The hoodoos
Like mushrooms.
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Writing-on-Stone is a provincial park in southern Alberta, Canada, about 44 km east of the town of Milk River, on both banks of the Milk River. It is one of the largest protected prairie areas in Alberta and guards many Indigenous rock carvings and paintings. The place is sacred to the Blackfoot and other Indigenous peoples; its Blackfoot name, Áísínai’pi, means it is pictured or written. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2019. Its sandstone walls carry carvings of people and animals, some very old. You see yellow sandstone carved into strange shapes, above all pillars topped with flat stone caps like mushrooms, above wide grassy prairie. The Milk River winds below the cliffs, the Sweet Grass Hills of Montana rise on the horizon, and the sky is wide and clear. It is about 35 km from the town of Milk River in a straight line. Touching the carvings or writing on the rock is forbidden, and some can only be seen on a guided tour.
Like mushrooms.
Below the cliffs.
On the stone.
On the Milk River, southern Alberta, Canada
Áísínai’pi, it is pictured or written.
Some are on the trails; others only on a guided tour.