fort Assiniboine Sandhills Wildlife Provincial Park. (The fact that I had never heard of this is somewhat embarrassing, considering I’ve lived here for most of the past 27 years, and he’s been here for 3 ½.)

After stocking up on bear spray (we were heading into “bear country,” after all—or so I was told), we headed out. We stopped in Barrhead to check out their annual street festival before continuing on our way. Regrettably, I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of Barrhead’s blue heron (whose name is Aaron!), but I did manage to snap a photo with the world’s LARGEST wagon wheel and pickax in Fort Assiniboine! (I LOVE seeing random big things! Lucky for me, Alberta’s full of them!) Fort Assiniboine is a quaint little town (or hamlet, officially) that has maintained much of its fort-ness. (It’s pretty much just like Fort Edmonton without the role players.)

World’s largest wagon wheel and pickax!

Then, it was on to the Sandhills! Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly to more outdoorsy people), even though this area is so close to Edmonton and prairie Alberta, it’s very densely wooded. We managed to spot a moose on the side of the road (excuse the iPhone picture taken through a pair of binoculars! I now know how to zoom in, so future photos will hopefully be less fuzzy!), and once we got to the staging area (where all the trails begin), we were again warned that we were in bear country.

Hi, Moose!

Note the bullet holes through the sign. Hmm...

Heinrich handed me my can of bear spray that I was not to let out of my hand until we were back at the car. (Better safe than sorry, yes, but I sure hope I wouldn't need it in the outhouse!)

Bear spray and coffee: the makings of a perfect Saturday!

Anyway, we were the only ones hiking that day (presumably, as there were no other cars in the parking lot), and we set out on what began as a sandy trail (the ground became firmer as we walked). The trail was roughly 8 km long, and we saw some breathtaking moss that carpeted the forest floor and a regal heron perched on a rock in a stream. We even saw the white flash of a white-tailed deer that darted past us a few metres away. However, the closest we got to seeing a bear was a collection of relatively fresh-looking paw prints in the sand. I’m not convinced that’s a terrible thing (since we were the only ones in the whole park), but we are always on the lookout to spot wildlife and always hopeful to see some of Canada’s big game. (Heinrich, on the other hand, has set a goal for himself of seeing a bear standing up, since he’s already seen some black bears walking around this year. Me, I’m fine seeing a bear on all fours, far, far away.)

Eerie white moss

Bear tracks

The trail ended up taking longer than we had anticipated (in part the result of me dragging my feet for the last kilometre. A hungry girl does not the most motivated hiker make!), so we decided to head home. After going on a short ferry ride (on the Klondike ferry, which is part of the historic Klondike trail that led all the way to the Yukon. Apparently, it’s also one of the last cable-drawn ferries in Alberta!), we were on our way. I think a rerun trip is necessary to explore more of this Klondike trail and of course, to photograph the iconic Aaron!