Dreaming of Camps - Grass River Prov Park
As my eldest is in scouts, we have checked out a few camps that they host over the summer, and it's nice to know that they are teaching him just as much as taking care of them. He is going to be doing two different camps this year, both are canoe camps.
The first one will be going to Grass River Provincial Park. So, my first thought was where is that? So let’s google map it… and it doesn’t exist. Um, okay. Let’s look at the government page (http://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/parks/popular_parks/northwest/grass.html). Alright, it says it’s a North East Manitoba park… That’s a big corner, but better than all of Manitoba. Oh cool, lowlands meet Precambrian shield, historically important during the fur trade era… Oh! It’s by The Pas! I kinda know where that is, I think – and it’s not close. They’ll have a long drive up there (home to The Pas is about 6.5 hours), but nothing unmanageable. Hopefully it'll still be light out when they arrive to set up camp. Of course the sun sets so late in early summer, they'll be fine.
What is special about Grass River? It’s marked a “natural” park, so the most important is not the history (though it will likely have plaques and such around). Well, let’s sum it up. Grass River was and important river in the fur trade era, probably part of the way to reach Churchill. They are trying to preserve animals that call the park home, encourage people to be outside camping and canoeing, and to make sure mining companies in the area don’t destroy everything. (I did not know that would be a thing. Cool.)
Oh! The lowlands are sedimentary rock (probably sand stone or limestone type idea – we seem to have a lot of that). The Precambrian shield is granite – definitely a different look! It is supposed to be very clear where that edge is when you find it. And all this was carved by glaciers long, long ago. Because drainage is hard to come by in granite there’s lots of bogs and marshes too. If he’s lucky, he’ll see moose or caribou.
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| This is how I imagine part of the park would look like. Boreal forest, lake and rock. |
There are also back country camping sites, and designated canoe routes, which I suspect my son and his group will partake in.
I think this would be a gorgeous calm place to camp, especially if you had some sort of watercraft (canoe, kayak, motor boat...). They only list one hiking trail, so this really is a water vacation trip (be that at a beach, or on a boat). Personally one I might not yearn to go to (we don't have a boat of any sort), but if I did... I would want to go.
See you later!
Shaunna
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