Before beginning this next mini adventure, I have to share my little troupe of barn kittens………eagerly headed for their breakfast table (the greenhouse…!!)
The early Alberta winter weather has held us captive at home for longer than we have become accustomed to, forcing us to be relatively inactive.
The weather ‘broke’…. well…… it warmed up to -3 Celsius…so we took advantage and escaped the driveway (it has spent much of the last few weeks buried under drifting snow…!!) and headed for Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park.
Since we were there last, and been quite enthralled by this beauty, we had been keen to get out and see it in snow.
It did not disappoint.
The access roads were well ploughed, but there were no other visitors on this particular day……not of the human kind at least..!!
On arrival there were a couple of Mule deer quietly grazing by the visitor centre. The doe was completely unfazed by our presence, and we were able to walk right to her without her fleeing.
A few steps further and a hare hopped across the path and sat by the bush to have some p0rtrait work done.
As we headed down into the Hoodoo’s that wonderful ‘Big Sky’ was particularly impressive as the sun began its descent in the early afternoon.
The crisp snow on the landscape also held the patterns of the various local critters from hares to deer to bird prints……and then our two sets of people prints on top of them.
The campground is not open in the winter, so we took the opportunity to investigate a little.
Down to the beach there is a path marked on the map…..but with the snow covering the river and the banks…I voted not to try going that way.
At the other end we were able to get out along the top of the bank….we saw beaver prints in the snow….but no beavers…..
Now here is a thought…..you can canoe this whole stretch of the river…..not in the winter I’m guessing tho…!!!
We did the very first part of the Hoodoo trail that we had hiked previously…..but with the snow covering those rock steps……again…it did not seem prudent to hike too far in….maybe another day if we start earlier and bring walking poles…….
On the way home we had to stop for the photographer to get some shots of an old barn we had admired just off highway 501.
…and a little futher on….a whole flock of Pronghorns were close enough that we shrieked to a halt to try and capture some images of them….they were too skittish though and started moving off as soon as we stopped………cool looking creatures……!!! Very distinctly different to the mule deer…
The backdrop of the Sweetgrass mountains adds that other-worldly feel to the place !!!! Its like living in a scenic calendar…!!!!
Extra Pix
OsteoPraxis on the road 