Introduction

***For those who don't feel like reading and only want to see pictures, videos, and the final travelled path on GPS, go to the conclusions section.***

Since touring Canada in 2008, we've known that Grasslands National Park would be a place that we'd revisit. We did not know when, or how, but we knew we'd be back. After going on a mountain bike trip in 2009 (which by the way had no mountain biking due to very rainy conditions), I threw out there the idea of visiting Grasslands National Park once again but on mountain bike. It would give us a chance to fully enjoy the west block of the park, fully take in the scenery, as well as spend some time together in a location we fell in love with a few years prior. We planned the trip for 2010, but the year turned out to be too busy. At the end of 2010 we vowed that 2011 would be the year of Grasslands. We made sure that in 2011 we each had enough vacation to take the days off we would need. We'd never completed a trip where we had to be self sufficient on bicycles for nearly a week - this was surely going to be a learning experience.

This series of blog posts describes the preparation aspect and finally our experience in touring Grasslands National Park. We describe how the harsh conditions of the park affected our travels and how we'd deal with it better in the future.

Allison and I are both mountain bikers, but typically don't go far from home. I have quite a bit of mountain biking experience, but Allison's experience is limited to the trails near our house. We usually go on 10 or 15 km rides, none very strenuous. We usually only have a few water bottles in our water bottle cages, and maybe a snack if we think we'll be a while. We knew we were going to have to seriously gear up for this trip!

We started with some research on the best way to carry all of our stuff. Without a doubt, racks and panniers were the way to go. We'd have to keep our backpack load as light as possible to avoid heavy back strain. We determined without a doubt that to be self sufficient for a few days (including water), we would both need front and rear panniers.

About 40 days before the trip, we contact the Park's visitor center in order to discuss our intentions to tour the park on bicycles. They seemed excited that someone would even consider the idea, and gave us several contacts from who we'd be able to get information. We contacted a few people from the park and in summary found out the following:

1. We'd get to see excellent scenery and wildlife on bike
2. There is no drinkable water in the park
3. There are no toilet facilities in the park
4. Campfires or cookstoves cannot be made/used in the park
5. The road we intend to go on has a washout and public vehicle traffic have not been travelling it this year

The first item was excellent, the others - not what we were expecting. Item 2., we were expecting the streams would be usable, preventing us from having to carry our own drinking water. Item 3., we already knew, but had not really thought of it until the actual planning started. Item 4 was a surprise, although if we would have read the park guide beforehand it would have been obvious - this was going to be difficult for food. Item 5 didn't seem like a big deal to me but it just meant we'd be even more remote than initially thought.

We continued planning for the trip. We made a list of things we needed, mostly bike related. A list is shown below. The list is for the both of us. Weights are listed for all quantities, some estimated but most from actual weights:

• 2 mountain bikes (Trek 6500 Disc & Kona Lisa HT)
• 2 front racks (Old Man Mountain Cold Springs) (1.0 kg)
• 2 rear racks (Old Man Mountain Sherpas) (1.2 kg)
• 4 MEC World Tour 2 40L Cycling Panniers (8 kg)
• 4 MEC World Tour 2 56L Cycling Panniers (9.2 kg)
• 1 MEC Rackpack (Rear rackpack) (780g)
• 2 Camelbak Mule N.V. Backpacks with each one filled 3L Antidote reservoir (7.6 kg)
• 4 additional 3L Camelbak Antidote reservoirs (12.25 kg)
• 2 bike helmets (0.5 kg)
• 4 800 mL filled water bottles (3.5 kg)
• 2 LED headlamps (0.2 kg)
• 2 Thermarest Trail Lite Sleeping Pads (1.6 kg)
• MEC Camper 2 Tent (2.4 kg)
• MEC Camper 2 Footprint (0.3 kg)
• First aid kid (0.4 kg)
• Swiss army knife and leatherman (0.3 kg)
• 4 bike tubes (0.8 kg)
• 4 Mr. Tuffy Tire Liners (0.5 kg)
• 4 Bungee cords (0.4 kg)
• 2 Sleeping Bags (2 kg)
• 3 Garbage bags (0.1 kg)
• Matches
• 4 velcro leg straps (0.1 kg)
• 2 Fleece pants (0.3 kg)
• 2 Fleece shirts (0.3 kg)
• Ear Plugs
• 2 hats (0.1 kg)
• 4 MEC Journey padded bike shorts (0.6 kg)
• 2 lightweight water proof jackets (0.4 kg)
• 3 pairs of cycling gloves (0.1 kg)
• Cycling shirts (lycra and coolmax short and long sleeve shirts) (1 kg)
• Underwear (0.5 kg)
• Cycling and regular socks (0.5 kg)
• Duct tape and electrical tape (0.5 kg)
• Garmin 60 CSx GPS with handlebar mount (0.3 kg)
• 2 digital cameras (0.4 kg)
• High definition camcorder (0.5 kg)
• Maps, emergency contact list
• Satellite phone (0.4 kg)
• 25% deet bug spray (0.1 kg)
• Toothbrush, paste and floss (0.1 kg)
• 30 SPF sunscreen (0.2 kg)
• Wipes (0.1 kg)
• Bike multi tool, sockets, screwdriver (0.3 kg)
• Bike chain lube (0.1 kg)
• Spare chain links, derailleur cable, flat repair kit, 2 plastic tire levers (0.1 kg)
• Spare AA and AAA batteries (0.1 kg)
• 5 gallon plastic water jug for water caching (not brought on bikes)
• Playing cards
• Food
• 16 Clif Bars (1.1 kg)
• 2 bags of trail mix (0.4 kg)
• Bag of dried papaya (0.2 kg)
• 2 freeze dried ice cream bars (0.1 kg)
• 2 bags of pitas (0.2 kg)
• 1 jar of Nutella (0.4 kg)
• 4 bags of beef jerkey (Oh Boy Oberto and Jack Link's) (0.4 kg)
• 8 fruit bars (Sunrype) (0.4 kg)
• 1 bag of turkey and chicken pepperettes (0.2 kg)
• 4 bags of electrolyte stingers (0.1 kg)
• 1 bag dried apricots (0.2 kg)
• 1 bag of dried cranberries (0.2 kg)
• 4 organic honey bars (peanut, etc...) (0.1 kg)
• 1 jar of powdered gatorade (0.2 kg)
• 1 bag of pistachios (0.1 kg)

Total weight: 64.43 kg, 142.04 lbs, not including bikes (each bike about 14 kg, 31 lbs)

We installed the racks about a week prior to leaving and it was only the night before leaving for Val Marie that we packed everything into the panniers. We loaded everything into the vehicle the next morning at 6 am and we were on our way.

The image below lists our intended route. Click on the picture for a full resolution view.

The GPX file listed below shows our intended route and camping spots.

https://sites.google.com/site/infiniteconcatenation/Home/luc/ExporttoGPS.gpx?attredirects=0&d=1

To replicate the above map, simply import the GPX file listed above into Google Earth, and then overlay the park map at the proper spot and it will look similar. Anyone needing help in doing this can contact me.

The intended daily trip log was as follows:

Day 1: 28 km

Day 2: 40 km

Day 3: 10 km

Day 4: 33 km

Day 5: 24 km

Day 6: 10 km

Total: 145 km

The reason for which we chose the campsites as we did is because we had received the direction from the park staff that we should only stay in the park blocks, which was fair. So Day 2 and Day 4 were especially strenuous as we had to make it to the North and South Gillespie blocks, which are the white rectangle type shapes with the Camp 2 and Camp 3 symbols shown.

The water cache location we chose was just south east of Camp 1 / Camp 4, at the park boundary. This would work well as we would cross it twice. We hid the jug under the sign that said something like "You are in rattlesnake country".

The only other interesting plot is that of the elevation changes expected. It is shown below.

That is about all in terms of the introduction. If anyone else has any requests as to what they would like to see please do not hesitate to ask.

Day 1

We drove about an hour and a half from our hotel in Swift Current, SK to get to Val Marie fairly early in the morning. The Visitor Centre hadn't opened yet, so we continued along the marked route into Grasslands National Park with the purpose of dropping our water jug at a crossroads in our biking route. We'd found we couldn't carry all the water for the 6 days biking, and decided to cache some water. We drove about a half hour and arrived at the appointed spot. Luc hid the jug in some long grasses beneath a park sign. We didn't waste any time, and headed back to Val Marie to get ready for our day of biking.

We arrived at the Grasslands National Park Visitor Centre in Val Marie, SK around 10:30 am. Had a brief chat with a staff member there, and provided details of our route and camping locations so the park would be aware of our plans. She gave us some tips about the conditions of some parts of our route, and also warnings about the wildlife, especially the plains bison that roam the park. From the Visitor Centre we also picked up a copy of the geocaching guidelines and accompanying 'passport' used to log each find, as we planned to visit the 5 geocaches in the park along our cycling route.

We unpacked in the parking lot. After re-assembling our bikes and making a few adjustments, we loaded the panniers onto our racks. Almost ready to go! The combined weight of our racks, panniers and contents of the panniers (including 16 liters of water), was about 65lbs each.
We hit the road around noon. Our first 15 km were on paved roads from Val Marie to the park entrance. The road led us through fields, some cultivated with wheat or other grains, others lying fallow. The sun was high but there was a strong wind that kept us cool. It was a headwind of about 25 km/hour, and with all our gear we weren't too aerodynamic. I found steering was a challenge, and even on the paved road, biking was somewhat strenuous.

The wildlife we saw on this part of the route was mostly hawks, small birds, cows and horses. We saw a herd of about 25 horses that gallopped around their pasture - really wild and graceful to watch. Also, there were scads - no, swarms! - of grasshoppers! As we biked they tried to jump up out of harm's way, landing on our legs, arms, feet and flopping back to the ground. Their hum in the fields was so loud it could be heard over the wind in my ears.

We ate our lunch in the shade created by a Sasktel outbuilding; pitas, dried fruit and nuts. We moved on and into the park where the road turned into a well maintained gravel road for the final 15 km of our day. This road led us through a different, wilder landscape which was covered with golden grasses and dotted with blue shrubs, prairie sunflowers and other wildflowers. We passed through a small prarie dog colony where they tried to shoo us away with their little barks.

Along the way we stopped to find a geocache. From the GPS data, it seemed at first it would be easy to access but it turned out it was a ways down a steep hill. We picked our way through the dry grasses and thorny shrubs, cacti and wildflowers. In rattlesnake country, it is important to watch where you step! The geocache was a little tough to find, but Luc found it at last, tucked under a bush. We climbed back up the hill and got back on the road.

We camped at Belza's which is currently the only official campground in the park. The amenites are a gravel parking area, picnic tables, trees for shade and two portable toilets. There is no running water here. For dinner we ate some jerky, pitas and granola bars.

The view from Belza's is quite scenic, especially as we near sunset. We took a short walk on the road to enjoy the view. Luc found a small frog, which seemed out of place in such a dry grassland!

Feeling tired but pretty exhilarated about completing our first day of the trip.

Woke up in the night to peek out at the sky. It was incredible. There were more stars up there than I've ever seen in my life. This is because Grasslands National Park is a Dark Sky Preserve. That means the park and some surrounding areas don't use artificial light at night. The main purpose is to maintain the night-day cycle for flora and especially noctournal fauna in the park. Pretty cool!

Day 2

Last night's exhilaration has transformed into fear about the day of biking ahead me. I was kept up for part of the night by a searing pain in my thighs. We plan to bike 40 km today from Belza's to the entrance to the South Gillespie section of the park, and I'm quite intimidated!

After a breakfast of fruit bars and a granola bar, we take to the road but it is quite late by this time, around 10 am, and the day is hot already. The road conditions were ideal but there was quite a lot of elevation change - some uphills and some downhills. The sun was so strong and it got up to about 32C, with no shade to be had. We took shelter in the shade of a sign for the Dixon Community Pasture, which illustrates our desperate attempts to stay cool!

Along the way, we stopped to find the second of five geocaches. It was very near the road, and we crossed through a prairie dog colony to get to it. We found it on a hill very near the spot indicated in the coordinates. The location had a great view of the colony.

We saw some other interesting wildlife today. There were the usual hawks, small birds, cows and horses, but today we also came upon some ducks and pelicans cooling themselves in a small flooded area! The pelicans seem out of place in this prairie, with their big bills designed to scoop fish. But this isn't a mirage! Oddly enough, this is part of the range of the North American White Pelican.

Lunch is turkey pepperettes, granola bar and some nuts. Trying to drink lots of fluids in this heat!

Around 4 pm we had gone about 33 km. We came upon a big hill and I really struggled. The heat, the sun, the sore legs and the idea of another 7 km overwhelmed me and I lost it partway up the hill. I mean full-on sobs of despair... Luc biked to the top and walked down to help me with my bike. We were on private ranchlands about 7 km from the entrance to the South Gillespie block of the park, but I just couldn't make it. We pitched our tent along the side of the road and hoped nobody would ask us to leave. For dinner we ate more jerkey, granola bars, dried fruit.

We each drank 5+ litres of water today. This was more than we planned, so we were running a bit low.

In the evening we had two ranchers stop by, but they didn't give us a hard time. We fell asleep under the watchful eyes of some resident cattle, with the sound of their mooing punctuating the grasshopper hum.

Day 3

We slept pretty well last night. Made a point of getting up earlier today, just shortly after sunrise and it was probably around 6:30 am. The cows were gathered in the road near our tent, watching from a safe distance. It seemed they were trying to be nonchalant, cooly observing, then making eye contact, then shyly looking away. Luc took some good video.

A little more optimism about today's ride, because we've only got 17 km planned, and our destination is a special place we'd camped at 3 years before. For breakfast, there's a fruit bar, some almonds, and a pita with nutella.

We set out and, early in the ride, we come upon the last private homestead before we get back onto park lands. We were low on water and one resident was kind enough to fill up a couple of our water bottles for us.


Back on the road and a steep ascent led us into the North Gillespie block of the park. We'd heard from park officials and some locals that the road might be rough due to some very dense and tall yellow clover that had grown up through the wet summer. We were pleased to find the road and 'shoulder' had been mowed, and so although the road might be tough for a vehicle - with two deep tire tracks and a raised centre - it was ideal for two bikers! The road led us along a fairly level, high altitude course that traced the edge of a ridge that slopes down into the Frenchman River valley. The road was a ways back from the edge but here and there we could see the valley sprawling below. We didn't see much wildlife on this day, just some hawks, grasshoppers and a small snake.

We arrived at our destination around 11 am.

This 'destination' is a high point in the ridge at the edge of the valley, and has sweeping views of the whole of South Gillespie. It is within sight, about 2 km, of the Montana border. We camped here 3 years ago on our trip across Canada and we loved it for the views and the sense of solitude we felt here. In this part of the park, there is no campground. Campsite choice is based on finding a flat place with no big rocks or cacti.

It is too hot to do much of anything, so we set up our fly on some tentpoles right at the edge of the ridge, and try to get comfortable in the semi-shade. There is a lovely breeze. Lunch is more jerky, granola bar, some nuts. We're getting sick of the dried food, and start to daydream about what food we want when we get back to civilization. For Allison it is a burger and icecream, for Luc, all he wants is a cold beer. We spend the afternoon doodling, journaling, taking video and talking.

We were visited by a Parks Canada employee who was mowing the road on a tractor. It was great to meet this local rancher who does seasonal work for the park, and hear his thoughts on the reclamation that is undertaken when the park aquires a new piece of land. He had some really positive views of the park and we enjoyed chatting with him.

Our afternoon was going great until our shelter was swarmed by flying red ants! At first they seemed harmless and they came and went without disrupting too much. Then they returned in greater numbers and nipped me! We were forced to evacuate and take a small hike. When we returned we had to set up our tent so we could seal ourselves in. How unfortunate! We missed out on the breeze but the rest of the afternoon passed quickly and soon we were taking pictures of the peachy glow on the hills and valley as the sun was getting low. It seems that the best way to view and especially to get photographs of this land is when the sun gets low in the sky and brings it into glowing three dimensions.

Not sure what all we ate for dinner. Probably a granola bar and some turkey pepperette. We did share a freeze-dried cookies and cream icecream sandwhich, astronaut style! This was a novelty but actually tasted like the real thing.

When the sun was setting we took a short walk to get some more pictures. Later and back at the tent, just as the sun sets, Luc lets me know he thinks we should get married. Wow! (Sorry to bust this on you if you thought you were just reading this for tips on biking trips in Grasslands National Park!) Of course I agreed, and blah blah blah, tears and sappiness ensued. It was a perfect end to great day spent at one of our favourite places.

Day 4

We've learned from the heat that it's best to get up early, and so we got up shortly after dawn. Breakfast was dried fruit, nuts and a granola bar. Getting a bit sick of the dried food! We were back on the trail around 7 am today. Our route brought us from high along the edge of the ridge, where we'd biked and camped yesterday, straight down into the Frenchman River valley. It was a pretty steep descent (by prairie standards!). The air was still cool and some parts of the valley were still in shadow. We were racing the sun!

We'd been warned by park staff and some locals that the road for the first part of today's ride would be very rough with some washouts. We found that some small washouts remained while others had been recently repaired. What might have been a little treacherous to drive in a car was perfect for biking!

Unfortunately, we strayed from our route for a few kms. I was a bit discouraged by the unplanned detour and added kms, but one good thing came of it because Luc found a grouse. He got some good video of it flying low and descending into some long grass that was lit by the sun.

Once back on track, the road was leading us through quite flat terrain on the bottom of the river valley. The deep ruts in the road were left behind and we were now riding a well groomed gravel road through ranchlands with more horses and cattle.

The day was getting warm as we re-entered the main block of the park. We stopped to pick up our water jug which Luc emptied into our bottles and then strapped to the front rack of his bike.

Along the way, Luc decided he'd like to stop and find another geocache. I didn't think I would have the energy to join him on the steep climb, so I continued biking towards tonight's camp, Belza's, at an easy pace. I biked through a prairie dog colony and as always, was amused by their barks, which are more like little peeps. In the distance I saw a herd of wild Plains Bison, which have been reintroduced to the park as a conservation measure. They were quite far away, but there was a small telescope nearby and I was able to see mothers and their calves flicking their tails and munching grass in the hot sun.

Moving on, the ride slowly ascended the side of the valley past the site of a future campground (which is fenced and looks like it will have washroom facilities!) and up to the upper edge of the valley. Luc caught up with me at this point, having found the geocache, and we biked the rest of the way to Belza's together, concluding the 30 km ride.

We arrived at Belza's around noon. I wasn't feeling great and we didn't relish the idea of another 7 hours of the sweltering heat we'd have to endure until sundown. Luc calculated that the ride back to our vehicle was about 30 km, with half of that on paved road. He guessed that if he left all his gear at Belza's with me, and biked alone back out to Val Marie, it would take less than two hours. He would then pick up our vehicle and drive back to pick me up with all our gear. It was bittersweet. We both relished the idea of avoiding lazing around in the heat for another 7 hours, but were reluctant to cut our trip short. In the end, we agreed Luc's plan was the best idea, and he took off towards Val Marie.

I repacked some of our gear, journaled and took some video while I waited for Luc to return. Two and a half hours later a sparkle appeared in the distance, and grew until I could see it was our silver SUV. What a relief! It felt great to hop into an air conditioned vehicle and speed across the landscape. We passed more birds, hawks, and through another prairie dog colony. The route back to Val Marie that took us a half hour driving would have taken me at least 3 hours in the heat and laden with gear.

Back in Val Marie we visited a small art gallery and picked out an original pastel by a local artist as a perfect souvenir of our trip. We also bought some local honey and beef jerkey.

After this, we drove to Swift Current where we found a hotel and called our families to let them know we survived our trip!

Conclusions

We learned quite a bit during the planning portion of the trip, and also from the actual trip.

Some tips we would advise for anyone wishing to do a similar trip:

1. Choose a time of year when you'll be able to handle the climate, we suggest checking historical weather
2. Plan to bring 4 litres of water per day if biking on hot days (25 Celsius and above)
3. Consider leaving early in the morning to get the biking done before the heat of the afternoon - you may have to sit around in the heat once the biking is done but at least you won't be working!

We compiled a Youtube video so that others may see the beauty of the park. I strongly recommend watching the high definition version (change the 360p to 1080p or 720p if the computer is having trouble).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6FbaFUdyzE

A picture album for which we've chosen the best shots is located on Smugmug. The pictures are embedded with GPS coordinates so that it can be seen exactly where we were standing when we took the pictures. Click the Map button to find this out. The link is below

Smugmug Picture Album

Also, the GPS File detailing our path, which can be examined to see average speeds, altitude changes, where we were, when and campsite locations, can be obtained by clicking the link below:

GPS File from Trip

Also, the weather from our trip can be seen by clicking the link below:

Weather

Links of interest of others who have done trips in this area:

http://www.niedermayer.ca/rec/2005grasslands/ngillespie.html

http://www.sasknaturephotojournal.org/index.php?pr=Grasslands_National_Park