11-13 August: After a day of driving across southern Alberta and into southwestern Saskatchewan through wide open vistas of flat, arid, prairie farmland, we camped at Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. The valley of the South Saskatchewan River was carved at the southern margin of the continental ice sheet at the end of the last ice age by torrents of glacial meltwater. Saskatchewan Landing has served as an important crossing of the South Saskatchewan for centuries (perhaps for millennia). Nomadic natives of the plains, European fur trappers, mixed blood Métis, homesteaders, and ranchers at various times used this area. A long reach of the South Saskatchewan that includes Saskatchewan Landing is now submerged in narrow Diefenbaker Lake, the result of two dams built in the late 1960s to provide flood control, irrigation, power, and recreational boating. There is a diverse fish fauna in the lake, including sturgeon, whitefish, Rainbow Trout (an introduced species), Goldeye, Northern Pike, Burbot, Yellow Perch, Walleye, and Sauger.
There is noticeably more relief in the river valley than in the surrounding plains. Besides the valley of the South Saskatchewan itself, there are many small tributary valleys (“coulees”) carved into its sides, forming a complex of valleys and ridges along its course. Although these coulees have very little water flowing through them now, when the glaciers were melting they were being eroded by powerful rivers of meltwater. The small springs and creeks remaining in the coulees nowadays are barely sufficient to support shrubs and small trees in this otherwise arid land of grassy plains.
Along Swift Current Creek, a tributary to the South Saskatchewan, the city of Swift Current has parkland and a very nice paved bike path. Unfortunately, Amy’s bike chain broke again so we only got to explore a small section of the trail. When a nearby resident walked over to us to offer a ride, we declined so we could walk back on the trail, but lingered for at least a half hour to chat with him.