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!