On the Road Again 2012 #11

According to Wikipedia High Level is about 450 kilometers north of Edmonton and 725 km south of Yellowknife. I certainly had not travelled very far in the two days since leaving Susan outside of Edmonton. High Level appeared to have a high percentage of First Nations residents or at least it felt as if First Nations individuals were driving the majority of cars and trucks that passed me. The other thing that I noticed was that in High Level there seemed to be an inordinate number of motels/hotels. If my memory is right, there were at least ten of them. Some of them were fairly big and belonged to national chains. Others were quite clearly local only operations. I wasn't planning on staying in this town but it was good to know that there were options. So many motels suggested that there was some sort of oil exploration going on or that this was one hell of a tourist hot spot.

The spot I chose to stand at the edge of High Level looked to be a lovely spot. Nice wide shoulder, cars still going slow, and great sight lines. Folks if they wanted to do, could have seen me from almost the other edge of town. High Level did  not appear to be a large town but then one can never tell what houses or streets lie just behind the highway. For all I knew there could have been a medium size city just west of the town. There was certainly a lot of traffic around me. Just to my left there was a large Best Western Hotel that had a swimming pool. The pool was open to the public. There were streams of cars and trucks full of kids driving into the parking lot for a swim while young teenagers casually strolled across the highway heading towards the pool. All but the youngest children ignored me, most almost making a point of looking the other way.  The young ones just pointed at me and asked their mothers questions. I don't know what they were told but I am quite sure that at least some of the adults had not seen a hitchhiker very often.

It was now close to 9:00 pm and the sun was still visible. However it was so low in the sky that my broad brimmed hat no longer provided much protection. Consequently my nose got rather badly burnt and so did the side of my neck just under my ears. While it was not the first time that my nose got burnt I can't remember ever having a sunburn on that part of my neck.

After being at that spot for some time I noticed a reasonably large dirt bike roaring out of an ally on the other side of the road, then tearing across the highway 20 feet north of me and finally disappearing into the woods. Seconds later a four wheel drive police truck tore out of the same alley and chased after the motorcyclist. I was never sure if the police caught the guy or not but twenty minutes a tow truck came and carted of the guy's bike. While the whole incident was somewhat interesting to watch it did cause me some concern as I thought about having to sleep out that night. Right where the motorbike turned into the woods was where I sort of had thought about sleeping for the night. The other thing that I noticed was a conservation authority truck driving around with looked like a bison (buffalo) head in it. I would have liked to have had a closer look at it and even more I would have loved to talk to the female conservation officer as to why the head was in the back of her truck.

Off the the south west the sky was black with clouds. I could see where, in the distance, there was a torrential downpour . Then the thunder and lightening started. Again it was fairly far away, but the wind was blowing the clouds towards me. I decided to call it a night and to look for a cheap motel. In spite of only travelling about 200-250 kilometers that day but it looked like I was done for the day. The oncoming rain, the bears and a potential police investigation were all factors in me deciding to find a bed for the night. I also had not eaten a real meal since the grilled cheese and fries in North Battleford two days before and thought perhaps I should.