Well, yes, as it turns out I got it right first time.  Bit of a fluke I think. For the annual school spelling bee it is the Canadian equivalent of Mississippi but without the repetition or the famous river.  We entered Saskatchewan via its northern-most boundary road with Manitoba and then headed a bit further north, almost hitting the 55^th parallel, before camping on the banks of one of the thousands of beautiful lakes that speckle these northern reaches.  The sun came out, the mirror-like water perfectly reflected the thick trees down to its shore, the birds were singing and we were loving Saskatchewan, however you spell it.

So clear was the sky that night we set our alarms for 1.30am and stood on the shore of this beautiful lake to spot the northern lights, perhaps not at their best but still a green glow in the northern sky.  It was a great way to start Canada Day, special this year because Canadians are celebrating 150 years as an independent country.  With the red and white maple leaf in our mind, the next morning we headed west and followed a long dirt track that was rutted and in poor condition, passing through more thick forest and seeing nary another vehicle before hitting the hardtop and eventually entering Prince Albert National Park.

Prince Albert NP is the crown jewel of northern Saskatchewan, preserving a huge track of untouched land, thick boreal forests, pristine lakes, open swampy meadows and cold mountain streams.  Prince Albert also has a section of the park featuring free ranging bison (not more bison!) and – as we’ve seen in other Canadian parks – a small town which supports a huge range of visitor activities.

The community of Waskesiu is on the shores of picturesque Lake Waskesiu, the centrepiece of the park.  And on Canada Day it was hopping with thousands of people exploring its shops, lolling on the nearby beach or splashing in the water.  And it just wouldn’t be right unless you were wearing red and white, probably featuring a maple leaf, maybe waving a flag or having the flag tattoo on both your cheeks.  We’ve already seen many times over how patriotic the Canadians are and they showed it big time on Canada Day.

We headed up to Hanging Heart Lakes and hired a kayak for a couple of hours, exploring the shoreline of these interconnected lakes, rounding the small islands, enjoying the warm sunshine we haven’t seen much of lately.  We then headed into town, grabbed a couple of local brews, sat on the grass and listened to local bands while we people-watched how Canadians celebrate their big day under a warm sun in a beautiful setting.  First rate, Canucks, congratulations!

That night in the overflow camping area, a bit of a Rafferty Rules type place where it seemed everyone did whatever pleased them, others be damned, a big black bear came into camp and did what he pleased which was looking for food.  The first couple of times he was scared off by campers but he couldn’t take the hint and came back within gunshot range of the Ranger who fired four times, scaring the big guy off for the night.  Bit of Canada Day excitement, eh?

The next day we did a beautiful little 2km walk along a nearby lake and followed a creek upstream which had a number of active beavers.  We saw very fresh tracks and bear scat on the trail plus a number of big trees that had been recently felled and cut into pieces by an industrious little beaver.  Later we were told a bear had been seen moments before we started the walk.

We drove south into civilisation and Carlton Fort Historic Site, where the famous Hudson Bay Company established a major trading fort on the banks of the Saskatchewan River in the 19^th century.  This fort was on the edge of civilisation as it was known at the time, trading with native Indians, fur trappers and bison hunters while shipping the valuable furs via river all the way back to the Hudson Bay where they eventually set sail for the lucrative markets of England.  It was a fabulous learning experience for us with an excellent little interpretive centre, a recreated fort and even some locals answering questions in the fort.  Great stuff.

We camped in a regional park on the banks of Redberry Lake featuring another gritty ‘beach’ for the locals to splash in on this holiday weekend.  We reminded ourselves that Saskatchewanians are thousands of kilometres from any ocean and some may never reach those shores.  For them the definition of a beach is much broader than it is for us.  In any case, they were loving it.

Having really enjoyed Carlton Fort we wanted to visit another famous fort that was on our path before leaving Saskatchewan.  Fort Battleford was further west than Carlton and was home to the predecessors of the famed Royal Canadian Mountain Police.

It was near here that one of the most important battles occurred between the local Indians and government forces which led to mass hanging of Indian leaders, very lopsided treaties and the further subjugation of the land’s original inhabitants.  This turn of history is well documented at Fort Battleford and it gave us the full picture on how the Hudson Bay Company and the British government ‘won’ the west.

We crossed over into eastern Alberta from Saskatchewan and enjoyed a beautiful tour of the rich and fertile lands that provided the original wealth of this province.  The lightly rolling plains were a checkerboard of green and yellow as the bright canola fields mixed in with the traditional green grains and grasses that were enjoying the early summer sun.  Small towns on the train line mainly featured huge grain silos and there seemed to be more tractors than cars.  In fact, the only vehicle I passed all day on these quiet country roads was a big green tractor – all the local farmers drive their huge trucks like demons possessed!

Before we reached Edmonton we pulled into a very unique place – Elk Island National Park.  Unique because it is the only national park in Canada (and maybe the world?) which is completely enclosed in a heavy duty fence to keep all its large wild animals inside.  The feeling while inside these fences was perhaps like being in a real-life Jurassic Park but without the velociraptors.  We were told you can find – if you’re very lucky – what they call ‘the big six’ which is elk, plains bison, woods bison, mule deer, white tail deer and moose.

We explored the park before setting up camp in probably the worst setting we’ve seen in any national park.  It was like a car park with the fire ring in the middle of the bitumen foot path.  Never mind, we’re flexible, and the next morning we set off again to find some of these big fabulous creatures.  It wasn’t easy because the park is big enough and the woods, lakes and plains are diverse enough to let all these animals go about their natural business without being seen but eventually we found a large herd – perhaps 75 to 100 – of plains bison grazing in an open paddock.  We joined others to watch these beautiful beasts as they slowly moved away from us.

We made our way to a commercial campground – a rare event for us – on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River not far from the Edmonton airport.  We spent the afternoon overlooking the river while we attended to some chores, washing, cleaning, sorting and packing for our flight the next day to Reno to attend our nephew’s wedding.  Very exciting.

It is said that most people only pass through Saskatchewan rather than visit it and I suppose that was partly true for us.  But we had some fabulous experiences while we were passing through, most importantly celebrating Canada’ 150^th anniversary in Prince Albert National Park and gaining a much better understanding of how Europeans expanded across this northern continent in the 19^th century.  But we’ve got a plane to catch!