The next morning I got up early and had breakfast. I packed up my gear and prepared to leave Estevan. It was rather cold at around -12C and the breeze was still blowing. It was dull and overcast and did not look as though the sun was going to break out. Here's what all the excitement was about, and the reason for my trip. This is a photograph from yesterday of the roof where my company will be installing seven new skylights. The openings are prepared and temporarily covered with plywood...
With my work responsibilities completed I now had a couple days for the return trip home and the opportunity to do a little winter photography on the prairies. Unfortunately the conditions were less than ideal and there was not much opportunity for shooting. I headed west from Estevan and basically paralleled the US border. Mostly I stuck to some secondary highways and small towns. A short distance west of Estevan the overcast skies turned to heavy fog and the road conditions deteriorated. I could only see a couple hundred yards ahead of me on the road, and about the same distance to either side. Except for subject matter that was close to the road, I really couldn't tell if there was anything worth stopping to photograph. At one point, near Minton, I came across a farm yard full of old machinery. Even though the sky was heavily overcast and the light very flat, everything was covered with a heavy layer of hoar frost. I got out with the big camera and took a few photographs. Conditions were not very pleasant as it was very damp and humid and there was that brisk breeze out of the east.
As I continued west road conditions got worse and I was beginning to wonder if I had made a mistake striking off in this direction. I only passed another vehicle about once every half hour and the farm yards were few and far between. The fog was getting pretty thick, and in places the road was quite snow covered. There were stretches of the highway that were gravelled, and even the portions that were paved were fairly rough with a lot of potholes, patches and frost heaves. Progress was slow to say the least...
I had hoped to be able to explore a bit in the area of the Big Muddy Badlands and perhaps do a little shooting. Conditions did not permit this. Although there were short stretches were the fog got thinner and the light came through a little, it was mostly pretty heavily overcast with not much in the way of photo opportunities.
I continued from Coronach on to Rock Glen. By this time conditions were improving. The skies were clearing, the sun was coming out and the temperature got up to about -6C. That damn breeze was still blowing out of the east though, and that made it feel colder than it really was. There was not a lot of snow left in this area. I decided to make a stop at the St. Victor Petroglyphs hoping that they might be visible without too much snow cover. The driveway up to the site was snow covered with no fresh vehicle tracks and the picnic area was shut down for the season. I parked my truck at the entrance and walked in. First I trudged through the heavy snow in the trees at the base of the outcrop. There there was a short boardwalk and viewing platform that provided a limited view of the rock outcrop. Unfortunately there was a chainlink fence completely enclosing the site and I couldn't get near it. I returned through the deep snow to my truck and then set out up the driveway to the upper viewing area. This circled quite a distance south and around eventually leading back to the top of the same outcrop that I had seen from below. I was rather cold from the wind by the time I finally got to the top. The interpretive panels indicated that the petroglyphs were carved in the flat top surface of the outcropping rock, rather than in vertical cliff faces as at most sites on the prairies. Much to my disappointment I found that the same chainlink fence surrounded the upper portion of this site and that I couldn't get any closer than about 25 feet to the rock surface. I could not even make out any of the petroglyphs despite the fact that the rock face was relatively free of ice and snow. What a waste of time... Note to self:... Don't bother coming back here...!!
For the rest of the afternoon I pretty much just pounded the pavement making my way mostly west and slightly north, back towards the Alberta border. At one point I came across an old abandoned bridge out in the middle of a grain field. Obviously the highway had once crossed a small creek and a railway line at this point. Now it was just a "Bridge to Nowhere". The evening light was very warm and clear by this time so I took my camera out and made a few photographs... probably the best of the day.
By the time I finished up here the day was coming to an end. I still had to find a place to stay and get something to eat and I was a long way out in the middle of nowhere. I decided to push on to Medicine Hat knowing that I would gain an hour on the clock when I crossed the border into Alberta. It was dark by the time I rolled in to Medicine Hat at around 7:00 mountain time. The first hotel I stopped at was busy, but had a couple of rooms left. I did not want a repeat of what had happened in Regina so I grabbed one of them. I unpacked my gear, went to a nearby restaurant for yet another steak dinner and then returned to my room to unwind and get some rest. Even though I had not driven all that far, I had been behind the wheel most of the day, and I was pretty much worn out.
No comments:
Post a Comment