The Greenwater Report for March 12, 2001

The Greenwater Report for March 12, 2001

Greenwater Provincial Park - March 12, 2001 - By: Gerald Crawford

owls
March 11th, 2001: Where have all the owls gone? Since returning from our little trip a month ago, we have hardly seen any owls at all. We were listening to CBC's bird line one day, and someone phoned in from the southern part of the province, reporting seeing a great gray owl down there. It sounded as if the bird expert was very surprised. Maybe the rest of our owls moved farther south, too. (Maybe they know something we don't know?)

semi rig
You will be happy to know that the cargo and trailer of the semi rig that tipped over near here has been salvaged. They had two tractors, a fork lift truck, a flatbed trailer, and a quad. Any time I went by, the quad seemed to be doing the work. It looked as if they tied a strap around each bale and pulled it out of the truck with the quad, then used the fork lift to load it onto the trailer. When we drove by next morning, it was all cleaned up.

incredible
Greg Erixon at the Cove told me a couple of weeks ago that on Sunday night the place was full and people were waiting for tables. There was no smorg, I guess people just decided to give the place a try under the new management. I had a hamburger steak the other night and highly recommend it, it wasn’t just good, it was incredible! Greg says it is his own recipe.

sawmill
I followed a load of logs from the Park to the junction at Chelan. A double semi-load of beautiful logs straight, clear spruce. It turned west at Chelan, so suspect it was going to the sawmill at Carrot River. There are still some nice trees left!

old truck
The cold stretch finally broke Tuesday evening, February 27th, after three solid weeks of unseasonably cold weather. Wednesday the temperature must have been a bit above freezing, and Thursday was positively sloppy. In some ways, it’s a mixed blessing nice to be able to work outside without bundling up, but the packed snow is like slickest ice. I dug the old truck out of a snowbank; had to put the tractor on it to get it to go where I wanted it to, and be very careful to stop on a down slope, so I could get going again. Think it needs a few hundred pounds of weight in the back, or else new tires.

no real
snow
The Park really has been jumping; school breaks are staggered, so during February there are some schools having their break pretty well every week. Lots of snow machines running around, of course. Unfortunately, with no real snow since before Christmas, the trails are getting pounded out on the corners. School breaks must be finished now, as it has been relatively quiet this weekend.

pussy
willows
Last Wednesday was a beautiful day, about -13°, sunny, and no wind at all. I went for a walk out by the ball diamond, north on the snowmobile trail, then cut off over to the group campground. With some thawing every day, the willows must think it is spring, because there are already some pussy willows out. I think it is safe to say we will get some real cold weather yet, so hope it doesn‚t do the willows any harm.

fishing
Merv Miller went out fishing the other day; in two hours, he caught four perch and a pickerel, enough for a couple of meals, Maybe fishing is picking up again.

ATM
Something new at the Cove is an ATM cash machine. It is standing in the store; not hooked up yet but should be shortly. I suspect it will be a popular service.

Spring Thaw
I notice a poster at the Cove for the Bjorkdale Bandits annual "Spring Thaw" fish derby on March 25th. I hope this warm weather stays with us ice fishing must be a lot more fun when one is not freezing his butt off.

old canoe
We went to Saskatoon to see the Sports and Leisure Show at Sask. Place. Didn’t see much to interest us but were surprised at the prices of boats & motors. A basic 12‚ aluminum boat with a 6 hp engine and a trailer, all for just under $4,000. Don’t think our old canoe is leaking too badly yet.

black ice
There were a few flakes of snow in Saskatoon, but they must have had more east of Humboldt, because there was quite a ground drift before a north wind. Of course, it was sticking to the warm road, and some spots were pure black ice. We came upon a group of cars on the road, including a police car; right beside them were three vehicles in the ditch at weird angles, and loop-the-loop tracks on the road. A couple of the vehicles on the road were four-wheel-drives, and looked as if they had cut a path through the ditch, too. There was some ice all the way home, though not as bad as that, but we didn‚t see any more ditched vehicles except for a half-ton in the ditch few miles east of Archerwill.

Gerald B. Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423
Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg

The Greenwater Report for March 12, 2001

Greenwater Provincial Park - March 12, 2001 - By: Gerald Crawford

owls	March 11th, 2001: Where have all the owls gone? Since returning from our little trip a month ago, we have hardly seen any owls at all. We were listening to CBC's bird line one day, and someone phoned in from the southern part of the province, reporting seeing a great gray owl down there. It sounded as if the bird expert was very surprised. Maybe the rest of our owls moved farther south, too. (Maybe they know something we don't know?)

semi rig	You will be happy to know that the cargo and trailer of the semi rig that tipped over near here has been salvaged. They had two tractors, a fork lift truck, a flatbed trailer, and a quad. Any time I went by, the quad seemed to be doing the work. It looked as if they tied a strap around each bale and pulled it out of the truck with the quad, then used the fork lift to load it onto the trailer. When we drove by next morning, it was all cleaned up.

incredible	Greg Erixon at the Cove told me a couple of weeks ago that on Sunday night the place was full and people were waiting for tables. There was no smorg, I guess people just decided to give the place a try under the new management. I had a hamburger steak the other night and highly recommend it, it wasn’t just good, it was incredible! Greg says it is his own recipe.

sawmill	I followed a load of logs from the Park to the junction at Chelan. A double semi-load of beautiful logs straight, clear spruce. It turned west at Chelan, so suspect it was going to the sawmill at Carrot River. There are still some nice trees left!

old truck	The cold stretch finally broke Tuesday evening, February 27th, after three solid weeks of unseasonably cold weather. Wednesday the temperature must have been a bit above freezing, and Thursday was positively sloppy. In some ways, it’s a mixed blessing nice to be able to work outside without bundling up, but the packed snow is like slickest ice. I dug the old truck out of a snowbank; had to put the tractor on it to get it to go where I wanted it to, and be very careful to stop on a down slope, so I could get going again. Think it needs a few hundred pounds of weight in the back, or else new tires.

no real snow	The Park really has been jumping; school breaks are staggered, so during February there are some schools having their break pretty well every week. Lots of snow machines running around, of course. Unfortunately, with no real snow since before Christmas, the trails are getting pounded out on the corners. School breaks must be finished now, as it has been relatively quiet this weekend.

pussy willows	Last Wednesday was a beautiful day, about -13°, sunny, and no wind at all. I went for a walk out by the ball diamond, north on the snowmobile trail, then cut off over to the group campground. With some thawing every day, the willows must think it is spring, because there are already some pussy willows out. I think it is safe to say we will get some real cold weather yet, so hope it doesn‚t do the willows any harm.

fishing	Merv Miller went out fishing the other day; in two hours, he caught four perch and a pickerel, enough for a couple of meals, Maybe fishing is picking up again.

ATM	Something new at the Cove is an ATM cash machine. It is standing in the store; not hooked up yet but should be shortly. I suspect it will be a popular service.

Spring Thaw	I notice a poster at the Cove for the Bjorkdale Bandits annual "Spring Thaw" fish derby on March 25th. I hope this warm weather stays with us ice fishing must be a lot more fun when one is not freezing his butt off.

old canoe	We went to Saskatoon to see the Sports and Leisure Show at Sask. Place. Didn’t see much to interest us but were surprised at the prices of boats & motors. A basic 12‚ aluminum boat with a 6 hp engine and a trailer, all for just under $4,000. Don’t think our old canoe is leaking too badly yet.

black ice	There were a few flakes of snow in Saskatoon, but they must have had more east of Humboldt, because there was quite a ground drift before a north wind. Of course, it was sticking to the warm road, and some spots were pure black ice. We came upon a group of cars on the road, including a police car; right beside them were three vehicles in the ditch at weird angles, and loop-the-loop tracks on the road. A couple of the vehicles on the road were four-wheel-drives, and looked as if they had cut a path through the ditch, too. There was some ice all the way home, though not as bad as that, but we didn‚t see any more ditched vehicles except for a half-ton in the ditch few miles east of Archerwill.

	Gerald B. Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg