2405_2886 View From 70 Mile
The top of 70 Mile Butte - same day as the rock-flower-lichen shot posted yesterday. It isn't magic hour. Just a bright day in spring, fresh with new green growth, and before the tourist influx that comes at the end of the school year. I was on this trail for about three hours and met a pair of hikers while returning. That was all. The rest of the time: sweet solitude.
In the middle distance is Eagle Butte and glimpses of the trail that circles it. To its left and farther back, Butte Road, giving access to this trail system. Directly above and far behind Eagle Butte, mostly in the shadow of clouds, is a long ridge that blocks the village of Val Marie from view. To the right and out of the frame, the buttes extend their long interconnected ridges deep into the Frenchman River Valley.
I have to say that I liked the buttes area better when there were only game trails. In those years, I would take different routes to the top, and back. I understand Parks Canada's mandate, but I am nevertheless dismayed to see the wildness slipping away, compromised by new infrastructure. What used to be a wild place is becoming more a showcase.
Tomorrow: one more shot from the top of 70 Mile... from the olden days of deer trails and no information panels or bridges over wet spots.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2405_2886 View From 70 Mile
The top of 70 Mile Butte - same day as the rock-flower-lichen shot posted yesterday. It isn't magic hour. Just a bright day in spring, fresh with new green growth, and before the tourist influx that comes at the end of the school year. I was on this trail for about three hours and met a pair of hikers while returning. That was all. The rest of the time: sweet solitude.
In the middle distance is Eagle Butte and glimpses of the trail that circles it. To its left and farther back, Butte Road, giving access to this trail system. Directly above and far behind Eagle Butte, mostly in the shadow of clouds, is a long ridge that blocks the village of Val Marie from view. To the right and out of the frame, the buttes extend their long interconnected ridges deep into the Frenchman River Valley.
I have to say that I liked the buttes area better when there were only game trails. In those years, I would take different routes to the top, and back. I understand Parks Canada's mandate, but I am nevertheless dismayed to see the wildness slipping away, compromised by new infrastructure. What used to be a wild place is becoming more a showcase.
Tomorrow: one more shot from the top of 70 Mile... from the olden days of deer trails and no information panels or bridges over wet spots.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.