Thursday, May 6th we once more woke up to…..
Snow! The first day it was novel…..now it is getting tiresome! This is the 6th day we have been here at Dinosaur Provincial Park – don’t get me wrong – we like this park….but this trip it hadn’t even been in our plans and we’d yet to get anywhere that had been……
So the decision was made, snow or not, today we would make the run into Brooks (approx. 100 km round trip), do the laundry, stock up on groceries, come back here for one more night….and then the next day, come what may, head north….
one more snowy campsite picture ~ the drive into Brooks was, to put it mildly, interesting…..as soon as we crested the top of the hill out of the park we were greeted by blowing snow and small drifts across the road…..I was all for turning around and going back but I think Ernie had had enough of being held prisoner by the weather….we had snow rated tires, we have a 4 x 4…..time to bite the bullet….
the conditions once we got to the main road leading to the highway….what was interesting was the number of birds on the road….I guess the road was the only clear place…..I even managed to get a picture of…..
Male Ring-neck Pheasant! For me that almost made it all worth it! There were also lots of Wilson’s Snipe, either on the road or perched on fence posts….the first Snipe we’d seen on the trip.
Brook’s was reached without incident, a Laundromat was found with ‘Tizzy Lizzie’s’ (our G.P.S.) somewhat misguided help, groceries were purchased, phone calls made to family so they knew we were still alive, bought some non – prescription sun glasses at Wal-Mart (being optimistic the sun would shine again one day and I hate walking, while wearing prescription glasses), had lunch and with chores done, we headed back to the park. By this time, most of the snow had disappeared.
back to the spot we had originally stayed in…..and surprise! this night we are not alone. First a Class B (Camper Van) pulled in….these people had been trapped in Waterton where they verified that the snow, indeed, had been ‘thigh high’. A little later our ‘twin’ arrived….exact same Citation Camper on a White Dodge 3500….a rental, this couple, from Switzerland were on their way to ‘Drive the Dempster’ – It’s a small world and oh, how I envied them!
an after supper walk up the road and you can see just the tiniest bit of snow remains on the top of the rock formations….
As usual, the evening also brought the Mule Deer to graze on the grass.
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