I respectfully acknowledge that the land in and around Elk Island National Park is located within the Treaty 6 Territory, the ancestral and traditional territories of the Niitsítpiis-stahkoii ᖹᐟᒧᐧᐨᑯᐧ ᓴᐦᖾᐟ (Blackfoot / Niitsítapi ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ), ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ ᐊᐢᑭᕀ Nêhiyaw-Askiy (Plains Cree), Michif Piyii (Métis), Cree people.
Source: native-land.ca

“If you are waiting for someone to travel with you, you may end up waiting a lifetime.”

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Autumn in Alberta can be over in a blink of an eye, and earlier in the week the colours were really starting to pop. The weather has been above the seasonal average and the weekend was going to be GORGEOUS! The only problem was that my husband/adventure partner had to work ALL weekend… (For context: we always go on adventures together and I’ve never gone solo before).

I was NOT going to let my absolute favourite season slip away from me while sitting at home not doing too much, so I decided to head out on a solo adventure Saturday morning to take advantage of a beautiful day, photograph the season changing, and hope to get in some bird and wildlife photography. I chose to go to Elk Island National Park (and some other nearby areas) and make a day out of it. I had already been out there twice that week, and was seeing the quick progression of the leaves turning colours so I knew that it was going to be absolutely stunning. But little did I know that this would turn into quite the adventure…