Daylong excursions are one thing when it comes to the big city or the big buy; for one thing, they can be settled within an hour鈥檚 away from here or less.
But for one 鈥� long 鈥� day, my daylong journey began with one fleeting morning.聽 Wednesday, March 3, a day that no one else seemed to have anything going on.聽 At least not according to me and my work calendar, so it all fell into place seemingly at chance.聽 I had a day to do鈥hat?聽 Stay on my computer all day?聽 Stick around at home?聽 Watch the same old TV programs that grabbed my attention any other day?聽 No, thanks.
This was going to be the day that I escaped, albeit with a laundry list of to-dos.聽 I have expectations, though they are somewhat simplistic based on animal evidence.聽 I have an idea of what I won鈥檛 see and what I will see.聽 It鈥檚 really a day built just around the 鈥榃hat If?鈥� machine to see what I see and to see what I don鈥檛 see, in time.
See, I鈥檓 looking to trudge up to Prince Albert National Park for a day, a mimic, a morsel of time before the hours in the day become so incredibly limited that I come home before I鈥檝e seen anything.聽 Life in Outlook and Conquest has become such a standard that it barely needs repeating, and it feels like I鈥檝e never been up here in so long that鈥y God.聽 Can it really be that long?聽 Seven months?聽 That鈥檚 how long it鈥檚 been since I鈥檝e been up there, yet it bears repeating because the last seven months have felt, well, just that.聽 LONG.
Vehicle.
Check.
Case.
Check.
Two cameras.
Check.
Okay, let鈥檚 hit the open road.
I鈥檝e never let myself believe that I鈥檓 headed somewhere new until I鈥檝e reached the outer limits of Saskatoon, and that鈥檚 what I鈥檝e done here.聽 It鈥檚 strange, so much traffic coming INTO the city, yet only a thumbful deciding out is the way they鈥檙e headed today.聽 I guess it comes with the day I鈥檝e chosen.聽 If I decided to do this on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday?聽 Forget it.聽 I鈥檇 be joined by about two or three dozen vehicles.聽 But because this is a Wednesday, it鈥檚 all good.聽 Extremely limited skies seeking the north, which is just what I wanted.
Coming across the strangest thing as soon as I leave the city heading north.聽 Is it?聽 Really?聽 I swear, it鈥檚 true, the body heat is going up.聽 I would have thought that to be false heading this far north.聽 But no, it鈥檚 true.聽 So true that in fact I have to take my jacket off in the vehicle and turn down the controls.聽 This IS Saskatchewan, is it not?聽 Turns out it is.聽 Just much, much warmer than originally thought.
And much warmer than originally seen.聽 You see, I鈥檓 coming across nothing but snow-covered roads on the way up to the park.聽 So much so that a good handful of that snow has decided to make its home on the back of my vehicle.聽 I guess I鈥檓 going to have to park and scrape it off.
Besides that, a park full of intrigue and adventure.聽 I drive my way through the trees and find them to be momentarily featured.聽 I use that word momentarily because I know these trees have a time stamp.聽 All of these broken ones seem to have one.聽 It鈥檚 incredible to see how many of them are snapped right in half waiting to be discarded, though I know all of them seem to have a circle ending their life.聽 I use 鈥榚nding鈥� in a way that is not so ending.
As I make my way further up, I see something that is so uniquely north.聽 Three fully-grown elk munching on some trees right beside the highway.聽 Why, these animals don鈥檛 care.聽 They spend as much time to themselves as they do with people like me. 聽So even as I鈥檓 doing the, 鈥淲ow, these animals are incredible!鈥� routine, they don鈥檛 seem to care.聽 This is so cool.
I go on, further into the woods.聽 I take a steer out of it because there just isn鈥檛 anything worth seeing here.聽 In the summer, mind you, of course there is lots to see up here in Waskesiu.聽 In the winter 鈥� not so much.聽 So long, community!
I take a look at everything that is offered to me in Waskesiu.聽 Not much.聽 There鈥檚 a lot not 小蓝视频 offered right now because it鈥檚 a few days into March as opposed to, say, July.聽 So, I just keep on moving.
It鈥檚 hard not to notice all the little things that make this place worth the drive.
I see great imagery that I make sure to capture.聽 Can I see them at home?聽 Yes and no.
I see a road that is inviting me to drive, drive and further drive, but I know that there is only so many hours in one day.聽 Those unknown kilometres are just going to have to wait.
I make a stop at Kingsmere Road.聽 The large Waskesiu Lake is right behind me.聽 I鈥檝e driven for a handful of hours and it鈥檚 time to eat.聽 But hold up, what鈥檚 this?聽 Literally right beside my SUV is a handful of large prints, so I document them.聽 Easy to see what this was 鈥� a wolf.聽 It isn鈥檛 seen around here this time, I鈥檝e just missed this animal.聽 But one day鈥�
Although I鈥檓 having a hell of a time just enjoying the outdoors the way they were meant to be enjoyed, I find I鈥檓 having a limited time, so to speak.聽 I look upwards and the sun is starting to take a low dip downward.聽 So I take the time to capture all I see and all I can before I lose the daylight.
It isn鈥檛 long before I see all I can see before the daylight takes a dip.聽 Before long, I鈥檓 taking off and it鈥檚 as if I snap my fingers and I鈥檓 already back at Saskatoon fueling up.
It鈥檚 like today didn鈥檛 even happen.聽 But it did.
