Straight on Detour

Spreading from coast to coast and separating France from Spain, the curved backbone of the Spanish Pyrenees stretches nearly five hundred miles. Its bare spiny peaks and luscious green troughs are reason enough to take a peak at this natural wonderland. Several driving routes allow you to appreciate scenery that quite possibly belongs to Canada while the hiking is second to none. Expect trails to suit anything from a stroll to a mountainous hike with highlights such as raging waterfalls and magnificent views. Usually associated with wealth and prestige, we were shocked when we found out our bank account wouldn’t break and we could hike the Spanish Pyrenees on a budget.

After days of research we narrowed our visit to Spain’s Aragon province and singled out one glorious national park. Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park in north Aragon is a famed spot because its various gorges each portray a unique side to the Pyrenees’ diverse landscape. To top it off we found bargain accommodation and could not believe how little we would spend on such a unique vacation.

How to visit Ordesa National Park  and hike the Spanish Pyrenees on a Budget:

Hire yourself a car. Do your research, we found a company that does Smart Cars for $9 a day.

Pack yourself some walking shoes/trainers… access to the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park in off season is FREE and the hiking trails are endless! Ordesa gorge is the popular choice for hiking trails from 2 hour strolls to 7 hour gorge summits and climbing routes. A free map and walking advice can be found at Ordesa’s car park or this hikepyrenees website can help with picking walking tracks that suit your style.

(Note during peak summer months Ordesa Gorge is only accessible from its information centre in Torla. Bus tickets from Torla to the park are mandatory unless you want to walk for 2 hours. A return ticket costs around €3.50/$5)

Stay at Fiscal’s Hostal Rio Ara. They charge €15/$20 for a clean double/twin room that has a shared bathroom in the hallway. The price includes a buffet ‘variety’ breakfast (anything from hams to jam on toast to packaged american brownies). It is also only 20km outside of the parks main entrance which was a perfect for us to explore the four gorges within the national park, take a dip into France and day trip through the scenic villages.

Eating out is expensive and generally underwhelming so stock on fresh goods at the local supermarket and make yourself a gourmet baguette, a cheese and tortilla platter or suck it up and buy delicious paella for €15 pp.

In Summary:

A smart car can cost as little as $160 per week, with insurance included.

Smart cars are great on fuel ($100 dollars for 1 week should be plenty).

Accommodation (& breakfast) at Hostal Rio is $120 for 6 nights.

Entrance into the park areas is free.

A week-long vacation in the Spanish Pyrenees can cost as little as $190AUD/€135 per person

I want to share with you a short piece from one of my favorite places to travel in western  China.

Jiayuguan, Gansu Province – The Over-hanging Great Wall of China

Excerpt from my diary 26/08/12 – written from my hotel room in Jiayuguan, China:

Waking up from another dishevelled sleep, I’m in no mood to play tourist today. My dreams are consistent with the night before and I’m exhausted. My money is running out and the reality is creeping into my subconscious, taunting me in my sleep. I dream that I follow every path, yet every path I choose inevitably leads to the same outcome: Going home. Lying in bed I splurge all my fears to Becks instead of touring the outside world. So engrossed with our own company we leave the room only once, for the fresh spicy noodles from the lady across the road. Sometimes it is nice just to have slow travel days like these.

But the following day, with a clearer head and a more positive mindset, we did play tourist. We were, after all, bunking close to the Overhanging Great Wall of China. With new stocks of wine in tow, the taxi dropped us as the entrance. An unexpected disneyland-style display and ticket booth greets us along with a hoard of bubbly Chinese tourists who seemed to take more interested in us than the actual Great Wall of China. While they peer at us we take our first peek of a tiny fragment of the wall,which could just be seen popping out behind the strategic placement of a large cardboard backdrop.

We all know the Great wall of China is in fact GREAT, with a total length of 21,196 kilometres and construction dating back all the way to 200BC. The section we visited (the Over-Hanging great Wall of China) was built in the 1500’s for the sole purpose of guarding the east from the west. The spindly wall sprawls it’s way along the backbone of the unforgiving Heishan mountains and to the west, beyond the wall, is nothing. This was once the border of China and a place of exile to those unwanted by the Chinese supremacy, a decision which would lead to certain death.

With no time schedule or time limits, we outlast the Chinese tourists, roam the walls and climb the watchtowers in peace. I will never forget opening a bottle of wine on the wall and “saluting” to the sun as it slowly set below the mountains.

Except from my dairy 27/08/12 – written on the overhanging great wall, Jiayuguan.

We sit in isolation, watching the sun struggle to control the luminous shadows and violet hues which streak the contours of the walls we sit upon. The bulging moon has recently risen and is now settling in above the highest watch tower. The incandescent night sky is vast and clear with a small patch of wispy clouds which have distorted the scarlet rays of the setting sun. Every minute the colour tones are changing and becoming more complex, unnamable to the masses but definitive to a paint salesman I’m sure. ‘Coral bells,’ ‘enticing red’ or maybe ‘cheery’ he would call them. Either way, the colours seem to be holding us here, to latch onto the beauty and stay that little bit longer.  We clink our plastic mugs together saluting to my reoccurring dream, to the unknown and to the beauty around us. 

Things would work out.

We stumbled across Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan last september on our 100 day ultimate Canadian road trip. Our plan was to stop for a few nights before moving east but instead 8 days later we found ourselves unwilling to leave. If the urge for a long hot shower hadn’t become all encompassing we would have easily stayed an extra few days so you can tell we were seriously smitten!

We’ve written a couple of blogs about Grassland’s and we’ve had a lot of people asking us for more information about it. After putting our heads together we’ve created this all-encompassing  piece: A Complete Guide to Grasslands National Park. We’ve made it as detailed and as informative as possible in the hope that it gets you there sooner.

For the rest of you eager to get to know the park inside and out then you’ve come to the right page…

A Complete Guide to Grasslands National Park

As its name suggest the Grasslands National Park is one of the worlds best preserved examples of wild grasses but if you think there’s only grass to be found here, then think again.

Did you know:

*Archaeologists say that the Grasslands has one of the best preserved records of the dinosaur era.

*Meteorologists say that Grasslands has Canada’s best KPG matter, matter from space!!

*Astrologists claim that Grasslands is one of Canada’s dark spots

*Audio specialists are claiming that Grasslands is one quietest places in North America

*And as for animal enthusiasts, well they love access into Canada’s only example of a unique species set.

*Historian revere it’s teepee rings and other artefacts for their links with Canadian history

How to Get to Grasslands National Park

Grassland National Park is consists of two blocks, the East Block and West Block. These have recently been connected however treating them as separate entities is beneficial because the entrances are a two hour drive from one another on highway 18.

Public transport is void, to access the park you’ll need a car.

*Take extra care after rainfall when the roads, especially gravel roads, are incredible slippery.

How to get to the West Block:

The roads aren’t immaculate by any means but any 2WD will be able to handle them. Highway 4 gets a bad rap so perhaps consider taking the lesser known highway 18, this will be a slightly longer trip with less time on the Trans Canadian but the scenery is infinitely better. If coming from the West head south through Maple Creek, it took us a little over 3 hours but having the roads to ourselves was pleasant and getting to soak up the endless open expanse was bliss.

If coming from the East use highway 2 heading south through Moose Jaw and then onto Assiniboina.

How to get to the East Block:

The visitor centre is located at the McGowan visitor centre. To get there from the West Block, take Highway 18. There is great signage to make this drive as simple as possible. Once you intercept with highway two turn right (head south) for 3.5km, you will then turn right (west) on a grid road towards Lonesome Butte.

Follow the signs for 8.5km which will take you towards the McGowan visitor centre.

Animals of Grasslands National Park

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs

Pronghorn Antelope

Coyote

Sage Grouse

Burrowing Owl

Ferruginous Hawk

Prairie Rattlesnake

Greater Short-horned Lizard

Plains Bison

Porcupine

Skunk

Racoon

Black-footed Ferrets

Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer Snake

Other things to Look Out For

Northern Lights

Incredible Sunsets and moon rises

Teepee rings from historic indigenous tribes

Marine fossils

Mammal fossils

Dinosaur fossils

Quicksand

K-Pg layer

The milky way

What’s at West Block?

Accommodation options: 

Val Marie town is the gateway to the West Block, housing the parks visitor centre and situated only 10km from the parks gates.  Within the quaint, bubbly little town you can find accommodation to suit your budget from fully serviced campsites to Budget Hotels and B&B’s.

Here is a list (not extensive, there are plenty more!)

•  The Convent Inn (a stunning converted masterpiece) offers double rooms for $80 incl. breakfast
•  The Crossing at Grasslands (5km south of Val Marie) offers Teepee’s for $20 or rooms for $90
•  Village of Val Marie Campground offers camp sites for $25 incl. hot water
•  Val Marie Hotel offers budget doubles for $60

Inside West Block:

Parks Canada offers front-country camping at the Frenchman Valley Campground.

* Serviced sites: $15.70

*Unserviced sites: $15.70

*Teepee camping: $45 per Teepee/night

*OTENTik unit’s are also available from 2016.

Services: Clean ‘drop’ toilets, large cooking shelter, barbecues, power, water, fire pits and phone

Backcountry camping is also welcomed, costs $9.80 per person per night and campers must settle at least 1km from any road.

Facilities: 

Val Marie offers two restaurants, the Harvest Moon Cafe offers exquisite meals and caters to all dietary requirements where as the Val Marie Hotel offers hearty breakfasts, lunches and dinners from within its local pub.

The one ATM is within the hotel and there is a small supermarket, all within meters of one another.

Inside the park there are no food services although barbecues and a large shelter are available at the campsite.

Activities:

Self-Guided Hikes

• 70 Mile Butte (5km loop)
• Eagle Butte (2km loop)
• Broken Hills Loop

Guided Hikes

• 70 mile butte (May 21- June 25 in 2016 on Saturdays, 9:00 am from West Block Visitor Centre) (fees apply)
• Haven of Species (approx 4hrs, 7km) (fees apply) (July-August 2016  on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00am) Explore nature at its finest deep in the heart of the park, including life on a prairie dog colony and the snake hibernaculum

Self-Guided Drives

• Ecotour Loop, $5 for a booklet. Signposted with interpretive panels

Cowboy Experience (fees apply)

Head out and trail cattle on the open plains with a local rancher on 2day/2night adventure

Astronomy: Behind the big dipper (July 23rd 2016 at 10:00pm)

Team up with astronomical society and their telescopes and take advantage of the dark sky reserve.

Sunset Horseback Adventure ($66p/p) (Saturdays 7:00 pm July 2, 9, 16, 30 and Aug 6 in 2016)

Spend 2 hours on horse back with a guide looking for some of Canada’s rarest animals and chasing magnificent sunsets.

Prairie Cinema (Saturday, Dusk, July 2nd, July 30th, September 3rd in 2016)

Just your old classic movie under the stars!

A Walk in the Park – Where the Buffalo Roam (May-August on Sunday’s at 9am) (fees apply)

Fireside chats, stories and S’more (Friday’s 7pm from May 20 – September 2)

Join an interpreter by the campfire, share stories, learn a little and eat as many marshmallows as you possibly can!

Bison Backstage Tour (fees apply) (June-August 2016 on Wednesdays 9:00am)

A VIP backstage experience delving into how the plains bison was brought back from near extinction and how its continued safety and health are ensured. Go behinds the scenes at the bison facility in the park, and meet the man behind the program.

We did this tour and loved it.

What’s at East Block

Accommodation options: 

The west block is more isolated with the nearest town being 47km away at Wood Mountain.

• Rock Creek Campground
• Front-country camping and backcountry camping is offered within the parks boundaries.
• Or south of the Belza day use area you can try Equestrian Camping.

Facilities: 

Front-country camping offers unserviced sites plus teepee camping. Clean ‘drop’ toilets, cooking shelter, barbecues, power, water, RV campsites, fire pits, picnic tables, sheltered picnic tables, community fire put, WI-FI

Activities:

Self-Guided Hikes

–  Badlands Trail

–  Badlands Lookout area (best sunset view!)

• Valley of 1000 Devils (just ask the lovely staff at McGowan visitor centre where to walk)

Walking with Dinosaurs (approx 3 hrs and fees apply) (May-June in 2016 Saturdays, 9:00 am and then July-August on Tuesday and Thursdays, 9:00 am)

Uncover dinosaur fossils, quicksand, ancient teepee rings and the KPI!)

Fossil Fever (11-15th August)($73.60p/p)

Take the unique opportunity to dig for a day with McGill University Palaeontologists as they retrieve 65.5 million year old fossils.

Fireside chats, stories and S’more (Friday’s 7pm from May 20 – September 2)

Join an interpreter by the campfire, share stories, learn a little and eat as many marshmallows as you possibly can!

Wood Mountain Wagon Train (July 3rd-8th 2016)

Delve into the history of the homesteaders up aboard a horse drawn wagon.

A Walk in the Park – Eagle View (fees apply) (May-August on Sunday’s at 9am) (fees apply)

Enjoy 360 degrees of grasslands. Learn more about the flora and fauna, the land and the rolling plains.

Astronomy: Behind the big dipper (May 28th 2016 at 8:00pm)

Team up with astronomical society and their telescopes and take advantage of the dark sky reserve.