The Team Sherpa Blog

My father and I had a day free, so we decided head out to Elk Island national park. An oasis here on the prairies of Western Canada, Elk Island is a special place. Surprisingly, this extension of Bevear Hills was originally considered undesirable land. Early and contemporary settlers of Alberta deemed this area unfit for cultivation and ever since, it has remained relatively untouched. The terrain is hilly- we call it “knob and kettle”. This whole swath of land was at one time covered by massive, kilometer thick sheets of ice. As they moved, or receded, they scraped a series hollows into the landscape that would later become small lakes. Surrounding these lakes are endless hillocks and hills covered in Aspen trees laced with endless trails. Amongst the highs and lows of the park live hundreds of free roaming bison, and this is what draws me to Elk Island over and over again.

With Buffalo on my mind all week, I was determined that we should actively seek them out. There are times in this park when you turn a blind corner, and there they are: a huge herd of wild beasts, steaming in the winter wind. At other times, they are nowhere to be found- no small feat for an animal the size of a van. The weather was warm, just a degree or two below zero. In the morning we started out tramping off trail through the week old snow, taking in the rising sun and basking in the simple array of colour that cast down on our prairie landscape in the early hours. A friendly park ranger had told us we would probably see the bison around a certain lake, but after further exploration we spotted them far off on the horizon sharply silhouetted a glaring mid-January sky. As we hiked the rolling, open country, every footfall seemed to be answered by a different bird call and every strike of the pole was echoed by the squirrels. Wildlife is ubiquitous in these parts, if you take the time to wait and watch for it. We had also been warned that cougars have recently moved back into the area.

We trudged over the fields between small but dense clutches of aspen trees, and as we got closer to the snow seemed to get deeper. It took us a while to get within full view of the herd, and I regretted a bit not having brought my snowshoes and knee high gaiters - it would have saved us a lot of time, effort, and wet pants! Finally we crested the last small ridge, and just about 100m ahead of us was the main herd of plains buffalo. These animals are large and it’s easy to see why they were at one time almost hunted into extinction. They were the mainstay of the plains peoples in times both ancient and contemporary, and yearly migrations of the peoples were often bases on where the bison could be found. Creatures of lore and other-worldly proportion, it is clear why the site of a lone bison on the prairies have captivated humans for so long. After a few quick photos, we turned around and headed back the way we had come, literally retracing our steps until we hit a well trodden path leading back the way we came. As the sun receded unto the surrounding woods the path became a zebra print of long aspen shadows sharply contrasted against the orange sun-reflective snow. We drove back into the city just as the moon was rising, and walked into my mother’s kitchen just as she was pulling a fresh loaf of barley bread out of the oven. After a long day of hiking, that bread was the best baked treat I’ve ever eaten!

After a whole day of hiking through wet snow at temperatures only a few degrees below zero I am feeling more confident in my footwear; these types of short excursions are a great testing ground for proving new gear will help and not hinder me on longer excursions. Elk Island Park does not contain the most prestigious or difficult of treks nor is it restricted for the most advanced of hikers, but it is a paradise for weekend adventures looking for an easy escape. It is the type of place that gives the long distance hiker a testing ground for new skills and techniques, for putting new gear and footwear through the grinder and finding out what will be fit for times when the last thing you want to think about are your feet.