The Hogsback

​Thump, thump, thump.
The truck bounces across the rough field. My parents and I are heading towards the trailhead on the other side of the field. 
It’s a cloudy day, with a soft breeze. We decided to get a hike in with the last few hours of daylight. 
We pulled up to the faint trail on the edge of the field and hopped out into the refreshing Autumn air. 
We start off down the fading trail. I am at the same time surprised that I have never noticed it before as I’ve been by it an uncountable amount of times, and realizing it would be near impossible to see if you didn’t know it was there.
As I’m walking I notice lots of little trees popping up all over the path and realize how lucky I am to be hiking it now before it is completely grown in.
My dad told me that a very long time ago it was a moderately used road leading from our property into the park. It makes me curious of to what this now little path saw in it’s golden days. 
We come up to a spot where the trail almost disappears  due to tons of fallen trees. It really was quite neat, it appeared as if all of these poplar trees decided to make this their final resting spot, where they will decompose into the earth and eventually create new trees to take their place.
Soon we are at the border between our property and Spruce Woods Provincial Park. I look over to my right and notice how dramatic the sky looked above this wonderful hill. I decided to hit the deck and frame my picture with the grass.



Now we're in the park and getting close to our destination.
We happily hike along listening to the chipper calls coming from the birds. Then we emerge from the bush, and there it is, the Hogsback. It is a remarkable land formation created by the silent work of trickling streams underground.



I can’t believe that I have never heard of this place. I loved it! I found it fascinating how there was this giant mound protruding from the bottom of this beautiful valley!
As we went over and climbed up the Hogsback, I noticed how saturated the ground was below in the valley. This whole area was covered in little streams creating a semi marsh around the trees. 
When we reached the top of the Hogsback you could see the Assiniboine River and a little sliver of our land, which was pretty neat.


I was ready to pitch my tent and live there forever! Astounding views, lots of land to explore, what more could you ask for?
As we continued along the Hogsback we found ourselves down in the valley on the other side. Here there was a beautiful creek where all of the little streams formed together. There was also a huge beaver dam! 
I marvel the fact that beavers can errect such intricate creations. 
I decided to sit down and just take in the beauty of this place while my dog had a great time splashing around in the water.  



We headed back up the hill away from the creek and I was shocked to find how different it looked fromt the other way. 
You could really see the curves on the hill and the brilliant colours. Going back was also much better for pictures because the sun was behind me so the clouds no longer appeared washed out in my photos. 



Then we got back on the main trail and I looked back and admired the beauty of this magnificent place, listening to the distant wail of coyotes, and I was able to feel as if I was one with nature. Almost part of the land.