Riding Mountain National Park / Wasagaming

After a 31 year absence, I finally made it back to Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park. The last time that I stayed at Clear Lake was with my parents in the summer of 1990 when we went there in their motorhome. My 82-year old grandmother was with us. I don't remember too much about that particular trip other than we had perhaps the ugliest campsite in the otherwise very beautiful Clear Lake campground. I also remember my grandmother feeding grapes to a ground squirrel that was hanging around our campsite. I found this quite extraordinary given that my grandmother generally did not like animals all that much.

Over the next 31 years, I did not travel to Riding Mountain National Park and the Wasagaming townsite. I guess that I had other priorities as I moved into my 20's - university, work, traveling to other places, etc. But, I've always had a soft spot for Riding Mountain and Clear Lake in particular. When I was a child, my parents would often opt to go there for quick weekend getaways with their RV. It's just close enough to Regina to not be a major trip requiring at least two weeks of vacation. In addition, my father is from around this part of Manitoba - just due north to be exact. Way back, we would travel to Clear Lake and also to the towns just north of there where my father's relatives still lived. I'm pretty sure that all of them have passed on by now.

So, it finally came to pass that it was my turn to take my own family out to Riding Mountain. I had yet to take my kids there so I was keen to show them a place that I enjoyed so much when I was their age. Yet, I did feel some trepidation - would Wasagaming and the lake still be the same? What kind of development might have occurred there over the past thirty years? It was hard to tell from just looking at websites regarding the national park. I was happy to discover though, that national park rules that extremely restrict development have prevented wholesale change to the place - no huge "cottages" (ie. mansions) being built around the lake. The heritage of the place has definitely been preserved.

The national park visitor centre was still the same 1930's log building that has always been there. The beach and pier were also the same as I remember them and the same goes for the town of Wasagaming. 

The beach and grassy area just behind it were busy but not overly crowded. The number of people enjoying the place looked about the same as it did back in 1990 and earlier. It was also great to see that the beach was not completely overrun by tourists.

Near the beach I came across a beautiful moth that was sipping nectar from a thistle. The moth let me get so incredibly close without getting spooked and flying away. It was very relaxing to just stand there and watch this insect flutter around and drink from the pink flowers.

Unfortunately for me, the weather today was exceptionally hot and humid. The temperature was around 30C but the humidex was in the 95%+ range and made it feel more like 37C! I cannot stand this type of muggy heat - it just completely takes all of my energy away. I was able to find some respite in Wasagaming at an ice cream parlour. But, it was difficult to find any places to get inside and out from the heat given that Manitoba still has fairly strict COVID-19 protocols in place. Most stores and restaurants were limiting the number of people that could enter.

Eventually, I made my way back to the car and cranked up the air conditioning. The drive back to our hotel was great and I was able to lower my body temperature substantially. Hopefully the next few days won't be so humid and we can enjoy Wasagaming and Clear Lake a bit more.