castle butte

Golden walked the afternoon away. It was time to look for a good place to make camp for the night. In the distance, a large object loomed. As she got closer, she saw it was a butte, roughly shaped like a castle, a massive, towering structure of sandstone and clay that seemed to rise out of the ground from nowhere. It had a flattened top. As she got closer, she saw that the eroded slopes teemed with plants. Wildflowers were everywhere. As she walked around the massive butte, she could see that it was pockmarked with many small caves.

“This is spectacular!” Golden shouted out loud.

She decided to make camp at the base of this enormous structure. In no time, she had gathered some firewood and cleared a spot to spend the night. Wearily, she rested by the flickering fire. She nibbled on another biscuit, trying to make it last, then washed it down with more tea.

Golden watched the sun set. Its light enveloped the butte behind her, giving it a rich, reddishcopper hue. The warmth of its glow seemed to strengthen and permeate her soul. Golden took it as a good omen.

- Excerpt from Dagger of Urachadh: Attack from the Underworld, p. 167.

One of the funnest things about writing this book was driving around Saskatchewan and actually visiting all the exciting places highlighted in my story line. One such place was Castle Butte. It looked deceivingly small until we got up close and only then could you tell how massive this rock formation is. Standing in front of it, my partner Dean looked very small in comparison. This amazing sight was definitely worth the drive to see it!

Karen E. Mosier

References:
1. Robin and Arlene Karpan. 2017. The Great Saskatchewan BUCKET LIST. Seeing Red Castle Butte Sunrise. P. 36-39. Parkland Publishing.
2. Robin and Arlene Karpan. 2018. Saskatchewan’s Best Scenic Drives. Castle Quest: Willow Bunch to the Big Muddy Badlands. P. 40-44. Parkland Publishing.
3. Jenn Smith Nelson and Doug O’Neill. 2019. Big Muddy Badlands and Castle Butte. P. 104-105. Firefly Books.