Hike to Rest and Be Thankful Hill

The prospect of beautiful weather was the draw needed to bring 24 hikers out on April 30 from Duhamel campground to Rest and Be Thankful Hill.

Along the hike we saw animal carcasses, beaver trails, prairie crocuses, and wild onions. The leaves weren’t out on the trees yet so we could clearly see the trail all the way. It was still in good condition from last fall’s maintenance work.

The big surprise for everyone was the road carved out of the hill about half way along the hike. The new landowners are making changes to the trail and river valley, but we are happy they all encourage us to continue hiking and enjoying the Battle River hills.

Thank you to everyone who came out, to the landowners, and to trail maintenance for clearing the trail. You can find more photos on Flickr.

See where we’re going next.

East Battle River Hike

A dozen hardy hikers drove through the fog to check out the new route on the section of the Waskahegan trail from the Battle River valley near Duhamel to the top of the valley at the famous Rest and Be Thankful hill. It took until noon for the fog to lift, the sun to come out and the hikers to shed a layer of clothing,

The hike crosses six river lots before climbing out of the hill. River lots are narrow, surveyed pieces of land stretching from the river and extending back from the river to give the farmers access to good land, wooded area and water. The area was settled in the late 1880s before Alberta was a province and the prairies were divided into its more common quarter sections.

In the last few years many of the river lots on the north side of the river have changed hands. Houses have built and fences have been erected. Luckily for us, the new land owners have happily let us continue hiking over their fields and pastures with a few minor changes. In September two stiles were built over the new fences and a new route was built to hike from the river valley to the top of the hill. This section of trail now has five stiles to climb over.

It was on this Rest and Be Thankful hill we ate our lunch in the sun and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather. On our hike we saw plenty of geese flying overhead and saw evidence of a beaver, or beavers, building a resort along the river.

Thanks to Trail Maintenance for building the stiles and to the landowners for their continuing permission. You can find more photos on Flickr.