My natural area is on the way back from Kayben Farm near Okotoks where I have taken my granddaughter for an outing. We ride the wagon and wander the corn maize. The pumpkin field is empty but we buy a small one on our way out. Back on the road we pass the erratic that give Okotoks or “Big Rock” its name. I have visited Sheep Creek Natural Area for 17 years, yet still am uncertain which road to turn down. Is it 96th St or 112? The road leads down to the river and from this distance one can see the road or cut line on the other side. I have never been on the “other side”. The river meanders. It also overflows. And changes course. I park the car at the end of the road where the river flowed by the last time I was there. Today the bed it empty. The river has decided to “go another way”.
We walk through the rancher's field along side the river bed and Ashley Rose hesitates as the brambles catch on her.
We hear a shot. In the all the times I have come here I have never seen anyone else. We approach the two young men who are intent on their target practice. They have set up the target on the side of the dry riverbank. I ask them where the Natural Area is and the one dressed in camouflage rattles off the boundaries. The other young man asks if we mind if they take their last shot. We move on trying to find a way across the water. But their isn't any safe place and the target practice is dis-concerning. I will return another time.
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