We chopped down a tree in the forest!

Part 2! We had such a perfect Prince Albert National Park trip this year that I wanted to write about it. There’s still one more week to go get your tree!

As I mentioned in my last post, we stayed in a cabin at Elk Ridge Resort this year. However on the way in, we decided to overshoot the Elk Ridge turnoff, head into the park, and do the Boundary Bog hiking trail before it got dark. This is always a nice quick trail to do either on your way in or out of the park, and was a great way to stretch our legs after a few hours of driving. I love this trail in the winter, with the dormant tamaracks and snow-covered boardwalk.

After Boundary Bog we went to check in at Elk Ridge, unpacked, read books for a while, and then went for supper at the Fireside restaurant. We had a delicious meal, both ordering the available fish dishes, which proved not so heavy that we had room for sticky date pudding for dessert.

On Saturday morning we made breakfast and coffee in the cabin and set our game plan for the day. We had originally hoped to do some cross country skiing on this trip, but the trails at Elk Ridge and in PANP were not quite ready yet, so we recalibrated and decided to try the Mud Creek hiking trail at South Bay. I have been to PANP nearly every year of my life, but never on this trail, and I feel ripped off! It was such an amazingly beautiful trail, with water views almost the whole way around the loop. The highlight though was seeing two otters tumbling around, playing, and sliding on the ice on their bellies – neither of us had ever seen this outside of a zoo!

(The sun was so bright, I had no idea if I was in focus or not, so these are not particularly good photos.)

After Mud Creek, we drove over to the Height of Land Tower, which is another park institution that I only recently discovered for myself and feel ripped off about. The road was blocked so we parked at the barrier and did the 5 minute walk to the tower. This is a park highlight, winter or summer – such an amazing view.

We then stopped at the park office to get our tree permit and couldn’t resist the 25% off on park merch. We restrained ourselves to a couple of mugs, however, and then set off for one last trail – Waskesiu River. Usually we see some wildlife on this one in the winter but it was silent except for some invisible chattering squirrels. Our winter visits often coincide with cloudy weather – the sunny day made for a new experience on this trail!

The weather overall was pretty perfect for winter hiking – about -20 with almost no wind, which was not too cold but not so warm that we overheated while in full winter walking gear.

Our second supper at Fireside was not quite as memorable as the first, but still good. We both ordered dishes featuring elk (when in Rome), but this time were too full for dessert.

We made a pretty quick exit on our final day – breakfast in the cabin, pack up and check out, and a stopoff to choose a tree. In other years it’s taken quite a while to find a good tree, but this time we spotted a nicely shaped, full tree right off the road. It just barely fit into the vehicle – definitely the fanciest tree we’ve brought home from the park!

On the way home we decided to stop in Hague and try Jake’s Burger, which was featured a couple years ago on a “top burgers in Saskatchewan” list. We’ve of course driven past Hague dozens of times, but never stopped to eat. Chalk it up to yet another thing we’ve cheated ourselves out of all these years – I will never be stopping for lunch at Prince Albert McDonald’s again! The burgers were so fresh and juicy and the options for free toppings unbeatable. We opted out of fries (they did look amazing though) so we could get a saskatoon tart with ice cream (in reality, ice cream with a bit of tart on the side) from Home Baked Goodness in the same little food court building. I think most south-central SK road trippers know about the legendary Wakaw rest stop, but this place is giving it a run for its money!

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend keeping some traditions alive and adding in new ones. While we splurged a bit, this is a trip that needn’t be terribly expensive if you plan your accommodations and meals right either. Visiting PANP is a perfect way to make the most of winter in SK!

We're going to chop down a tree in the forest!

For the past few years, Prince Albert National Park has had a “cut your own tree” program where you can go to the park, get a permit, and cut down a blue spruce from the Waskesiu town site fire break. We have been doing this every year since it started, and it is an extremely fun winter activity.

Going up to PANP in the winter is wonderful in itself and we’d still go even without the promise of a free Charlie Brown tree (let’s be real, these trees are not cultivated to be decorative and a bit on the scraggly side). The park is so quiet and empty, but they still keep most of the hiking trails groomed and it’s an awesome time of year for wildlife viewing because there just aren’t that many people around.

(Last year we definitely found the king of the forest while hunting for our tree!)

There is not a ton of choice for accommodations in or around the park, but there is enough to accommodate most price points. If you want to stay in the park, you can get a room or suite at either Waskesiu Lake Lodge (warning – autoplay video with sound) or The Hawood Inn for as little as $80/night, or get a cabin at Lost Creek Resort (again, autoplay warning). Lost Creek is the fanciest and newest of the three options, but is off the main road without a lake view. The Hawood has the only in-park dining in the offseason. We have stayed at both The Hawood and Lost Creek which have both been good – though I would avoid the Hanging Heart Condo at The Hawood in winter because it is far too big to keep warm with the existing heating infrastructure.

(Waskesiu River boardwalk trail)

Another place to stay just outside the park is Elk RidgeResort, which has everything from hotel rooms to large cottages or townhouses. This year we’re staying in a cabin for our second time at Elk Ridge. The pricing is similar to Lost Creek. We prefer cabins to hotel rooms because we can cook a lot of our own meals, and the guaranteed quiet. The restaurant at Elk Ridge is very good (we’ve eaten at least one meal every year there for the last few, and between the two of us only one meal has ever been bad).

(Boundary Bog trail)

Back to chopping down your own tree – I come from a “real Christmas tree” family, where we always had a real tree growing up, but we never went to a tree farm to choose one. We lived close to a mall which either had a tree seller set up in the parking lot, or a cage of trees at the Extra Foods, so we’d walk down to the mall with the toboggan and pull the tree home on the sled. Brahm and I would always get real trees from a greenhouse or tree lot for Christmas for the first few years we were married, but the first time we cut one down in the fire break was kind of magical. It is so much fun to hunt around for the “perfect” tree. In nature, most trees are not nicely symmetrical so it takes a while to find a good one, and then your car will smell amazing all the way home.

I highly recommend this Saskatchewan winter escape! It’s just under a 3 hour drive from Saskatoon, but the northern boreal forest is a completely different landscape, and especially beautiful and rejuvenating in the winter.

(Last year's tree in all its Charlie Brown glory)

The Buzz Lightyear Kid

One Saturday morning a year or two ago, my husband and I went to our neighbourhood Co-op for some groceries. As we were entering the store I noticed a kid and a dad getting out of their car. The kid was wearing most of a Buzz Lightyear costume, and then the dad helped the kid into the wings to complete the costume out in the parking lot, before they entered the store.

I should note that it was not anywhere close to Halloween on the calendar.

For the next 10 or so minutes that we spent in the store, we passed the Buzz Lightyear kid and their dad a few times. The kid looked SO genuinely happy and proud to be out in public in a Buzz Lightyear costume, and the dad appeared equally thrilled to be able to make his kid so happy.

Pretty soon, all the customers in the store had encountered this joyful situation and you could actually feel the mood in the store lifting. Everyone was smiling as they shopped.

So thank you, Buzz Lightyear kid, whoever you are. And thanks to your dad. You randomly made our collective day, and I still think about you fondly.

Alternate Gift Idea - Meewasin

My last post admittedly did only discuss “material” gifts. I possibly implied that they are the best gifts, but of course the actual best gifts are more meaningful than chocolate from Shoppers. I was mainly focusing on thoughtful gifts that one could give to anyone on their list, including the co-worker you don’t know very well but drew the name of in office Secret Santa.

The true best gifts for people you care a lot about are experiences, or tied to shared memories, and today I will talk about a Saskatoon gift idea along that theme.

I assume if you’ve ever been to Saskatoon, you’ve spent some time near the river. You may not be aware that the conservation of the river valley, not just in the city limits but covering a pretty large area outside ofthe city as well, is managed by the Meewasin Valley Authority (MVA). Fed a chickadee at Beaver Creek? Meewasin. Skated at the outdoor rink downtown? Meewasin. Sat on a bench along the river trails, or spent an afternoon watching pelicans at the weir? Meewasin! You get the picture.

(photo credit to my dad)

The MVA unfortunately does not have unlimited funding, and has had to scale back some beloved services in recent years, so it’s an important cause to donate to if you have the means (and advocate for when you have the opportunity!). Right now until December 20, one of the MVA’s founding members is matching donations up to $50,000, so your gift can go even further.

(no colour editing whatsoever)

The MVA offers a few “dedication” donation options which can make for very special gifts. It looks like they have raised the minimum donations for these items in the last year, so are probably a bit beyond the everyday gift budget. If you do have the means, the limit starts at $150, and these donations get you an invite to the annual tree dedication ceremony in the early summer. Last year I dedicated a brick in memory of my dad, so my family and I went to the ceremony and then for a walk at River Landing to find the brick. Similarly it would be nice to do this with “your” tree or shrub! Or, if you make a smaller donation, it could still be accompanied with a nice card and an IOU for going out to Beaver Creek and feeding the chickadees with the recipient, in lieu of a material gift.

(so many Western Red Lilies at Beaver Creek this past June!)

Even if you can’t donate, it’s a nice time of year to reflect on how lucky we are to have the MVA in Saskatoon. I’m sure I’ve taken it for granted most of my life, assuming most other cities also have such well-maintained, four-season public spaces along their river valleys, but I know this not to be true. I can't count the number of times that spending time in Meewasin has turned my day around, or given me a special and lasting memory - we are so fortunate!