THE EXPEDITION Chapter 11 Coyotes and Tricks (Section 2)

In which the Expedition travels through a magical landscape 

Date: May 17 2019

From Ernfold to Chaplin 20km

Dawn spilled across the highway as we got going, and it was so beautiful and peaceful that I further resolved to try harder to get going earlier.

The next campground would be in Chaplin, so that’s where we were going. As we approached, we discovered the answer to the increasingly frosty landscape, and the birds that were quite definitely pelicans. As the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Interpretive Centre explains (or does if you go when they’re open, which I couldn’t), this area is part of a network of sanctuaries across north and South America, protecting an increasing number of endangered species. These include the little Piping Plovers I used to know in Long Beach Island when I was little. It’s so surreal to find them here in the middle of the prairies, but Old Wives Lake is the second largest salt water lake in Canada, and one of the few biggest in North America – who knew?! 

The salt is mined, for fertilizer, for the mega-farms threatening the stability of the entire global ecosystem all around this little protected pocket. I’m not sure how that constitutes protecting the birds. Maybe I should have waited till they opened to ask that. Maybe they’re trying to change things.

A mountain of nearly-white crystals stands by Chaplin, and that side of everything from buildings to grasses are coated with sparkling saltfrost. It’s eerie and beautiful, and almost like a scene out of a science fiction movie. If I lived here I could never stop taking photographs. Maybe it’s inspirational; there’s several very talented creative people in town and around. Betty’s Cafe is full of photos and paintings, all local, and an incredible collection of furniture made from massive twisted roots and branches found nearby. Between the scenery, the art, the cafe, and the people, it’s a unique and surprising town… another place on the long list of places I almost could have stayed. 

I still stay in touch with Betty, who was so kind to us. She didn’t mind the smelly gypsy who wandered in with a dog, too tired to really quite make sense. She fed us and gave us directions to the campground, and ice for my knee, and made me promise to come for breakfast. Betty makes some of the best potato soup I’ve ever had, and lovely perfect eggs. If you can get there by some carbon-free means of transportation, it’d be worth the trip!

We had company at the campground. A sweet couple around my age, maybe younger, were doing a roadtrip in their camper… they were going to visit family, so she could say goodbye before cancer took that opportunity from her, too. She was so real and down to earth, and he was so sad…. it was beautiful to meet them. We had a long visit and talked so much, and she gave me one of her own knitted toques, because mine had blown away again. I’ve lost a couple more since then, but still have hers and treasure it.

My knee wasn’t very good, and after the evening at Ernfold, wresting with the scooter and not sleeping because of the coyotes, the rest of me wasn’t much better. I stayed put the next day, evaluating and deciding. 

Date: May 18 2019, Chaplin

We did go for breakfast, and again later in the afternoon. Mr Myrtle charmed the locals, as usual, and I talked with them about my mission. Betty’s grandson, cafe assistant extraordinaire, regaled with us with tales and plans for the garden he and Betty were planning. In the afternoon after his homework, he was also working on colouring some pictures, and gave me a particularly special one with a bright bee, to keep. His own drawing, on the back, was a wonderfully happy drawing of Mr Myrtle and I, and I still keep it tucked safely into the Saskatchewan pages of my mapbook. 

There wasn’t going to be a good place to camp on the next chunk of road. Betty and her husband, and a few other people, were pretty sure of that. The coyotes had been right in the campground, and right up against our tent again, even here in a town and with a big camper beside us. Apparently they never came into town here, they had enough to do and eat, and kept to their own business. We were careful the second night, and in the morning, Betty’s husband drove us to Caronport. I felt like I was cheating, but I could get a room and take care of my knee. I couldn’t give up, but I couldn’t wreck that, either.

Date: May 19 2019

From Chaplin to Caronport (rode 62.5 km)

Caronport wasn’t very welcoming. It’s not so much a town as it is a bible college and related accoutrements, with a big gas station/store/restaurant for the highway folks. Needless to say, I was not this hotel’s usual or preferred sort of person and they made no secret of that. First they tried to ignore me, then to disallow us a room, then tried to charge me a huge extra fee. It’s quite illegal, not to mention mean, to treat people with service dogs that way, especially when there’s nowhere else to go for miles and the person is clearly hurt. We stayed one night and that evening I arranged to accept a ride to Regina with someone following the walk page. It was too expensive (and unhelpful and rude) to stay here, and , where I was looking forward to staying with Carmen, and to all we’d talked about – and I could stop a while to take better care of my knee. Carrie would meet me at the picnic spot behind the Subway restaurant here in the morning. 

It was horrible deciding that. Part of me felt like a traitor to my mission. That part was mostly fueled by people who saw it that way, or who just thought the whole thing was a waste of time. The other part of me knew that knees aren’t a dime a dozen on the road, and the mission was more than a walk. All the adversities are part of the story, and the story is about changing the world. Nothing’s easy, and that sure as heck won’t be. But we really can do anything. We just have to believe it, and do it.

That’s part of what my new friend and I discussed, and I wish we could have stayed in touch better too. She’s a fascinating person with so much care for the Earth and we could have talked for ages. I’m happy we met, and grateful for her help as well as her encouragement.

I was having trouble getting in touch with Carmen, though. She was in BC, but expected to back in a day or two. I had no idea where we’d stay in the meantime but figured Regina is certainly big enough that all sorts of things could happen.

From Caronport to Regina (rode 123 km)

#ChaplinSaltCaronport #WalktoWakentheNationexpeditionbook