Day 22 - Swift Current, SK to Chaplin, SK

Day 22 – June 4, 2026

Start Time: 8:40 am

Stop Time: 2:55 pm

KM Travelled: 91.1 km

Elevation: +333/ - 433 m

Special Stuff: Kindness of strangers

I wake up today in no hurry to start my ride. I have a nice hotel room at the Day’s Inn with everything I need including breakfast at 6:30. Tonight looks like tent camping in Chaplin - so, “no need to rush off,” I think to myself. Today’s ride is about 90 km. The wind looks like it is moving in all directions so there is no special gain nor resistance to consider.

At 8:30, I gather all my things and head out for what should be a pretty basic day. My strategy is to ride 15 km, stop and eat half a bun and drink some fluids. If I do that, I’ll get about 6 ‘big’ breaks. I allow for extra bathroom stops and stops of interest if I want to - there is no big rush today.

My second snack break is at the Rush Lake turnoff. A surprise is in store for me here. It turns out at this stop, I AM THE SNACK! The moment I put my foot down; I am COVERED with mosquitos!!! I grab my half bun and take off! Looking down as I ride away, I swat off least 20 mosquitos that are feeding on the top of my left leg! Considering my body mass, I calculate there were likely 100 mosquitos on me! I fear this experience is a foreshadowing for what will be starting up in eastern Manitoba (EXCEPT add in a bunch of nasty black flies).

Along the ride I see more cows and rolling hillsides. I’ve become a bit annoyed with the cracks in the pavement. I’m on the constant alert for significant dips that I need to navigate more carefully. I can’t help but wonder how it is that the highway has such a regular cadence of cracks - is this by design to accommodate the freeze/ thaw/ extreme heat weather conditions?

Because today is a shorter ride, I take the time to stop at a few extra gas stations. The first one in Herbert I buy a pickle – I don’t know why, but this is the most appetizing thing I see. I also buy a local cookbook – I can’t help myself. I have no paper reading materials, and I can spend hours reading recipes. I’ll mail it home on my rest day.

The next gas station I have a nice chat with the checkout clerk and her friend – both older ladies. We talk about my journey. I tell them I just go one day at a time – it’s really just a 100 km bike ride every day for 100 days. They come out of the building as I am leaving and shout out well wishes to me.

I am 63 km out of Swift Current when I see a scary ‘near miss’ for a traveller. A single car was driving alone on the other side of the twinned highway – when it suddenly lost control and swerved all over both lanes of the highway. Luckily, there was no one close to it and it managed to regain control just before going over the edge. After stopping, a male driver got out of the car, walked around it to assess for any damage – he was clearly shaken. When I got to the top of the hill I was climbing, I turned around to see that the car and driver are gone. It’s as if nothing had happened. I sent out a prayer of gratitude that no harm had come to this person – or anyone else because of this incident.

As I get closer to my final destination of Chaplin, I come across a point of interest that describes the second largest inland body of saline (salt) water in Canada. Like what - saltwater lake!?! I did not know these exist in Canada. This body of water is important for migratory shorebirds. It is the habitat for 30 species (100,000+ birds) that stop or nest here in the summer. As everywhere else in Saskatchewan, some sort of a gopher lives here too (they dig lots of holes).

With this slow mode of travel, I regularly stop and read the signs and check out the points of interest. When I travel by car, I think I will stop one day, but I usually don’t. I miss so much because I’m so ‘busy’ getting somewhere. At this lookout, I have a nice chat with a traveller from Ontario who makes a practice to stop at points of interest. He wishes me well and I silently thank him for the life lesson.

I get within a few kilometers of Chaplin and it starts to look like winter. There is a mountain of what looks like snow across the highway, it has a ‘snow groomer’ driving on it. There also looks to be a river of ice going under the bridge that crosses the highway. I realize it’s all salt! It makes no sense - so far from the ocean. Further research shows that this salt is a remnant of ancient seas that covered the region thousands of years ago. WOW!

I arrive in Chaplin at around 2:45 and go to the campground. It’s a big open space. There is a toilet with no showers. There are sites fitted with power. There is one other ‘camper’ that looks to be more of a permanent squatter – there is an extension cord running into their temporary home. It makes me feel uncomfortable. I decide to take a spin around town to see if I can find a motel that the map says is here. I stop to ask a lady walking her dog about the motel. She’s new homeowner in town and does not think there is a motel. I asked about the squatters and tell her I have reservations about staying at the campground. She gives a bit of background about the history of the squatters and tells me most campers stay at the other end of the campground. She also gives me a heads up about recent badgers sightings in the area - including the campground. I continue into town and stop at the post office to ask about alternatives for accommodation – there are none. It sounds like the squatters have not caused any problems, it’ll probably be fine. The next town is 50+ km away and I don’t have enough time to get there for 4:00. I don’t have much choice. I’ll just sleep with my luggage and bear spray inside the tent with me. I start to head out when a man approaches me in the post office lobby (the post office clerk sees the conversation). He introduces himself as the partner to the lady I was talking to earlier (I see her sitting in his truck). He has an empty unit in a fourplex that I can stay in. I trust my gut (which says this is okay) – this option feels so much better than the campground!

The fourplex is unfurnished and has no key for me to use, but it has running water, a shower, and wifi if I want to use it, I’m allowed to bring my bike in. I’m grateful for this option and the kindness of these strangers helping me out. They tell me that they have done this for a few other travellers. When I’m alone in the unit, I feel grateful and do a check-in to confirm that I feel good about this situation. I do, so I celebrate by eating my pickle! Then I set up ‘camp’ in the front room. The spurge purchase of my ultra lite camp chair comes in super handy.

Several hours later, I get ready for bed. An experienced biker suggested that I bring a mask. I almost threw it out earlier in the trip, but tonight I am happy I have it as the unit has no curtains. If someone peeks in the window, I don’t care because I won’t be able to see them!

I’m motivated for another rest day. Moose Jaw is the next biggest town, but I’d really like to get to Regina (about 150 km away) because it has more amenities). I’m not sure if I can make that far, but I’d like to give it a try.

A lesson I learned today is that late starts are nice, but they do restrict my ability to choose to move onto the next town if I wish to do so. A late start might be okay when going to bigger cities, but smaller towns I may need to give myself more flexibility.