The forest fires were wide spread and keeping the firefighters on their toes. I woke up at 5:30 am to let Winnie relieve herself, right away I noticed the smell of burning accompanied by a hazy fog permeating the campground. In the distance I could hear helicopters flying to and fro in constant motion, regardless I decided I’d just head back to bed. Upon awakening a few hours later all the smoke was gone, I went about packing up my things and headed off towards my next destination.
My first stop was a visitor center to pick up a map for Alberta, while I was there I noticed they had a mini museum which I took and quick stroll through. Before long I was back on the road driving through vast fields of farmland, I turned off the highway and ventured down a dirt road that took me to a small clearing between two fields, the perfect place for Winnie to burn off some of her energy. When we got back in the car her eyes were wide, full of excitement and life as she panted about.
I continued to my first town, La Crete. As I got closer the smoke started to thicken, at times blotting out the blue sky completely, the worst I had encountered thus far on my trip. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and did some minor exploring, arriving at a quiet little park where the dragonflies had devoured every mosquito in sight. Oh how I love anything that voraciously chows down on mosquitoes, such wonderful creatures.
It was now time to head to Fort Vermilion, a tiny town that sat along the Peace River. Aside from the occasional wood carving there wasn’t too much to see in the actual town itself, my stay was short and I soon began my journey south. The goal was to reach Lesser Slave Lake and set up camp there for the evening. The drive was a long and tiresome journey, the sun had set 30 minutes before I arrived and now dusk gave off it’s feeble glow, enough for me to set up my tent. With the breeze rustling the leaves around me and the lake gently pushing up against shore in the distance I called it a day.
