A photograph of the Athabasca Sand Dunes taken by a Saskatoon couple is featured on a Canada Post stamp.
The “From Far and Wide” 2020 stamp series features “nine must-see Canadian sites.”
Travel writers and photographers Arlene and Robin Karpan took the stunning image.
“Where we got this shot was from one of the giant dunes and it was farther inland. Starting on Lake Athabasca, we paddled by canoe upstream on the William River,” Robin Karpan said.
“Once we were in the dunes, we hiked at least a couple of hours to get to the first big dune. You can only do that when the wind isn’t blowing because you can get sandstorms. We also timed this shot for sunset, which is about quarter to 11 in the middle of summer.”
Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Sand Dunes are the largest active sand surface in Canada and are the most northerly major sand dunes in the world.
The dunes are as high as 30 metres and are believed to have formed 8,000 to 9,000 years ago.
The area was preserved as a provincial park in 1992.
“What’s really unique about them is that there are 40 giant dunes just west of the river. It’s a fragile ecosystem, there are rare plants there that are found nowhere else in the world,” Arlene Karpan said.
This is the second time one of their photos has been featured in the series. The first was a picture featuring the Big Muddy Badlands.
The Karpan’s have authored 13 books, contributed to travel writing and photography in over 100 publications around the world, and run a travel website: photojourneys.ca.
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