Staff
Depending on which day of the week you happen to be reading this, the Wild Pink Yonder wagon train mat have already stopped for lunch in Didsbury after leaving Carstairs for the trip to Olds, or they may have already left Olds heading for Bowden.
Either way, the wagon train is still scheduled to arrive in Rimbey on Wednesday, July 15 after embarking on the trip that began in Cochrane on Saturday, July 4.
In all, the 400-mile trek that follows the 135-year-old trail established by settlers and the North West Mounted Police in 1874 days is expected to last 21 days ending in Joesephburg – located just outside of Fort Saskatchewan, on Friday, July 24.
While the covered wagon ride was originally intended to start in Fort McLeod near Lethbridge, a freak accident to the journey’s organizer set the schedule back by approximately two weeks, resulting in the starting point being moved to Cochrane.
While conditioning her team of Norwegian Fjord horses for the ride, trail boss and organizer Jane Hurl, who is also a cancer survivor, was seriously injured and broke a number of bones, however that most certainly does not mean she won’t be involved.
“I was thrown from the wagon and broke five bones in my back, three breaks in my right hip and one in my left femur,” Hurl said. “But that just postponed the start date a little; no way were we going to kill the ride!”
Arriving from Ponoka on July 15, the wagon train will spend the night here before proceeding up to Winfield the following day before embarking to Pigeon Lake and points north with the purpose of raising funds for cancer research.
“The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Prairies/NWT Region is thrilled to be the beneficiary of this innovative and fun way of raising funds for and increasing the awareness of breast cancer while also building a sense of camaraderie in participating communities,” said Tamara Collins, manager Urban and Rural Partnerships, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Prairies/NWT Region. “It is because of events like Wild Pink Yonder that the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation is able to provide hope to the thousands of people who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and to their families that one day, we will see an end to this disease.”