Moving on Tomorrow

Well here it is Monday, the end of the Labor Day week-end. The highways will be a mad house today so we are staying here until tomorrow morning when we leave for Elkwater in the Alberta side of Cypress Hills.

 On Saturday morning we found a great grocery store right here in Fort Macleod called Family Foods. The meat looked like it was local, there were lots of bakery items including whole grain breads of several types, and local produce. We were able to buy green and yellow beans even this late in the year. Great service here too as our groceries were carried out to the truck for us.
After lunch, we drove the 3 km to Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump. It was really crowded as the weather was warm and sunny and although we have visited this place five years ago it was good to be back. It is a well-designed center with a World Heritage Site designation. The center is built into the side of the cliff next to the actual buffalo jump that 1st nations people used for thousands of years. The hills are known as the Porcupine hills and afford a view of the southern short grass prairie that is unparalleled.
Feeling energetic, we walked a trail along the foot of the cliff, where the buffalo that went over the cliff were butchered and prepared for the long winter ahead. Just about every bit of the buffalo was used for something. Food, clothing, shelter, utensils, just about everything the plains Indians needed to survive.
The Blackfoot, which consist of three or four clans, are the traditional 1st nation in this area. Their territory used to stretch from Montana to central Alberta. Traces of human activity go back hundreds of centuries long before even the Blackfoot.
At the beginning of the trail was a posted bear warning, along with coyote and cougar warnings. Have to carry the bear banger all the time out here!
Saturday was the last of the warm weather. Sunday dawned with a cold windy rain. The temperatures never got above 7C so we stayed inside and caught up on cooking, baking and cleaning. It did clear up in the evening and we were able to go for a walk, although it was cold and windy. We talked to a couple from Switzerland, who pulled in late in the afternoon and they had driven through snow on Route 22 “the cowboy trail”. Sunday night was cold, probably the coldest we have had this trip. We woke up and had to put the furnace on at 5:30 AM. With the amount of moisture that came off the roof in the morning sunshine, it must have been covered in frost. On the way to the washroom  we heard coyotes howling and yelping to each other from two different locations. Don't know if the cool morning had anything to do with this or not!
Today is a bit warmer than yesterday but not short sleeve shirt time. Quite cloudy but not raining and the temperature is about 12C. We are packing up today to leave tomorrow morning for Cypress Hills. Weather for the next few days will be marginal, but we’ll have a great time! It might a few days before we can post again as we will be in some of the more remote areas of Saskatchewan.
Quote for the day:

There are too many people, and too few human beings.
  - Robert Zend

cheers

P & n