Saturday 22 August 2009

Trip Alberta & Saskatchewan Part 3 N. Saskatchewan River

In the springtime Linda and Dave visited us. They treated us to a lovely day at the family 'cabin'. After a short drive out of Saskatoon, suddenly the land falls to the gorge of the North Saskatchewan river.
Looking south ... and north ... The view is 'wrap around'. here we look back to the house on the top of the river embankment.These trees grew in the river gorge - protected from severe winter cold. The date was the beginning of June and many wild flowers nestled on the hillside.
The beavers had terraced the side of the river embankment. In the early days, many farmers depended on the ponds built by the beaver. They were used for the cattle in dry summers.The saying, "As busy as a beaver ... " seems true. We spent about an hour hiking down the slope and circling back. The beaver was was active the whole time - dragging twigs around and keeping an eye on us. This piece of land is rolling grassland, with the deep gorge below.The boulders are ancient rock pushed along by the river over time. They are a soft stone with a variety of lichen crusting the surface. The lichen grows slowly and may be hundreds of years old. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/lichens/lichenlh.html
There are pits/holes in the rocks, formed by a softer composition or lichen that have 'eaten' away the rock?Glorious sunset ... in the making! In all it's glory ...

2 comments:

~ Phyllis ~ said...

I love my visits to your blog. As usual your pictures are a feast for the eyes.

heidi said...

you have done a great job with this pictures.
I love your blog,
Heidi