Come Walk With Us on the Trans Canada Trail (TCT)

Although today was quiet, involving a leisurely exploration of Danielson Provincial Park and a short hike to the end of the Trans Canada Trail' s land section in this stretch, it turned into a bit of a roller-coaster, and left us with food for thought. It began with a beautiful sunny morning, during which we listened to the chorus of coyotes drifting across the lake, the calls of Common Loons out on the water, and the sharp, high pitched hiss of Cedar Waxwings in the conifers behind the tent.  They were soon joined by the loud demands of the young Merlins, the busy, friendly chatter of Black-capped Chickadees, and the toy-horn honking of a White-breasted Nuthatch.  Yellow Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Tennessee Warblers, American Robins, Eastern Kingbirds, and a Veery also moved about in the shrubs around the campsite.  After breakfast we set off down the flat grassy trail that took us north through the park, roughly paralleling the shore of Lake Diefenbaker and head...

This morning began with one of those incredible prairie sunrises, when the sky turns rosy pink and gold as the red disk of the rises above the horizon.  Before leaving the quiet Village of Elbow we took one last walk down its wide main street. Along the way we stopped to examine the sod house, which is part of the Elbow and District Museum.   In the early 1900's wood was so scarce on the prairies that settlers often built their first homesteads out of sod. It was fascinating to see how the exterior, which was constructed from rectangular bricks of earth, contrasted with the period furnishings of polished wood, the lace, fine tablecloths, and porcelain dishes inside. At the edge of town we stopped for Sean to photograph the well-preserved white and red grain elevator, which was lit up by the morning sun.  As with many of the historic wooden grain elevators we've passed in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the roof was covered in Rock Doves.  Their soft cooing always seems to...