Canada's Serengeti: Elk Island National Park
Edmonton proudly hosts Elk Island national park. This is special in that it is a refuge home to bison and elk as well as many birds. Before heading off to Mt Robson for some packrafting I made a special effort to visit this park.
I came across Elk Island national park as a result of researching Edmonton because it was an airport destination in order to get to Mt Robson. Not being particularly interested in the city itself I wanted to know about walking, riding or paddling opportunities. This search lead me to the park and then I found out about the bison. Somewhere it was promoted as the 'Serengeti of Canada' maybe it was this web site. Having been to the Serengeti recently, the Canadians are rather short changed. Notwithstanding, it is a great place to visit and I did get to see some bison with a bit of effort.
When you get to the park there is a information centre and parks office. The fees to get to enter the park are fairly nominal. The visitor centre was quite informative and the parks staff friendly. Outside I got my first taste of interesting wildlife with this funky moth.
An information leaflet shows that it consists of several regions bounded by roads and walking tracks that encircle lakes or forest areas.
I was under the impression I'd see the animals in big herds, that was mistaken as the park is large and they could be anywhere. If I'm lucky I catch them whilst driving, otherwise it is on foot and a lottery on the track to take. Had I realised, I I would of allocated 2 to 3 days - and in hindsight did have the time. No problem, I had fun anyway and did get to see my objective.
The first walk I did was around Tawayik Lake and Oster Lake, then the Heyburger trail , all in all I end up clocking up 35km or so of walking.
(see Parks web site for more detail)
Shirley Lake Trail
Aspen forest and meadows. Good for viewing bison, moose and elk.
Hayburger Trail
Spruce bog, aspen forest and meadows. Good for viewing bison and moose.
(see Parks web site for more detail)
| Tawayik Lake Trail Aspen forest and meadows. Great for viewing elk, plains bison and waterfowl. A portion of the trail is shared with Shirley Lake Trail. |
Aspen forest and meadows. Good for viewing bison, moose and elk.
Hayburger Trail
Spruce bog, aspen forest and meadows. Good for viewing bison and moose.
The ground was quite swampy all over. The day started off warm and humid. It didn't take long for my shoes to get saturated and the bug net to be placed on my head.
I walked a long way not seeing any animals and on I was on my own. Those fears about bears and moose were working overtime in my mind. Stuart's bad singing efforts were out there to alert said animals that I am a fearsome monster. "Sing. Sing a song. Sing it LOUD, and sing it WRONG !" I used to sing that to my kids as I could never get a song right.
I am armed with - well a bad voice - and that is it, no weapon (not that I 'd ever have one), no bear spray and no mates to bolster the spirit. Here I am in this forest and swamp - there could be a bear, a moose or even a rogue bison - yo de do de do. What am I doing !
Local mosquitoes have got drilling rigs, flimsy clothes such as T-shirts aren't up to the task of border protection.
I walked a long way not seeing any animals and on I was on my own. Those fears about bears and moose were working overtime in my mind. Stuart's bad singing efforts were out there to alert said animals that I am a fearsome monster. "Sing. Sing a song. Sing it LOUD, and sing it WRONG !" I used to sing that to my kids as I could never get a song right.
I am armed with - well a bad voice - and that is it, no weapon (not that I 'd ever have one), no bear spray and no mates to bolster the spirit. Here I am in this forest and swamp - there could be a bear, a moose or even a rogue bison - yo de do de do. What am I doing !
Local mosquitoes have got drilling rigs, flimsy clothes such as T-shirts aren't up to the task of border protection.
Some platforms are provided, though not enough to avoid the worst of the water logged ground. I am still walking for more than an hour, no bison. What the .... I just home I don't end up like this (today anyway).
And the track goes on, and gets a bit wetter. Do I turn back ? Do I want to return through that fearsome forest ?
Butterfly, you are lovely, but you are not a bison.
Fresh poo ! Now we are talking.
On yonder horizon, over halfway round I spot my prey.
As I get closer I see that they are all bulls, not only that they are big. They are on the track: they are looking at me when I approach. I keep my distance and walk into the open paddock circling round to intersect it further down. The camera is on full zoom. I don't have any fancy zoom lens with this pocket camera; an Olympus Tough TG4, but it produces what I need. 7km in and that's it, no more bison on this trail nor the adjoining trail round Lake Oster..
There are lovely lakes and streams to look at. There is no way I would sit on any bench due to the insect assault. Looking at this one, I don't think anyone has !
Apart from the butterflies, another insect I quite enjoy seeing is the dragonfly. My daughter Katie likes them too and uses it as her DJ name. She is quite creative and likes to inject the sounds of the bush into her music. Listen to this with an overlay of sounds from our recent trip to Tanzania: https://soundcloud.com/dragonfly_music/savannah
I also spot a frog, which is a good sign of a healthy ecosystem. Not enough to consume all those mosquitoes though !
As if 20km of walking wasn't enough I wanted to see the female bison and their calves so I decided to do the Hayburger trail. With over 4500 bison, I am sure to see them there I thought. Good thing I'm not a gambling man - I lost the bet on that one !
Soon into the walk , maybe a 3km it started to rain. Well actually it pelted it down with hail stones.
Luckily I had my waterproof jacket on along with the insect shield.
Now, any sensible person would have turned back this early assault. Not this fellow. I thought it would be a short lived shower, another gamble that drew the wrong ticket ! A drenched soul I became.
To nature's credit though, it did relent and allowed me to dry after a couple of hours. Still no bison - they elected to stay indoors it seems. But I did get another clue; a pat on the back for my bush tracking capabilities !
The car I hired was from Thrifty. It was a Toyota RAV, which came in handy as the seats folded flat enabling a comfortable night of sleep when I needed it.
Soon into the walk , maybe a 3km it started to rain. Well actually it pelted it down with hail stones.
Luckily I had my waterproof jacket on along with the insect shield.
Now, any sensible person would have turned back this early assault. Not this fellow. I thought it would be a short lived shower, another gamble that drew the wrong ticket ! A drenched soul I became.
To nature's credit though, it did relent and allowed me to dry after a couple of hours. Still no bison - they elected to stay indoors it seems. But I did get another clue; a pat on the back for my bush tracking capabilities !
Another ungulate is about. There it is ! Hanging around just long enough for my photo shoot it disappears.
So, that was it for Elk Island national park. I would of, should of stayed on longer. Although I only saw a few animals, it was exciting and I am happy.
From here I left to go to Mt Robson. This journey was supposed to be via Canmore to Jasper on the Icefields parkway. I had issues with the mobile phone and did not realise data was off and also did not realise the car I hired had gps navigation. The journey was much longer than necessary as I was heading east to Toronto rather than south to Calgary. By the time I realised, I was 200km out of the way so I ended up sleeping in the car at Calgary.
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Oh >> The other thing of note was that I stayed at a nice Airbnb farm house listed as 'Country Comfort farm stay' in Sherwood park for a very reasonable price. The couple set it up well with my own area upstairs. They stayed in Australia for a year as the lady was on teaching exchange in a rural area. We had a bit to talk about with this connection.
Cycling is another sport I enjoy. I just wonder who rode this steed.
and I almost had an additional passenger on my way to the national park.
The car I hired was from Thrifty. It was a Toyota RAV, which came in handy as the seats folded flat enabling a comfortable night of sleep when I needed it.
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