James Stoness | Stoness Travel Blog

Saskatchewan’s Prince Albert National Park

Welcome to Prince Albert National Park, 1500 square miles of wilderness. When the government set aside the land in 1927, some considered it a waste of money. Why protect a special section of wilderness when there was so much?

It is fortunate that some people had the foresight to make the effort because where there was once endless wilderness, men have reduced it drastically. To the north, forest has been cut for pulpwood, and to the south new fields are checkerboarding their way right to the park boundaries.
Travellers heading west to the Canadian Rockies often miss one of Saskatchewan’s out of the way treasures.

Often, they try to cover the prairies as quickly as possible, tiring of the continuous rolling fields of grain and the occasional slough. Actually, these are quite scenic on their own, but if you head north past Saskatoon, you will encounter terrain you probably didn’t expect. Slowly small stands of aspen begin to intrude on the agricultural landscape. Hills appear, a few small lakes, and even exposed rocky cliffs.
Waskesiu is the centre of commerce in the park. Here you will find the major campgrounds, a few hotel room, and cabins, and a store and library. Lake Waskesiu provides lots of fish fun, boating and canoeing, and the big sandy beach at the townsite is a large hit with the children.

There are areas with more primitive camping. At the Narrows Campground they are trying an experiment with solar panels to see if solar panels and batteries can replace the expensive propane generator that has serviced the location for years. There is a small marina here, and the stored power will provide them with electricity, as well as pump water and light the restrooms.
Prince Albert NP has a wide variety of hiking trails that will take you from civilization into the backcountry where you can expect real wilderness experiences ranging from the crazy cry of the loon to the scream of a prowling lynx.
Of course, with its 1500 lakes, the park is a natural for canoeing. The canoe routes will lead you into some of denser wilderness regions of the park beyond the trails.
If you are looking for something a little less strenuous, stop at the golf course and play a few holes. You may even get a good look at a herd of elk having an afternoon rest on one of the fairways.

The next time you cross the prairies, take a little sidetrip. Head north of Saskatoon to Prince Albert National Park.
Happy RV’ing

For more than four decades James Stoness has travelled the roads of North America, photographing and writing about what he has seen. His travel articles and beautiful pictures have been published in several magazines and newspapers. He is also the author of five western novels. Visit his website at: www.stonesstravelguides.com

Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park

Basalt lava flow covered with mosses and lichens

Volcanoes are not choosy. They erupt wherever they can, and whenever they are ready. Two hundred and fifty years ago a terrible calamity hit the Nass River Valley in British Columbia. A volcano erupted and spewed lava down the hillside into the valley and then flowed northward to burn and bury two villages of the Nisga’a aboriginal tribe. The gases and the lava killed over 2,000 natives. The flow buried some of the original channel of the Nass River and pushed the entire river northward across the valley to its present location.

Today, a 179 square kilometre park is preserved as a memorial to those families who

perished. The park is managed together by the aboriginals and the Provincial Government. If you visit you will find a campground with 16 sites, and a colourful Visitor Centre which may have a resident artist on duty during the summer time. There are also maps of the track of the lava flow, and native artefacts.

Solid blocks of lava thrown upward as lava pushed

A guided tour will take you on a trail to the lava cone. The trail is moderately hard so wear good hiking boots for the 4 hour hike which takes you 3 kilometres over the lava to the cone.

If you travel from Terrace, heading north, you will see Lava Lake. This lake is the result of the lava damming the river. Often the river now flows under the lava and is out of sight in places. The basalt lava flow is extensive and very interesting to examine as you follow trails across the surface. Normally you would find basalt lava to be very black. In the lava field it has a surface coating of lichens and mosses and looks somewhat tan, or yellow. Do not leave the trail as it destroys this new vegetation which is slowly turning the basalt into soil.

Notice how the surface is often buckled, and heaved up in blocks. This is caused by the lava surface solidifying or freezing, while underneath, the lava was flowing quickly. This is similar to a stream with ice flows. Sometimes the flow would pushNisga’ upward, and blocks of basalt would flow and jam causing even more buckling of the crust. You will see

these areas and realize the tremendous

Hole in frozen lava caused when lava flowed around a living tree, which later rotted.

force and pressure required to redesign the landscape in this manner. If you follow Tree Mould Trail you will see several examples of this, and you will see a hole through the rock formed when lava flowed around a live tree and solidified. Later on the tree rotted leaving the round tunnel through the rock. Some blocks whose edges you can see show multiple holes. These were gas bubbles that were trapped in the freezing lava.

There are also attractive rapids and waterfalls.

The drive in from Terrace is very scenic with great views of the mountains. Then suddenly you are on top of the lava beds. Take time to go and visit the site of Canada’s last volcanic eruption.

Happy RVing!

A Tweedsmuir Lodge River Drift

In the Bella Coola Valley of western British Columbia, at a place called Stuie, rests the relaxing Tweedsmuir Park Lodge. For many years aboriginals came here to fish and hunt and declared it a nice place to rest. It certainly is that.

While relaxing may have been on the minds of the aboriginals, we wanted to see and do things. We wanted to see the great grizzly bears that come down from the mountains to eat the salmon going up the river to spawn. The lodge owners erected a

viewing stand where you can safely watch

the bears at work getting their food. When the bears are active, they put on quite a display, as they run and splash in the river to startle the salmon and then plunge their great heads into the water, usually coming up with a wiggling tasty fish.

We also wanted to get out on the river in one of their neat boats to do a river drift.

The great thing about a river drift boat is that the seats are padded, and comfortable. Another good thing, is that you don’t have to drive, either. A skilled oarsman makes sure we get downstream carefully, and as well, he tells us about the river, the salmon, the mountains, and the huge pile of debris along the river in places.

Apparently, heavy floods last year floated trees, roots and all, down into the main river where they actually jammed it. River people

are still cutting tree trunks and letting

them float away to open the channel. The water was low when we took our drift and we had to edge our way over some submerged trunks and shallow, gravel shoals.

The ambiance was terrific during our trip. In the distance the solid walls of the mountains pushed upward to penetrate the blue sky. On some of the taller peaks great glaciers stuck to the face of the mountain, and in other places huge cirque glaciers

were busy creating future majestic amphitheatres. On the water duck families acted as if we were not there and paddled right across our bow. They also seemed oblivious of the bald eagles resting on nearby branches, or swooping low over the water.

The eagles were waiting for the salmon. We were told that when the eagles start to arrive, the salmon won’t be far behind.

In fact, my wife Sylvia was the first to see

a small group working up stream. Our guide told us, a few today, many bunches tomorrow, and a river of fish by the weekend.

Sadly, we did not see any grizzly bears on this trip. We were perhaps a week too early. No salmon, no grizzlies!

The Tweedsmuir’s river drift is a chance to meet nature on her own terms. It’s relaxing, and that’s what the Tweedsmuir Lodge is all about.

Happy RVing!