A Day on The River

Welcome 

Hugs to all and welcome to the Fireside minus the fire, sorry just a little to hot for my liking. If you catch a chill grab a quilt to stay warm. 

I was awake this morning at 4:48 on the nose. As hungry as a bear, the first time in a long while. Since the injury 2 months ago I have dropped 16 pounds and down to 168 pounds. Fried up some onions, four medium potatoes and 4 eggs. Sorry there are no left overs, I took my doctors advice, he said stay active and do what you normally do but do it with caution. 

By 6:00am I was one the road, pontoon boat and all my gear and heading down the highway. I caught this picture of a beautiful sky, a weird cloud formation you could float away on. 

This is where I found myself a mere half hour from home. A place called Dry Island Buffalo Jump. The Red Deer River lazily winding its way through what we here call the Badlands. A place were many dinosaur skeletons have been found. This valley runs through centeral Alberta and in it heart is an amazing place called... 

 http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com

​It is a facinating place you can loose all sense of time in.
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So why Dry Island Buffalo Jump... well it is one of the places the Cree Indians would round up the buffalo and chase them to their certain death as they plummeted over  a bank like this one.
Yes it woukd seem barbaric but keep in mind in the day there were not the high powered rifles we have today. It is said the Chief would decide the number of animals it would take to sustain the tribe. The young braves would cut that number from the herd and drive them over the edge where the women and children harvest the bounty.

The Cree people were well known to never waste any part of the animal. Buffalo were their main source of meat at the time. As well there were many fish to be had in the river. Maintaining the health and need to the tribe would be essential to to their survival of the pending long cold winters.

Of course the road you see would not have been there. Maybe it was a trail of sorts but today it does lead down to the river itself.

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Yesterday I was able to walk across this section of river in my chest waders but today brought my pontoon boat. It allows me better access to some of the better pools where fish gather. Watching birds of chance such as pelicans will easily tell you where the fish are.

The Red Deer River supports several species of fish but the target fish for flyfishing today were the scrappy Goldeye. They are extremely high in Omega Oils and certainly not my favourite. I have eaten them cooked and processed in many forms from frying, steaming and smoking and I am afraid they are not on my palette so they just go back into the river.  

Yet another species are Sturgeon but they are generally very small and are strictly protected. They are a fish which requires hour upon hours of patience  as they are illusive. 

This morning was a rather slow morning in the fishing department. I managed to get a few Goldeye and they were returned to grow larger. It was all about simply getting out. 

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Getting too or leaving has its challenges as there are many switch backs in the road. Slowly climbing or descending can be an experience but the benefits are amazing. I might add this morning my second breakfast were fresh off the vine wild Saskatoon berries.

Of course the travel and the countryside are always a part of the experience. Here there are mile after miles of flowering Canola' This is where Canola cooking oil is found.

The last half hour on the river revealed a storm brewing in the west. I would love to attach a video of the storm that followed but Weebly does not like video it appears. Just saying I was glad to be unloaded back at home when the sky opened.

Hope the journey has been interesting from the stills I have attached... 

Thank you for the visit and should there be any questions you have, well just pass them along and I will try to answer them for you.

Now is the time to start planning the next venture into Northern and central BC... fishing of course and I will try and get some pictures ... In the meanwhile many hugs and as always even more blessings 

© Rolly A. Chabot 

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