Walls of Stone - Across the Canadian Rocky Mountains (Introduction)

"I grew up in Calgary and I got used to seeing the fronts of the Rocky Mountains along the western horizon, beckoning me." That's how I began my last story, but then I proceeded to go on about the prairies. This time I want to talk about the mountains. The mountains have always held a deep fascination for me and I am preparing for a hiking trip-of -a-lifetime that will take me across the Canadian Rocky Mountains, from east to west. Over the next year or so I will share the preparations, obstacles, technologies utilized and the story of my journey.

Childhood Dreams

My father did something when I was five years old that changed the lives of everyone in my family. He moved us from England to Canada and took a job in the oil business. I have heard Calgary called a "prairie town" many times, but to me that isn't what makes Calgary the city that it is. It is the close proximity to the Rocky Mountains from which it derives its fame. Being immigrants in a new land, both my parents were interested in exploring their new surroundings and the mountains were both close-by and novel.

We made trips to nearby Banff and Canmore. Waterton Lakes National Park soon became one of our favorites. I remember enjoying the many day hikes that we embarked on, but I would find the low-level hikes to be a bit disappointing.  The hoodoos near Canmore, the "paint pots" in Kootenay National Park, Crandall Lake in Waterton and the inevitable Johnston Canyon in Banff were all enjoyable walks, but I did find them to be a bit of a yawn... It wasn't until we took a family trip to Banff and beautiful Moraine Lake that I "got it".

I can remember exactly when it was that I fell in love with the mountains. That day we did a popular hike called "Larch Valley" which took us up into the subalpine and alpine zones above the forested valley. The unusual alpine larches were just some of the unfamiliar living things which inhabited this alien landscape. The sounds of marmots whistling form the scree slopes and the pikas scurrying about collecting vegetation, the sight of open meadows with rivulets of water, small tarns among the limestone boulders reflecting the blue sky and the sight of hanging glaciers across the valley all contributed to my growing sense of euphoria at every turn. I could see the switchback trail climbing to a high alpine pass (Sentinel Pass) and I wanted to push on, but my parents (perhaps wisely) said that it was getting late in the day and that it was further than it looked. I remember that feeling of disappointment,  but when I became a young man I was able to go further - across those passes and into the high windswept places of my imagination.

My childhood dreams of the savannah of Africa, the rainforests of South America, the Gobi desert and sailing the oceans were replaced by a new, more plausible dream - one of the Rocky Mountains. This was a dream I could see every day. Whether I was driving, going to school or building high rises in Calgary's downtown core, I could look to the west and see those limestone peaks. I got to know all of their names and where they were situated. I spent hours perusing topographic maps and reading guides. I did as much hiking as I could afford , but it never seemed enough. When I met my wife, we spent much of our free time exploring the Rockies (mostly in nearby Kananaskis Country). We have enjoyed the beautiful locations and many adventures that have happened along the way. This summer we will return to both the Kananaskis and Waterton regions. For me, it will be part of my preparations for a bigger adventure next summer.

I am definitely closer to the end of my hiking career than the beginning, so I have resolved to make this one last journey. The plan is to complete a hike from the eastern front of our Canadian Rocky Mountains, through the Front Ranges of Alberta and across the Great Divide. Then I will cross the magnificent Main Ranges of British Columbia. The finish will include a traverse of one of the less traveled Western Ranges and in to the Rocky Mountain Trench, ending at the banks of the Columbia River. I have the route planned, after many winter nights pouring over maps and playing with Google Earth. I won't go into the details, but it comprises the absolute minimum of front-country road bashes and contains several classic hikes. Somebody mentioned that there is a bike path that I could take across the Rockies, but that doesn't interest me in the least. It isn't about me or saying I made the journey. it is about the journey itself and the places I hope to see. It is about the mountains.

My Sacred Places - Part Six

Great Sand Hills

 

The sound of the wind and the song of the meadowlark
are constant accompaniments during the prairie springtime

I grew up in Calgary and I got used to seeing the fronts of the Rocky Mountains along the western horizon, beckoning me. On the eastern horizon there were no mountains just empty skies. I suppose it was no wonder that I focused most of my energy (as a young man) exploring the Rockies, never giving a thought to the vast prairie region to the east. There was a year however that my family had lived near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. I was a boy of 7 and we were new immigrants to Canada. In two years we had moved from London, England to Calgary, Alberta to Burstall, Saskatchewan. That was my only experience of living on the prairies. I remembered little of it, but I know that my parents had fond memories of our time spent in that surprisingly interesting part of Canada.

"Boot Hill" - one rancher's tribute to the Great Sand Hills

Fast forward 37 years to my journey along the length of the Red Deer River. I had a pretty good idea what to expect for the first three quarters of that expedition, but the last part of the trip into the “Palliser Triangle” was a mystery to me. It was the “Undiscovered Country”. That section of the river and the land around it made such a mark on me that I decide to return there the following autumn. I have been back to this part of the prairies many times in the ten years since.

Kangaroo Rat skull

I usually camp at Sandy Point campground – a spot on Alberta’s Highway 41, where it crosses the South Saskatchewan River.  This provides me with a central place from which I can explore the large area that surrounds the Great Sand Hills. From there it is a quick drive across the border into Saskatchewan and east to the sand dunes. The Great Sand Hills is very large in area, but only a small percent of the sand hills are actual exposed dunes. Most visitors go to the dunes east of Burstall and south of Sceptre, which is the most accessible spot to visit. One can wander the dunes looking for signs of the resident, but nocturnal kangaroo rats (which are at the northern limit of their range). I have never actually seen one, but their trails and holes are everywhere.

Snowy owl along Old Millie Road

There are many other less visited places in the sand hills of course and I have some much-loved ones of my own. My favorite drives is via the “Old Millie Road” which (along with the New Millie Road) traverses the sand hills and leads to other roads which branch out in different directions to hidden gems – dunes, small lakes and quiet, secluded places miles from anywhere, where ferruginous hawks soar above you and deer and pronghorn run free. There are even moose in the sand hills, or so I am told. I have seen them in the area, but not actually in the sand hills themselves. In the spring and fall, tundra swans can be found along with numerous other waterfowl in the few lakes and ponds that can be found near the heart of the region. Sandhill cranes migrate through the area in the spring and fall in large numbers as well as Canada, snow and greater white fronted geese. In the fall one can find thousands of migratory waterfowl around ponds and in the fields. Seeing them suddenly all take off at once is one of the great natural spectacles that you will ever see.

The scent of sage is in the air and the ground cover mostly consists of fescue and juniper. There are sheltered stands of aspen and balsam poplar in places that we sometimes like to stop and have lunch. In spring we look for the prairie crocus (anemone) peering out of the otherwise drab-looking turf.

The Great Sand Hills is a massive area and exploring its reaches is not something that can be treated lightly. It involves lots of driving and hours and hours of exploration, map reading and speculation. Days can go by quickly and I have to be careful not to run out of daylight, especially in the shorter days of late autumn around Thanksgiving .

Standing rock - a large glacial erratic near Hazlett

The larger area around the sand hills also includes the valleys of the South Saskatchewan and Red Deer Rivers, which both include some magnificent vistas of their own. The forks of the two rivers is a place that I return to often, because of its natural beauty and its personal significance. One of my favorite places is the "Bulls Forehead", a high grassy hill opposite the confluence of the two mighty rivers. I will often sit up there for hours, while remembering my journeys on the two rivers and taking in the ambience of the surrounding valleys, poplar groves and grassland. If you're a birdwatcher this is a spot that you must visit in the summer. Bluebirds, king birds, thrashers, towhees and many types of sparrows can be found in the grasslands and river-side thickets. Along the river's edge there are ducks, geese and wading birds (such as the ever present willet) along with flocks of white pelicans on the sandbars. A pair of bald eagles nest on one of the islands and there is a great blue heron rookery. Prairie falcons and swallows nest along an area of sandstone cliffs.

The South Saskatchewan River

A wandering garter at Sandy Point

There are also four types of snakes common to the region; bull snakes, wandering and western garters and the prairie rattlesnakes, which radiate from some large hibernacula near the two rivers. I understand that there are no snakes in the actual sand hills themselves, which may be a comfort to some. On wet years the evening chorus of frogs on the highlands is almost deafening.

There is a great deal of historical significance to this region of  Western Canada. The river valleys and forks were important to the tribes of the plains. The Blackfoot people believed that the souls of the dead wandered the Sand Hills. Around 1800, Peter Fidler established the Hudson Bay Company's ill-fated Chesterfield House at the forks. I once climbed the hill (on the tongue of high land) between the two rivers and stood in the spot where explorer John Palliser had been a hundred and fifty years earlier. In later times, there was a Métis settlement near the forks. Paddle wheelers once plied the tricky waters of the South Saskatchewan as far as Medicine Hat. There are old cemeteries and stones that mark the places that once held long forgotten settlements and towns. Some of them were abandoned when their young men failed to return from horrors of the Great War.

Memorial to local war dead at a lonely crossroads east of the sand hills

So why the Sand Hills? Or why the prairies at all for that matter? I have lived in the parkland region of Central Alberta (at the edge of the great plains) for almost twenty years now and I remember a conversation with my old neighbor and Cowboy Hall-of-Famer, Bill Greenwood. He had noticed that we were away for a few days and enquired about where we had gone. I told him enthusiastically that we had been up to the Ghost River country and had hiked to the summit of Blackrock Mountain. He just snorted and said, "why would you want to go up there? There's nothing but rocks..." Bill was a man that had grown up on and learned to love the open country of the prairie. He said the mountains made him feel claustrophobic.I have come around to his way of thinking over the years. Though I will never apologize for my love of the mountains, I can see what he was talking about on our drives and in our many conversations. Among the Great Sand Hills and the breath-taking open country around them, I can get a glimpse of what the prairies must have been like before the arrival of the European settlers. There is a certain light and aura about that whole part of the country. I am sure that it is an acquired taste, but the prairies have become a part of who I am.

Sunset at Freefight Lake, in the heart of the Great Sand Hills

Sacred Places - Part Five

St. Paul's Cathedral, London

Churches, cathedrals and graveyards - no holiday would be complete without a visit to at least one of these. As I said in my introduction to this series, I am not a religious man. That being said, I do often find myself  on hallowed ground when I'm on vacation. Questions of an almighty aside, I am interested in the story of mankind. Throughout history, religious buildings offer the best of what we are as human beings. I want to tell you about one that filled my heart with wonder.

The New River in my home town of Enfield

I am an immigrant to Canada. My family came to Alberta when I was just five years old. Anybody that meets me would immediately peg me as a Canadian. In fact I was born in North London and it wasn't until I was 38 years old that I ever returned to my homeland. It was an eye opening experience and it didn't take long for me to be totally enthralled by London. I think some people who know me are a bit mystified by the fact that I love London so much. Yes, I am the same person who goes to such great lengths to find solitude in natural settings. The only way I can really explain it is that I like  the "real" thing and London is definitely a real city. You can feel the buzz of the place before you even get off the plane. You clear customs and then the race is on. My father told me that his dad would always tell him "get ready to start running" whenever they took the tube into Central London and the pace hasn't slowed.



Westminster Cathedral

I have visited many English holy places. St. Mary's Church in Warwick (resting place of the Earls of Warwick and Robert Dudley) was the first. I have visited the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Alban's, which is said to be the oldest site of Christian worship in Britain. The Cathedrals of Westminster and Canterbury are probably the two "no-brainers"  if you're looking for history and I have been to them both. St. George's Chapel in Windsor (where I found myself standing over the grave of Henry VIII), King's College Chapel, Cambridge and Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford  (it once laid claim to being the smallest cathedral in England) are some notable ones.  I think that's a pretty good list for an agnostic.

So why St. Paul's? It is different than the rest. Its high domed ceiling and climb upward to the upper galleries was an experience not unlike ascending a mountain. It is the closest thing I have ever experienced, that approached nature in its grandeur.

I must admit that I have only been to St. Paul's once and at a sad time in my life. I was in England for the funeral of an Uncle who was particularly dear to me. I had two weeks in London, which I would normally relish, but I wasn't in the mood to sight-see. One day my sister suggested that we visit the cathedral and I agreed. It exceeded all of my expectations. Standing beneath the dome I looked up and wondered at its design. There was a choir there (from Florida) that sang beneath the dome. Their voices sang out a mix of Southern Gospel and more traditional choral songs which reverberated from the dome. It was one of the most amazing aural experiences I have ever encountered.



Under the dome

I wandered the floor of the cathedral and found the American Memorial Chapel, which is dedicated to the U.S. servicemen based in the UK that lost their lives in the Second World War. It was created in a section that was rebuilt after being destroyed by Nazi bombs during the blitz. Downstairs in the crypt were heroes Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, and Florence Nightingale. Also lying beneath his masterpiece is the body of Sir Christopher Wren. Wren created the modern incarnation of St. Paul's after Old St. Paul's was destroyed in the Fire of London in 1666. The new cathedral was officially completed in 1711.

The City from Stone Gallery

It was when we began our ascent up a series of narrow stairways that I truly began to embrace this man-made wonder. The first gallery we encountered on the way up was the Whispering Gallery, 30 metres up from the Cathedral floor.  A whisper spoken against the wall can be heard 32 metres away on the opposite side of the dome. I am not sure exactly how this works, but I understand it was discovered after the gallery was built. Then we ascended to the Stone Gallery on the outside at the bottom of the exterior dome. The interior dome is built within the exterior one and does not conform to it at all. We climbed higher to a point at the very top of the interior dome. My sister directed me to  a small glass portal that looked straight down to the Cathedral floor, where I had stood minutes before staring up in wonderment. We continued up to the Golden Gallery which is 85 metres above the floor and looks out over London. I could see the Old Bailey, the Thames of course and the Millennium Bridge, Parliament and the London Eye. Across the river on the South bank was a pub which beckoned me with its fine ale and plowman's sandwich. Soon I was back down on the streets of London and across the bridge to a waiting pint...

Looking down at the Millennium Bridge from Golden Gallery

At the highest point of The City there has been a church or cathedral for some 1400 years. The latest version is certainly the most magnificent one to grace this hallowed spot. I have often wondered if  I might be a more religious person if I was raised among the churches and traditions of the Old World. My only experience at St. Paul's Cathedral seems to lend some degree of credence to my speculation. Sir Christopher Wren's tribute to Almighty God's creation is quite simply the most inspirational man-made structure that I have ever encountered.

After our climb to the top of the cathedral, a pub beckons from across the Thames

My Sacred Places - Part Four

Kootenay Lake, British Columbia

In his book "The Buffalo Head", Raymond Patterson quotes George Pocattera 's description of British Columbia; "There is a softness to it that Alberta does not have; it is almost as if one could feel the breath of the Pacific."  I remember the spark of recognition when I first read his portrayal many years ago. I cannot think of a more apt description, especially for my favorite valley and lake lodged between the Purcell and Selkirk Mountains.

It was over twenty five years ago when my new wife and I decided that we would take a different route to the Okanagan that summer. We drove through Creston, B.C. and continued along Highway 3a. Soon we found ourselves winding along the east shore of the lake toward the ferry. The scenery got more and more beautiful as we headed north. Pretty properties dotted the road and any undeveloped land was lovely cedar forest. To our left was the lake backed by the pretty summits of the Selkirks. which were mirrored in the still waters. Finally we saw a place to we could stop and have lunch.

The Heidelberg Inn was at a particularly pretty bend in the road. Our heads were on swivels as we got out of our Ford Escort. We took in all of the scenery, flowers and hummingbirds in front of the restaurant.  John Mclean, (the proprietor of the inn) could see we were enamored with the area and he proceeded to tell us about "Banana Bay" across the road, which he said was the warmest part of the lake. We decided we would paddle our dinghy around the bay and laze on the beach that sunny afternoon. We rented one of the rustic rooms in the Heidleberg and decided to stay the night.

 We were concerned about leaving our stuff on the beach while we were in the water, but John told us that we needn't worry - the local people were very trustworthy and honest. We floated around the bay and I am sure a few beers were consumed. We could hardly believe our eyes when we returned to the beach and all of our stuff was gone. I was stunned! Our keys, towels and clothes were in the bag we left behind. I went up the hill to the hotel with my insides churning, but just as I arrived, John emerged from a small storage shed with all of our belongings. His son had brought our things back to the inn after looking around and not seeing us on the water. When John told him we were down there, he was afraid to bring it all back. We all had a laugh as his son looked sheepishly on. We did continue on to Vernon and the Okanagan that year via the ferry and lovely Nelson, B.C., but after that day we always returned to Kootenay lake at least once a year.

 I have never visited a Scottish Loch, but I have seen pictures and films about them and I've flown over them on my way from England. I would say that Kootenay Lake is comparable to the land locked freshwater variety (there are also sea lochs). Kootenay is a big lake, much longer than it is wide. At the most the main body is perhaps ten miles wide (from east to west), but it is over 70 miles long (from north to south). It's one of those lakes that they say "nobody knows how deep it really is". That isn't true, but it is very deep! It is also a cold lake, but big enough that it doesn't freeze over in the winter.

Kootenay Lake kokanee

One of the activities that I like to do most when I am at the lake is go fishing. It isn't the typical type of fishing that I normally do anywhere else. I really do prefer stream fishing. I suppose that comes from growing up in southern Alberta. Kootenay Lake is the one place that I spend a lot of time lake stillwater fishing. The gerrard rainbow found in the lake are the largest rainbows in the world and can weigh in at 50 pounds. The North American record bull trout (or Dolly Varden as they are called locally) was caught in the lake and was about 35 pounds. Fishing for these big fish usually involves large boats with downriggers to get your lure or bait into the deep waters. One day I wouldn't mind trying that (probably with an outfitter).I am told the best time of year for this kind of fishing is February. My type of fishing is off of a rocky point or at a creek mouth with small gear. Most of the time, I am fishing for Kokanee (a landlocked salmon). They are usually small (around one or two pounds), but they are fun to catch and they put up a good fight - jumping and dancing. They have soft mouths and they will often spit your lure back at you, but a good day of kokanee fishing can be very exciting and just plain fun.

The other thing that makes this type of fishing an adventure is there is always the threat of a big "Dolly" taking your lure and if you fish with light tackle like I do, the fight is on! I once brought in one that we estimated at twenty plus pounds with 4 lb. test line after it almost emptied my reel three times. I laughed when I got it in close and went to grab my net which was totally inadequate for bringing in such a monster. I have always sworn by the Shimano Spirex reels that we have used for years and I must say I would have never landed this fish with such a small reel of any lesser quality. My wife held the rod while I hauled the fish in by its mouth and gill plates.I removed the hook and back in the lake it went (as I believe in catch and release) and the fish was uninjured except for a sore jaw perhaps. I sometimes will keep the odd kokanee, as they are delicious eating. There are also a non-gerrard type of rainbow and cutthroat in the lake.

The climate around the lake is very temperate and more humid than the East Kootenays, which are not that far away. I like to go there in the spring, because it always seems to be quite a few weeks ahead of the surrounding areas. I have heard it said it is the most easterly area of Pacific influence and I have seen examples of this when I visited in late April/ early May. In Alberta I left behind snow or sticks sticking up from the brown tundra and even the East Kootenays were barely greening up at all, but when we pulled into Erickson B.C. there were blossoms on the fruit trees and people were outside gardening and mowing their lawns. It was very much like driving into spring.

Don't let the lake fool you. Its waters can go from placid to a tempest in a matter of minutes. One evening I had my tiny flat bottomed boat (the Li'l Titanic) out fishing on waters which were like glass. We noticed a rain storm miles across the lake and I said "we'll have to keep an eye on that". I retrieved my cast one more time and turned around to look. The lake was white caps! By the time I got the motor started and the boat turned around, we were in it. I told my wife to hang on to her seat and I worked our little boat diagonally through the waves. One moment we were between the waves and all we could see was a wall of water and the next we were on top of a massive wave (my poor five horse Mercury screaming and out of the water). I managed to get the boat back to the marina and had to gun it through the entrance. The owner was waiting for us on the docks. She had watched us head out earlier in the evening... I never took that boat back to the lake again.

In 1898, the captain of the sternwheeler "City of Ainsworth" also found that he had underestimated the power of the lake, when he left Kootenay Bay in a storm. The boat had barely rounded the headland when it floundered and nine souls were lost. The wreck still sits at the bottom in 360 feet of water.

Lockhart Creek

There are areas of old growth cedar forests around the lake. One of the places I love to walk is Lockhart Creek, where the mature forest creates its own climate. It can be windy and storming out on the lake, but a few hundred feet back into the forest it is muggy and calm. 

Sandon, B.C - A boardwalk once covered the creek and streetcars transported passengers through its streets.

The Moyie, Kaslo

On the west side there is an interesting hot spring in Ainsworth which is cut into the rock making a horseshoe shaped tunnel. Nearby is Cody Caves which I have visited several times. Highway 31a extends from scenic Kaslo (home of the sternwheeler "Moyie")through the Selkirk mountains into the "Silvery Slocan" and past the ghost town of Sandon. The West arm of the lake brings one to the City of Nelson which is built on the side of the mountains overlooking the lake as it narrows back into a river.

Nelson

South of the lake is Creston, which is a pretty retirement town, full of gardens and orchards. The Creston Valley is prime farm land retrieved from the original marshland that was this section of the Kootenay River before it entered the South end of the lake. When the Palliser expedition came through this area, it was inhabited by Kootenay Indians who fished and hunted in the marshland with their unwieldy sturgeon nose canoes. There is an example of this unusual water craft in the Creston museum. I once visited their archives and there were many interesting photos of the paddle wheelers that once navigated the lake. Some (like the Kuskanook) were massive. The Creston Valley Wildlife Centre is also worth a visit for nature watchers like me. In the summer we often drive the Gray Creek road which goes across the crest of the Purcells and on to Kimberly. It's a rough road and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it does access a remote network of roads and streams full of cutthroat.

A sign and phone booth are all that remained of the Heidleberg Inn
and now even they are gone...

I could go on and on. People that I talk to around the lake often mistake me for a local. I suppose that all of the years that we have visited the area qualify me as a spokesman of sorts. I can't help being enthusiastic about the nature and history of the lake and surrounding region. I have seen people come and go (many of them Albertans). The Heidleberg changed owners (who we also got to know) before tragically ending its days in a massive fire.

Black bear in Crawford Bay

We have had many adventures around the lake, but the main reason that I return is that I really find it relaxing. After a long winter of work, there is nothing that refreshes my soul more than a week or two at my favorite lake; fishing, nature watching, walking or even just sleeping in on a rainy morning. Many of my ideas (for stories, films or music) have come to me while deep in the cedar forest or on the rocky shores of the lake with only the sounds of the wind and water to keep me company. Like many of the places where I worship, I can see Kootenay Lake peering back at me when I look in the mirror - reflected in my eyes and etched in the lines of my face. Kootenay Lake  is a part of who I am. The peace I have found there is something that I take with me wherever I go.

 

My Sacred Places - Part Three

Four Corners

At Four Corners Monument

The borders of, Utah, Colarado, New Mexico and Arizona meet to form an imaginary cross in the desert. The area has come to be known as "The Four Corners" and it has a look and a feel to it that is unlike that of any place I have ever experienced. I have had the good fortune to visit this mystical land twice over the last five years and I am hoping to make the trip again and again in the years to come.

Goosenecks State Park, Utah
Called the best example of entrenched meandering in the world
The San Juan river has carved its path into the Colorado Plateau as it rose up

The first time I visited was the result of a spur-of-the-moment decision in the winter of 2009. After weeks of looking out my front door at the same old picture of snow blowing across the field and a windy, less than -20 degree cold, I booked some time off and loaded up my little Honda Fit and started driving south. We headed across the border and down the Interstate 15,stopping over first in Great Falls, Montana and then in Orem, Utah. It was the third day of travel that proved to be a total revelation. We turned east off of the I-15 at a place called Spanish Forks and followed a road that cut through a gap in the Wasatch Range. We could see a threatening looking storm ahead, but we passed through the mini-blizzard unscathed. We emerged through the gap into what seemed like another world - a world of pinion pines and Utah junipers, a world without snow! We drove through Price and Green River and finally stopped at a roadside pullout North of Moab. We were giddy! We checked into the hotel in Moab and went to Arches National Park that afternoon (which was amazing). That's how my exploration of this unique area began.

The double arches

Delicate Arch

I haven't traveled that much of the US, but I think that Utah may be the most underestimated State in the Union for natural beauty. Most of the population (80%) lives along the "Wasatch Front" (over two million people), which includes Salt lake City and Provo. the rest of the state remains much more sparsely inhabited. Near Moab there are many interesting places to visit including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Dead Horse Point State Park. If you have seen the movie "Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade" , the opening scenes will give you an idea of what Arches N.P. is like. It contains hundreds of natural arches formed from the red Jurassic sandstone that is everywhere in this region, along with plenty of spires and cliffs and red sand dunes.



Looking under Mesa Arch from Island in the Sky.
LaSal mountains in the distance.



The Upheaval Dome

Canyonlands is a larger park and is divided into several districts. Island in the Sky is a high plateau from which one can view amazing vistas. Looking down at the Colorado or Green Rivers, you might think that you have landed on Mars. The landscapes are so much different from anything that I have ever experienced and I would find myself standing transfixed, staring off into the distance. I recommend visiting the Upheaval Dome which may have been formed by a meteorite impact. Chickadee-like  juniper titmouses visited us while we lunched there along with a couple of scrub jays.  South of Moab is The Needles District, which is near the junction of the Colorado and Green Rivers. It is lower down than Island in the sky and is full of interesting rock formations, Puebloan ruins, rocky desert and natural springs. I look forward to one day visiting The Maze District, which is more remote. It contains hundreds of pictographs in Horseshoe canyon and was the hideout of famous outlaw, Butch Cassidy.

Newspaper Rock -Needles district

Closer to the Four Corners itself is Monument Valley, which is situated on the Utah/ Arizona border. There we stayed at the historic Goulding's Lodge in the heart of Navajo country. Goulding's started as a small trading post run by Harry Goulding and his wife "Mike". In 1930's things were not going well financially at the trading post. Harry heard that John Ford was planning to shoot a new Western film so he gathered up what few dollars he could and had some professional photos taken of the area. Then he traveled to John Ford's office in Holly Wood. When he was told by a receptionist that Ford was a busy man, Harry just said "I can wait, I brought my bed-roll". When John Ford saw the photos, he was intrigued and the classic western "Stagecoach" starring John Wayne was filmed there in 1939. That was the beginning of a long string of movies filmed in the region. The cast and crew stayed at Goulding's and the local Navajo's got work as extras and wranglers in many of Ford's films.

"The Mittens"

The spire in the background was climbed by
 Clint Eastwood and George Kennedy in "the Eiger Sanction"

The mesa's of Monument Valley are  one of the icon's of the American West and I don't think I have ever seen a montage of America that didn't include at least one shot of  the area. I don't usually do guided tours, but I was glad that we did one of the valley. Our Navajo guide, Dave was informative and when he saw that we were as interested in the Navajo people as we were with the scenery, he adapted his spiel toward us (we were the only people there on that off-season weekday). We learned and saw things that day that I wouldn't have otherwise experienced.



The Whitehouse Ruins

Canyon de Chelly, in the Arizona corner can be viewed from the top of the canyon and the Navajo people still work farms at the bottom of the canyon. There are many excellent viewpoints along the canyon - two of the most famous are "The Whitehouse" and "Spider's Rock".  In my favorite science fiction film,  "Contact" Jody Foster's character sits on the edge of the canyon and runs sand through her fingers in the poignant final scene.

At "Spider Rock"

The "ring of fire"

The New Mexico corner is no less interesting. Views of  the aptly named Shiprock  follow you as you cross into the "Land of Enchantment". I have been to Chaco Canyon twice - once to view the annular eclipse on May 20, 2012 (which was an experience in itself).

Chaco was the cultural center of the "Anasazi" (as called by early European archaeologists) between 800 and 1200 AD. Today it is agreed that the ruins on the site were built by puebloan peoples, ancestors of the Hopi and Pueblo people. I really should not even wade into this subject, because there is an evolving understanding of what Chaco is all about. Was it built for trade, religion, ceremonial purposes? Trade definitely went on there - macaw carcasses, turquiose, copper and shells have all been found in the ruins of the canyon. I have been told that ancient trails emanate from Chaco heading east to the Mississippi, south to Mexico and west to California. There are pictographs in a canyon near Canmore, Alberta that appear to be made by peoples of the four corners, so who knows how far people traveled to visit this important site? I think that because these people passed on their traditions through oral rather than written means, people of  European descent such as myself will never comprehend the meaning of these places. I have little doubt that the people who need to know, understand exactly what the significance of this place is and why it is located in a particularly arid part of the high desert. Buildings such as Pueblo Buenito  are said to have astronomical significance and alignment and it felt like an honor to be there for the eclipse, after traveling 2 and a half thousand kilometres from my home. I try to never forget that I am only able to access some of these amazing places by the grace of the peoples of the desert and that I am traveling Indian land. Perhaps I am being naive in this, but this land and its peoples deserve our respect.

My wife, Bev at Butler Wash, Utah

Mesa Verde is another important archeological site in the Colorado corner. It is a high mesa which contains reconstructed ruins. I have only passed by snow-covered Mesa Verde in February. Perhaps one day I will visit the park. There are so many places that I have already visited on the high desert of the Colorado Plateau and so many more that I haven't, In fact I think one could spend a lifetime exploring and absorbing the scenery and spiritual aura of this vast area.

The Four Corners is a place that I first fell in love with from afar. The images and art that I became familiar with (long before I even knew where it came from) already were a part of my consciousness before I managed to travel to that sacred place. I was not one bit disappointed when we passed across the Wasatch mountains that winter day and into the land of my dreams.