The Big Rock (Okotoks)

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Okotoks here we come, we are off again, we have heard heaps of people talk about Okotoks, we liked the name and it’s not far away so we go check it out. It’s a nice town and the name is derived from the word “ohkotok” which means “rock” so we found the big glacial erratic rock. The Big Rock is split down the middle and a Blackfoot story of how this happened is:

“One hot summer day, Napi, the supernatural trickster of the Blackfoot peoples, rested on the rock because the day was warm and he was tired. He spread his robe on the rock, telling the rock to keep the robe in return for letting Napi rest there. Suddenly, the weather changed and Napi became cold as the wind whistled and the rain fell. Napi asked the rock to return his robe, but the rock refused. Napi got mad and just took the clothing. As he strolled away, he heard a loud noise and turning, he saw the rock was rolling after him. Napi ran for his life. The deer, the bison and the pronghorn were Napi's friends, and they tried to stop the rock by running in front of it. The rock rolled over them. Napi's last chance was to call on the bats for help. Fortunately, they did better than their hoofed neighbours, and by diving at the rock and colliding with it, one of them finally hit the rock just right and it broke into two pieces. Not only does this story explain why the rock is in two pieces, but also why bats have squashed-looking faces. The tale provides helpful caution against taking back what you have given away.”

After seeing the Big Rock we went for a tiki tour, there was a thunderstorm and we saw fork lightning for the first time.

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