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

As we set out this morning we were greeted with a clear blue sky that was tinged with pink from the rising sun.  Overhead a continuous stream of Snow Geese stretched from one horizon to the other, forming a living, moving, glittering band.  Pockets of silvery blue frost clung to the grasses in the shadows and dips as long as they could, but they were soon chased away by the warmth of the rising sun.  As golden light flooded the fields and our long shadows stretched out before us on the gravel road, a female elk bounded off across the fields.  We felt lucky to be immersed in such a magical world.  Those first hours of the morning, when everything feels peaceful and quiet, are my favourite time of day.  We enjoyed a pleasant walk, passing pastures filled with curious cows, grazing Canada Geese, and Snow Geese looking like drifts of snow.  Inviting tracks and curving lane ways wound off into forests still bright with the yellows and oranges of fall. ...

Today was another long day on the Trans Canada Trail , but it brought a few interesting changes.  The walk out of North Battleford followed a beautiful paved bike path alongside Territorial Rd for a few kilometres, which had beautiful shade trees and benches along its length.  After that we followed the usual gravel road north and then part of the highway to Hamlin, which is 14 km north of North Battleford.  In Hamlin we passed another historic plaque for a school, and then walked by a busy depot with a row of modern grain elevators lined up along the railway tracks.  A stream of trucks was driving into the depot, dropping off loads of grain, and a long string of railway cars was parked alongside, ready to receive the bounty.  Thankfully this part of the morning’s trek was uneventful! As we turned north again, heading towards Meota, we began to see the first of many large, industrial plants sitting out in the harvested fields.  Indeed throughout much of the...