Labor Day Long Weekend on the Forestry Trunk Road

Like the Victoria Day long weekend back in the spring, I was really indecisive about heading away for the Labor Day long weekend this year.  I have been down to the badlands so many times this year that I didn't want to return that way again.  I had been planning to head out to the front ranges of the Rockies, along the Forestry Trunk Road.  But the weather forecast was not great with cool temperatures, overcast skies and a good chance of rain.  I hummed and hawed all week prior to the weekend and finally decided to give it a try.  With all the indecision I was not ready to head out after work on Friday.  So, I ended up working the full day Friday, packing up on Friday night, and heading out an Saturday morning.  Margarit and the two younger girls decided to stay home and catch up on some chores around the house.  My oldest daughter Hailey decided to head out with me and we made plans for a Dad and daughter weekend.

We didn't really get out onto the road until late morning.  We made a brief stop in Rocky Mountain House to top up the fuel tank and to get some lunch.  Then we headed southwest towards the Forestry Trunk Road.  It was fairly busy out in the mountains and all the good spots along the road had trailers and campers in them.  We eventually made our way up to the campsite at Ram Falls Provincial Park.  This is a great little campsite with over 50 spots.  Like so many of the other campsites in the mountains this one was built many years ago, when the RV's were not as large as they are today.  There are only a few sites that are big enough for my trailer to fit in to.  In recent years the management staff at this campsite have kept some of the loops closed, and this time was no exception.  Of the five loops at the campsite, only two were open.  And of course the ones that were closed were the ones with the larger pull through sites.  We were unable to find a site big enough to spot the trailer in so we ended up parking in a gravel driveway near the entrance to the campsite.

This was very annoying and frustrating and all day Saturday I was expecting park staff to come around and ask me to move.  But, I paid the camping fee and marked ourselves down as being in the overflow.  Late in the evening another camper came around, thinking that I was park staff, and asked me some questions about how to register.  Other than that no one bothered us.

After we had settled down and set up the trailer, Hailey and I went for a walk.  First we hiked over to the bench that overlooked the falls and the canyon.  Then we continued down the hill to the South Ram River.  We explored down on the gravel bars beside the bridge and looked for rocks and fossils.

This area had been hit hard by flooding in 2013 and I understand that the bridge was damaged.  These were the same floods that did all the damage further south in Calgary, Canmore, High River, etc.  The Forestry Trunk Road was closed for most of last summer.  Now there was a big government sign announcing the bridge rehabilitation project.  I had a marker in my pocket and thought it would be great to deface the reference to our corrupt former premier Allison Redford.  But, when I got closer to the sign, I found that someone had beat me to it.

By this time it getting to be evening so we headed back over to the trailer and put together some food for supper.  We had no fire pit, and there was no firewood available in the campsite, so we turned in early.  It got quite cold that first night and I figure the temperature must have dipped down to around 4 or 5 degrees Celsius.  The furnace in the trailer ran just about non-stop all night long.

We slept in the next morning and awoke to overcast skies and cool temperatures.  After breakfast we headed out for a walk.  We wanted to cross the river and make our way down stream to the rim of the falls.  This waterfall is fairly impressive as the river plunges about 60 feet over a sandstone ledge into a deep canyon.  But, in order to get down to the falls we had to negotiate our way over a steep cliff like exposure of shale.  We crossed the bridge and attempted to climb up the side of this cliff.  At first it was fairly easy as the shale was loose and we could dig our feet in and get some traction.  But, once we got about half way up there was very little footing, and it was difficult to continue climbing, particularly with a heavy camera pack on my back and a tripod in my hands.  We got nervous as we looked down at how long a slide it would be if we lost our footing.  So, we turned around and headed back down the steep slope to the road.

Instead we explored along the shore on the north side of the river.  More steep banks prevented us from getting all the way to the falls on this side.  We poked around in the forest along the river and found some cool mushrooms.  In a couple of locations we cleared away some of the grass, deadfall and debris and photographed a couple of these mushroom clumps.  We also took a few shots along the edge of the river.  Towards late afternoon we made our way back up to the trailer for something to eat and a break.

This time, while we were at the trailer, the conversation officers came over and tried to get us to move.  I argued that there were no available sites large enough for our trailer.  I suggested that if they opened up the loops with the larger pull through sites that we would move.  For some reason these sites seem to be sacred.  I have been at this campsite at least once per year, with the exception of last year when the road was closed due to flooding, and for as long as I can remember these loops have been locked up.  And so they were to remain.  The officers reluctantly let me stay put, but asked me to check and see if any larger sites had been vacated and to move if we could.  That was the last we saw of them.

Hailey and I headed out for another walk over to the edge of the canyon overlooking the falls.  Here we made a few more photographs before eventually heading back over to the trailer and getting the barbecue going.  We got some steaks on the grill and put together a big meal for ourselves.  After supper we watched a show on the DVD player for a while, and eventually turned in to bed.

The next morning, after a breakfast of bacon and eggs, extra bacon, hold the eggs, we set out for yet another walk.  This morning was even cloudier, cooler and breezier than the day before.  We crossed the road and headed upstream along the river.  The canyon was deep and we didn't find any spots that afforded easy access to the river.  We set up the big camera and Hailey took a couple of shots of another clump of mushrooms.  Then we headed back down the road to the bridge and explored the gravel bars again.  Hailey found a really cool bear skull down along the river.  I found a couple of small chunks of fossilized ammonite.  Finally we headed back over to the trailer.  We did the dishes, packed things up and hit the road for home.  It was around 4:00PM before we finally got rolling.  It was an uneventful drive out of the mountains.  Around Rocky Mountain House we drove into a rain shower that we followed pretty much all the way home to the city.  We arrived home just after 7:00PM and had a late supper.  The girls were all reluctantly preparing for their first day of school the next day.  Hailey will be starting her first day of Junior High.  Annelise moves up to Grade 4, and Helena starts Grade 1.