Home»All Photographs»2021 Hikes»Dry Island Buffalo Jump 04-21-21

Megan and I went for a wander among the badlands of Dry Island Buffalo Jump today. It is 190 km northeast of our house, in the middle of nowhere. The steep access road had just opened for the season, so that was a bonus.
There are no towns or amenities nearby, and as such, these badlands are a lot less known that the ones at Drumheller, further downstream along the Red Deer River. Nonetheless, the scenery was dramatic, and 17 degree temps with a nice breeze made for perfect hiking conditions - never was it too hot, nor did we ever need our jackets.
We found bison bones and dinosaur bones (and deer bones I think), along with prickly pear cacti, sage bush, turkey vultures and other usual suspects of badland topography.
After lunch, we took a broad sweep along the river to loop the hike back to our car. Here, Megan discovered mussels in the water - several dozen of them. I had no idea mussels were in Alberta. I looked it up - these are the common fatmucket mussel. Who knew?
Some light bushwacking got us back to our original meadow where a faint trail led back to our car.