Greenwater Report for February 4, 2002

The Greenwater Report for February 4, 2002

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, February 4, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford

weather
February 3rd, 2002: It got down to -32º last night and was still -26º when we got up, with a light southeast wind. It was overcast here, but others report sunny conditions elsewhere, so I guess it's just a frost fog here in the Greenwater bowl. The temperature did get up to about -9º and a few flakes of snow fell, but hardly a blizzard.

keep
body
warm
Monday morning actually got down to -40º, and that's the same in either Celsius or Fahrenheit. The sky was clear, though there was quite a frost haze before the sun came up, and there wasn't a trace of wind all day. I learned something useful on my usual walk. I had been complaining that my hands got a bit cold even when I wore my super mitts; I would have to curl up my hands to warm up my fingers, and that was when it was just -25º or -30º. Monday morning, instead of my vest I wore a sweater which kept my arms warm, and despite the temperature my hands were toasty. Looks like if one looks after the limbs, the extremities will look after themselves!

coyote
Last week, I reported seeing a coyote at our place. Since then, we have seen several rabbits; maybe the coyote is a young one that doesn't know its job yet. Incidentally, the rabbits are quite dirty looking, with lots of black spots. A couple of weeks ago, before we got a good snowfall, it would be good colouration but now, with the ground white, they stand out.

bear
trouble
Last Sunday, Jack Woulfe got a phone call from a lady who lives at Marean Lake; a bear kept trying to get into the house. She had phoned the Park office, but the nearest conservation officer was thirty miles away, so she phoned Jack. He went over and shot the bear, then took it home to skin it. It was a three or four year old animal. He said the only fat on it was around the rump ˆ there was no way it could survive until April in hibernation. He thought he could have driven it away without shooting it, but if it was hanging around the cabins, it would just cause trouble somewhere else.

snowmobile
rallies
It's snowmobile time! Kelvington Trailblazers‚ had their rally yesterday, and I understand it was a success, with over 200 machines participating. They got a bit of a break in temperature, but not much. Perigord's "Thrill of the Hills" is next Saturday, February 9th, and Preeceville and Naicam each have one on February 24th. The big Lintlaw rally takes place March 2nd and 3rd. Porcupine Plain had one advertised for January 26th but called it off when it didn't look as if there would be any snow. Of course, they no sooner called it off than it snowed! (Some call them rallies and some Poker Derbies; I just call them all Rallies.)

good
business
There have been a lot of machines around the Park this weekend, and it looks as if quite a few of the Park cabins are occupied, as well as the Cove's. No question, snowmobilers are good for the economy!

road
trip
This will be the last report for a couple of weeks as we are going to be on the road a lot. Hope to be back in business by the end of the month, though. A few years ago, I bought a laptop computer, thinking I could keep up with the column when away from home. I did send one from Fargo, but the hotel charged me $18 for the use of the phone line! I'll scribble things down on paper and feed it all to you when we get back.

Doreen & Jerry Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg


The Greenwater Report for February 4, 2002
Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, February 4, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford
weather	February 3rd, 2002: It got down to -32º last night and was still -26º when we got up, with a light southeast wind. It was overcast here, but others report sunny conditions elsewhere, so I guess it's just a frost fog here in the Greenwater bowl. The temperature did get up to about -9º and a few flakes of snow fell, but hardly a blizzard.

keep body warm	Monday morning actually got down to -40º, and that's the same in either Celsius or Fahrenheit. The sky was clear, though there was quite a frost haze before the sun came up, and there wasn't a trace of wind all day. I learned something useful on my usual walk. I had been complaining that my hands got a bit cold even when I wore my super mitts; I would have to curl up my hands to warm up my fingers, and that was when it was just -25º or -30º. Monday morning, instead of my vest I wore a sweater which kept my arms warm, and despite the temperature my hands were toasty. Looks like if one looks after the limbs, the extremities will look after themselves!

coyote	Last week, I reported seeing a coyote at our place. Since then, we have seen several rabbits; maybe the coyote is a young one that doesn't know its job yet. Incidentally, the rabbits are quite dirty looking, with lots of black spots. A couple of weeks ago, before we got a good snowfall, it would be good colouration but now, with the ground white, they stand out.

bear trouble	Last Sunday, Jack Woulfe got a phone call from a lady who lives at Marean Lake; a bear kept trying to get into the house. She had phoned the Park office, but the nearest conservation officer was thirty miles away, so she phoned Jack. He went over and shot the bear, then took it home to skin it. It was a three or four year old animal. He said the only fat on it was around the rump ˆ there was no way it could survive until April in hibernation. He thought he could have driven it away without shooting it, but if it was hanging around the cabins, it would just cause trouble somewhere else.

snowmobile rallies	It's snowmobile time! Kelvington Trailblazers‚ had their rally yesterday, and I understand it was a success, with over 200 machines participating. They got a bit of a break in temperature, but not much. Perigord's "Thrill of the Hills" is next Saturday, February 9th, and Preeceville and Naicam each have one on February 24th. The big Lintlaw rally takes place March 2nd and 3rd. Porcupine Plain had one advertised for January 26th but called it off when it didn't look as if there would be any snow. Of course, they no sooner called it off than it snowed! (Some call them rallies and some Poker Derbies; I just call them all Rallies.)

good business	There have been a lot of machines around the Park this weekend, and it looks as if quite a few of the Park cabins are occupied, as well as the Cove's. No question, snowmobilers are good for the economy!

road trip	This will be the last report for a couple of weeks as we are going to be on the road a lot. Hope to be back in business by the end of the month, though. A few years ago, I bought a laptop computer, thinking I could keep up with the column when away from home. I did send one from Fargo, but the hotel charged me $18 for the use of the phone line! I'll scribble things down on paper and feed it all to you when we get back.

	Doreen & Jerry Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg