Saskatchewan 2008 - William River and Lake Athabasca
Our canoe trip in 2008 took us down the William River from Hale Lake, through the Athabasca sand dunes, into Lake Athabasca, and finally to Cantara Lake, flying in and out from Buffalo Narrows. As usual in northern Saskatchewan we enjoyed warm water, sunshine, solitude, beautiful scenery, nice campsites, and not too many bugs. This route required lining or wading quite a few long, big rock, very shallow rapids and river-wide ledges over the first few days, and later offered some very interesting runable rapids as well....one of which wasn't, but the swimmers survived the adventure. The 2,000 square kilometers of the Athabasca sand dunes are stunning, and we enjoyed total solitude for the length of the river.
BC 2007 -- Nation Lakes
Our canoe trip in 2007 took us down the Nation River system, through Tsayta, Indata, Tchentlo, and Chuchi lakes.. The start and finish of this trip are road accessible, but the shuttle is very long (total rock and dirt logging road distance driven was about 600 km) and fairly rough in places. We stretched the trip to ten days, though with good weather it could easily be completed in five. We encountered a reasonable assortment of sunshine and rain, some windy days and as many calm ones, cool mornings (4-5 C), beautiful scenery, nice campsites, and not too many bugs. The water was cold and clear and the fish were very cooperative. The river sections were at worse an easy Class 1, with a few log jams and sweepers that needed a bit of care or a dragover. .
Waterton
Our favourite place in Southern Alberta is Waterton National Park, a gem that extends northward from Glacier National Park in the US. Most weekends in the summer find us exploring its scenic trails, and some of them we also ski in the winter. The park trails are not heavily used - outside the peak summer season we'll often spend a day without meeting another party. Here's a selection of views and flowers.
Lethbridge
Lethbridge has been our home since 1997. The scenery is a bit more subtle than the rockies, and the palette is more gold than green. However the open skies and the surprises of the river valleys have made us converts, and mountain valleys and forests now feel quite closed in....trees really do block the view. Of course Waterton and the Rockies are always on the horizon, and just 90 minutes away, so when we need a change of scene it's easy to arrange.
Family