Paddling through the Hoodoos

This summer has been one outdoor adventure after another, the latest being a camping trip to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park in Southern Alberta. A fantastic location for families with the shallow, warm, sandy bottomed Milk River to play in and the amazing sandstone Hoodoos to explore and climb around.

It’s certainly a favourite spot to spend a few days when visiting my in laws in Lethbridge and this year we had the added attraction of taking along a canoe.

We took turns in small groups paddling the 10km from upstream down to the campsite. Just floating was an option with the occasional steering to pick a route past a fallen tree or through small, rippling unthreatening rapids. Enjoying the tranquility and scenery offered up by the Milk River Valley we spotted deer, kingfishers, dragonflies, bank beaver slides. The mud nests of cliff swallows set protected beneath the overhanging sandstone rocks lined the route. Soothing hues of greens, yellows, and the blue summer sky made up a calm surrounding collage especially beautiful as the sun began to set and the colours took on the warm golden glow.

We’ll be back next year to canoe longer stretches with the guarantee of a memorable family waterborne adventure.