Prairie, prairie, and more prairie

The route from Lundbreck Falls to Chain Lakes Provincial Park is about 49 miles.  49 miles of prairie, more prairie, and prairie after that.  The ride promised to be a hot one, so we tried to get an early start after a filling breakfast of a couple more pieces of that pizza.  Lundbreck Falls didn't have potable water either, so I was trying to carry what I needed.

There wasn't anything particularly extraordinary about the route...I stopped at one historical marker south of Pincher Creek to read about Charcoal...an Indian whose wife was vodeeohdodoing with her cousin.  Charcoal asked them to break off the relationship, but the cousin refused, and in the Indian
way, Charcoal killed the man.  The Royal Canadian Police came after Charcoal and cornered him.  Charcoal did not want to be imprisoned, and ended up killing the Mountie.  Now he was liable for two deaths.  He was tried and put to death.  A very sad ending to the incompatibility of two forms of civil government, eh?

We arrived at Chain Lakes around noon and Patty had found us a site with a little bit of shade, but as the sun traversed the sky, we lost that shade.  Perhaps shade trees...maples, oaks...do not grow well here?  It's a beautifully maintained park, with manicured grass that the prairie dogs seem to love...they have holes everywhere.  It doesn't have showers, so we locked the bikes and drove down by the lake where people were fishing and picnicking.  Cold as it was, and opposed as I am to silt and sludgy beaches, I dunked.  Yes, I did.  Laying on green grass in the shade on a 90 degree day with wet clothes on is underrated.