A few days ago, I had the day off from work so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to go on another adventure. I read in my Saskatchewan trail guide that around Lower Quill Lake, there was a marshy area that not only had some wonderful trails but were also prime birdwatching areas. In fact, they’re actually recognized as areas of importance by international birding groups. So, of course, I had to check it out!
So, I woke up early Monday morning, strapped on my hiking boots, grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed east! I must say that highway 5 is a scary place to drive. Pretty at first but a very narrow road and rickety road! But a couple hours later, I reached the town of Wadena without incident. After gasing up, I headed south along highway 35 and quickly arrived at the turn off for the wetlands. Only 6 more kilometres and I would be surrounded by birds! Or so I thought!
Dirt roads are pretty scary in my little car so after 6ish kilometres, I found myself staring at a road that lead to a wet patch. Did I miss a turn somewhere? Within a few minutes, a couple in an SUV drove up and stopped near me. I got out of my car to ask them if they knew anything. “No, this is the right road. That gazebo of there is where you’re supposed to go but…the road wasn’t like this last year.” Yeah, I had travelled over 200km and couldn’t reach my destination because the last kilometre as washed out – ‘disappointment’ is/was an understatement!
But I hung around for a little bit anyway. It was quite windy that day so I didn’t want to sit in the open for too long. Especially since I didn’t bring a chair with me because I assumed that I’d be on the trail where there would be benches. I saw quite a few flocks of birds on my to the wetlands. There was a mega gaggle of geese flying over the highway at one point. How big? Well, driving 120km/h, it took a good 3 minutes to drive the width of this gaggle so do the math! I was a little surprised though that there weren’t more at the marsh but then again, I wasn’t exactly sitting in prime view area. Here are a few pictures I took from the spot where I stopped though.
Disappointed, I drove home. However, I did have an alternate plan. When I realized that I couldn’t continue forward at the wetlands, I called home to let my parents know what had happened. My mom suggested that since I’d be home a bit early, maybe could go take their trailer to it’s winter storage area near Pike Lake. Well…if we were going to be out by Pike Lake, maybe we could to the park later and see who’s on that trail!
By the time I got home, relaxed, hitched up the trailer, drove to the storage area, and got everything set up, it was definitely getting a bit late. Night comes earlier now and we were running out of daylight. But we still headed to the trail and discovered something interesting.
I’ve heard about all the wonders that the great outdoors could do for a person’s health both physically and mentally but there’s no doubt that emotional health can be easily boosted. I felt so low after that disappointing morning (and a bad night due to a personal matter) but as soon as I saw the first animal – a grouse – in the woods, it immediately lifted my spirits. We only walked about halfway down the trail and saw a few squirrels but as soon as the chickadees came to eat from our hands, it was an even bigger boost to my mood. There’s really nothing quite like it and that’s definitely why, whether on my own or with others, I love these trips so much!
