Originally I had planned to take a day off driving; however I asked the boys and they wanted to go on. Their hope being that it would mean less travel time on the way back home. I decided that Swan Hills would be a great one to get out of the way since it was further north; this meant that we could simply start heading east the following day. If only I'd known how much road construction there would be. I used this extra waiting time to take about the changing landscapes and the many lakes in the area. To be honest, I'm not sure that the kids heard much of what I said; they were to wrapped up in their DS games.
Along Hwy 33 as you enter Swan Hills you will find a very unique scene - The Wilderness Sculpture. It is located beside the tourist information booth; which is a beautiful historic log cabin. The scene the depicts a mother goose protecting her eggs from a bear. It is hard to miss the copper and red sculptures. The unique steel sculptures, weighing approximately 2,000 pounds, were constructed in 503 hours by Kevin Oracheski of Edmonton, Alberta. Nearly 20,000 pieces of steel make up this truly unique piece of art.
After filling up with gas and buying each of us a tub of Ice Cream for lunch it was time to decide what to do next. We could either return to the campground or continue our journey further north to Slave Lake. The boys seemed happy enough to keep going. We drove around trying to find somewhere that might sell firewood. I was determined to buy it at a cheaper price. However, unlike back home firewood wasn't an easy thing to find - not even at gas stations. I went into a Home Hardware (I think) to check. The people working joked with about the irony of being surrounded by the logging industry and all this lumber and not being able to buy a simple bundle for sale. One women even joked that her husband could go chop down and tree and sell me that wood.
It was until after leaving Swan Hills that I learned of "Center of Alberta". You see, Swan Hills is the closest municipality to the Geological Center of Alberta. From the information kiosk on Highway 33 (the Grizzly Trail) it is just a three kilometers hike to the Centre of Alberta. Apparently, once you arrive at the "Center of Alberta" you can have your picture taken by the bear statue. It is supposed to a great place to enjoy a picnic and to explore the many natural trail that lead of from this spot.
Slave Lake is only 1h16min away from Swan Hills, so it seemed like a shame not to take advantage of the closeness. Not only had I heard about how beautiful of an area it is and how magnificent the shear size of the lake it, one of my lists also said there was a huge Walleye Fish Statue in Lesser Slave Lake. While the list was correct, it would have been nice to have a better sense of the region before heading up there.
The drive up to Slave Lake was incredible. At times I felt like we were simply in the middle of nowhere; everything around me seemed to calm and yet the nature was so alive. I had fun talking to the kids about how long it had been since we last saw a house, and asking them questions about the habits in the ares. How did they know we'd changed regions in Alberta? What did they think the main industry was? I mentioned how lucky we were to have so much land and what a shame it was that people took advantage of it - littering and using ATVs off-road.
We arrived in Slave Lake and stopped at the local Wal Mart; you see, I'd forgotten to pack enough clothes for the next day. Plus, I wanted to see if maybe they had any firewood. After looking at some bathing suites, which I've been trying to find a new one all summer, and trying on a few clothes I was finally ready to rescue the boys from the van to keep driving. However, once I went up to pay I realized that my wallet wasn't in my purse. Of course, instant panic. Had it fell out in Swan Hills? Did I leave it at the gas station there when I bought gas? The cashier was kind enough to put my items aside as I went to check the van; of course my wallet was there on the passenger seat.
I got back to the car and before looking for Lesser Slave Lake, I stopped at a few more gas stations looking to purchase some firewood bundles - still no luck. I was thankful that Navi knew where I wanted to go, because I sure didn't. I saw the sign saying that we'd entered Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park, but the further we drove the more I questioned the direction in which we were headed. I saw a sign for a Bird Observatory (off Hwy 88) and pulled off the road. I am every glad that we did. What a beautiful spot. It is a lovely building surrounded by various walking trails. After looking around at some of the signs, I went in to ask where I could find Shaw's Point.
It turns out that I was at Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park and I wanted to be at Lesser Slave Lake Hilliard's Bay Provincial Park. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong. I was on the east side of the lake and I needed to be on the north west side of the lake. I talked with them about my trip to all of Alberta's Big Things and how the boys were so done with it all today. They just wanted to get back to the campsite. Plus, we still needed to buy firewood.
It just seemed like a shame to be so close to the big Walleye and yet so far at the same time. She showed me some of the information in the centre and told me that more than 24o birds have been observed in the area. I also found out that Lesser Slave Lake is one of the, if not the largest recreation lake accessible by vehicle. The lake drains into the Athabasca River Basin and covers 1160 sq km.
The more we started to talk, the more determined I was to go see the Walleye. She kindly gave us two bundles of her firewood and wished us safe travels. I headed back towards the city of Slave Lake, slightly over 10 Kms and then over to Hilliard's Bay Provincial Park. It is about 13Kms outside of Grouard. Grouard is over 1h15m outside of Slave Lake. After that you still need to travel down some more roads to get to Shaw's Point, which is where the Walleye is located. It seems like a very family friendly campsite, although to open for my liking.
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