Regina – Fort Qu’Appelle

By Deanna on July 19, 2013 • ( 0 )

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Today: 71km

To date: 2,039.5 km

To go: 5,760.5 km

Leaving Regina along the Trans Canada was not pretty. The smog seemed to be thick and the road was terribly straight with traffic whizzing by – at least no complaints about the shoulder. We had been told by Tony, a fellow cyclist behind us, that highway 10 was a much better way to go. After about 10km we got to the junction of the 10 and were immediately rewarded by lighter traffic – and bumpy, frost-heaven shoulders……. there is just no perfect road!

Well no, thats not quite true – after a period of construction, we did get smooth shoulders and I was in complete bliss all the way to Fort Qu’Appelle. Whoever said Saskatchewan is completely flat must have stuck to the Trans Canada – because I was surprised to find some rolling hills and a steep descent down to the town (I immediately recognized with a sinking feeling in my stomach that this would mean an equally steep climb up the other side of the valley tomorrow morning).

I caught up with the boys at A&W but opted to make myself some oatmeal for lunch. Ever since Swift Current, I have been carrying around 1kg of oatmeal, so I am now trying to eat it at every opportunity! We set up camp in the Fort Campground and went for a swim in Echo Lake. I was a bit hesitant to get in because there was a bunch of green murky algae like material welcoming me – but the heat and the layer of sweat I had built up over the day was pushing me in. It was a shallow lake – in fact you could walk out for 100s of meters – you might have been able to walk across the whole thing – I got tired of trying to find where it got deep.

Alex had noticed a spot that looked good for fishing, so we went back to see if we could catch something for dinner. After about 15 minutes – sure enough! Alex caught a pike – about a pound or so – enough for the 3 of us!

That night there was a crazy sunset – I wish I knew how to operate my camera better because although I like the pictures I did get – they did not even come close to capturing the beauty in the large brilliantly red sun.