From Shilo to Holland

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From Shilo to Holland

Thursday, 19 July 2007

Today we drove back to waypoint 002, near CFB Shilo, according to my GPS, and I took Silver for a ride to Holland. We were about 15 kilometres north of the Spirit Sands area of Spruce Woods Provincial Park, so Bob & Panna were going to go there, check it out & maybe wait for me, as I figured I’d be there in about an hour or so. It looked like it was going to be another scorcher!

When I got there I could see that Casper was still there, but no sign of my traveling companions. I was just about ready to head out on the trail, as bicycles are not allowed on those trails, when they returned, both hot & sweaty. They’d gone along one of the shorter trails, the one I’d planned to take. Bob said the footing was a bit more difficult due to walking on sand, sort of like dancing at Bomba’s (not everyone knows what I’m talking about, sorry!). So they headed off, back to Neepawa, because something that had been mailed to me from Ottawa had not yet arrived & Bob was going to see if it had by that afternoon.

The trail to the area with the cacti was quite long - would have taken about 2 hours to walk - and I really preferred to spend the time on the bike, so I took the shorter trail, about 45 min. to walk, just to the edge of the dunes, which are quite high - 10-12', not like the 3-4' dunes I’ve seen in some places. I decided to turn around when I got to a log & rope staircase going up one of the dunes, as I was carrying quite a few items from the bike and I felt it would be too awkward & tricky to go up & then down those stairs - there’s a photo here.

Before leaving the parking lot I had my lunch, then got back in the saddle, so to speak, and the rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, except for the heat (the way I like it!). I noticed I was getting low on both Gatorade-type stuff and plain water, so I stopped in a little town called Cypress River to replenish my supply. Noticed there was definite signage leading to the Trans Canada Trail in that town & decided that one of my next excursions would be on it. Back on the highway there was a nice shady picnic area, where I stopped to cool off a bit & took some photos of some nesting “tunnels” - part of a conservation program, they provide safer nesting areas for some of the waterfowl which frequent the marshy areas. I also saw Bob as he was driving by to meet me & he stopped & we decided I’d try to get to Holland.

That final stretch was a bit difficult - it so often is. And I could see in the distance the beginning of what are called the Pembina Hills, another geological phenomenon in this part of North America (they extend into North Dakota too), which I expected to see more of in the coming days. And it was with great relief that I finally rolled into Holland & we were able to head back “home” to Brandon for a late dinner eaten in our motel room - when it’s hot like this I don’t like to leave Panna in the van for us to go out, sigh.

DAY 25: 59.1 km (plus the 3+ km walking at Sprit Sands), in 3:36 hours, ave. speed 16.3 km/hr, max. speed 33.1 km/hr

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