Red Rock Coulee

On Saturday morning we packed up and carried on to Red Rock Coulee.  This is a Provincial Natural Area south of Medicine Hat.  There are no facilities here..., no campsite, no outhouses... nothing.  Open fires are not allowed due to the usual dry and windy conditions.  We often camp here, just parking our trailer at the end of the road.

My brother Greg and his family were spending the long weekend camping at Dinosuar Provincial Park.  On Saturday they had headed over to Red Rock Coulee for the day.  They had forgotten that it was nearly a two hour drive from Dinosaur to Red Rock, but nonetheless they were there when we arrived.  We went hiking together, and they hung around until after dinner, before hitting the road back to Dinosaur and their campsite.  

Then on Sunday the girls and I went out hiking after breakfast.  Margarit and Hailey set off down the Coulee, while the two younger girls and I went for a walk up into the boulder field.  We spent the late morning wandering around and making a few photographs.

We all met up back at the trailer around 2:30 in the afternoon.  We had hoped to be able to have lunch and a bit of a break, and then head out for more hiking.  But some storm clouds rolled in and soon the spit turned into a drizzle, and then an outright rain.  So we ended up hanging around the trailer for the rest of the day and into the evening... having supper together, and watching a movie.

When we got up the next morning the rain had quit, but it was very muddy.  Eventually we headed out for some more hiking.  Anna decided to stay in the trailer by herself and read.  Hailey and I set off down the coulee, and Margarit and Helena went out for a shorter hike.  Hailey and I got quite a ways down the coulee and did some exploring together.  I took a few photographs with my view camera, and we just did some poking around.  We came across some gumbo evening primrose in bloom, a large abandoned raptor nest, as well as a little garter snake...

It was clear and sunny all morning, and getting very warm by the time we had to trudge up the slope out of the coulee.  By the time we eventually got up to the top, the clouds were beginning to build, making for some much more interesting photographs.

When we eventually got back up to the trailer, we had some lunch, packed up and hit the road.  We had a long drive all the way back to Edmonton.  I needed to be back at the office, and the girls back at school in the morning.  We drove pretty much all afternoon and evening, and the clouds at this point had built up to scattered showers.  We drove in and out of rain pretty much all the way home.  We made a brief stop at the Carolside Reservoir east of Drumheller and found another old playground.  But, this place was just infested with midges and the minute we stopped the truck and got out everything and everyone was covered with these non-biting, mosquito like insects.  

Once we got back into the truck after this stop we pretty much just pounded the pavement home.  A brief stop for fuel and something to eat in Stettler, and then to dump our holding tanks at a rest stop.  When we finally rolled up in front of the house it was already approaching 10:00PM.  We quickly unpacked what we needed to, and got the kids off to bed.  A very tiring but very enjoyable long weekend and I sure was relieved that I pushed myself to go, and did not bail out like last year.