Day 34 Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park

Into every life a little rain must fall. Today it fell in buckets. It started last night just as our fire was ending. There was no need to water the fire before bed, Mother Nature looked after that in spades. I went out in the rain to check because I am always careful with campfires, but especially now with everything (especially) Manitoba has been through. Despite not having done anything except let it burn down; I couldn’t stir up an ember with the rain that was falling. It did not let up through the night and we woke up to continuing heavy downpours. While it’s never a welcome sight on a camping trip, I can’t bring myself to begrudge the west some much needed rain.

So, we did the inside stuff… reading, games, crochet and whiled away the time until early afternoon when there was enough of a clearing to go out exploring the warren of trails that twist and wind through the park. We did lament that now that it’s time to go, even without the benefit of a useful map, we’ve got the lay-of-the-land. The trails were mostly private hikes – other people have sense enough to stay in out of the rain, maybe? The verdant green and sweet smell of a post-rain forest were lovely as we walked along for several kilometres before the rain threatened once again and we retreated to the cozy, dry trailer.

Even in the middle of the day, it is so dull the sensor lights are on.

What the well dressed dog wears for a hike today.

Now anyone who knows me, even a little bit, knows I LOVE to read… and create… and play games, but I can only sit still for so long. While we may not be able to go out on foot exploring, we can go for a drive and cover some of the rest of the park we haven’t been able to see. Everyone came along for the ride, but there may have been some fun poked at me for my enthusiasm to “get out and just see” in completely hopeless weather. Honestly, while far from an ideal day, I believe we made the best of it. Tomorrow we are Alberta bound!

We drove through the other campgrounds, the cottage areas, and to the lookout at Bald Butte.
According to the sign this spectacular location, 1,300m above sea level allows you to see for 100km.
We could barely see the trees in front of us - no wonder they laughed at me!