the Frenchman River valley is a wide, wildly beautiful swath through the prairie. It’s also a place that cell towers don’t seem to reach. So I may not post for a day or two. 

Yesterday Hugh and I had the enjoyment of 9 other pilgrims walking out of Val Marie with us, two of them naturalists. For hours we examined plants and birds on the native grasslands. It was wonderful but slow! It was especially nice to walk so many miles with Trevor Herriot and to learn from his passion and experience. 

But when at 6 pm Trevor and the photographer Brandimir left us at the 8 mile mark (the others had turned back long before) Hugh and I still had five miles to walk to the old farmstead where we camped. We flushed meadowlark and blackbirds, and a few whitetail deer, as we walked into a red sunset. Despite having to slog around several sloughs we made good time but still late by the time all was settled….too late to eat. Only time to set up the tent, pick as much speargrass out of the socks as possible, and stretch out the aching legs to the sounds of night creatures and coyotes.  

 

watch over us your children, we who are so small, as we cross this plain which is so vast. Bring us the blessings that we need under this dome of sky (from this morning’s smudging ceremony)