Monday, June 20, 2011

Saskatchewan Preview...

... if Minnesota is the "Land of Ten Thousand Lakes", then Saskatchewan is the land of ten million lakes... and ten billion mosquitoes.

IMGP2953

This photo was taken at midnight from our campground at Lac La Ronge. It's so far north, that the sun only sets between 11PM and 3AM. As you can see, it's still crazy bright - even with the moon shining. The lake was so calm it looked like a mirror.

Saskatchewan 2011

This calm was in contrast to earlier in the day, when during our hike, we were attacked by this wild chicken. I guess it thought we were after its eggs while we were walking past its nest. Luckily, Ivy was able to talk it down, so we were able to walk past it, but it still escorted us a good hundred yards just to be sure.


You can't go to northern Sasketchewan without going on a boat, so that's what we did also, exploring the famous Churchill River. Saskatchewan's motto is Land of Living Skies, and you can see why in the above video. With the enormous lakes and completely flat terrain, the skies just go on forever.

IMGP3232

They also have beautiful boreal forests, this particular one in Prince Albert National Park...

IMGP3395

... unfortunately, the sheer number of mosquitoes greatly curtailed our enjoyment of them. To get an idea how many mosquitoes, the guy on the left is wearing a mesh mosquito jacket. About half the people we saw going deep into the woods had similar gear on. My brother was only with us for about half the time, and he counted 170 visible bites when he got home. Yuck.

2011-06-20_22-20-36_386

Which brings me to possibly the greatest souvenir I have ever acquired. The above, my friends, is a beaver pelt. More on the fascinating story on how I came to own this particular item in the future...

1 comment: