Putting on the Miles. Sask., Alberta and BC.

Going back to our visit to Elbow, Saskatchewan and Lake Diefenbaker, I took some photos at the local marina.

There is still one lonesome elevator there, but even it’s railroad siding is now gone.

After that we paid another visit to Prince Albert National Park.

I found this great little private beach to cool off for a while.

Later, at the main beach in town, I was surprised to see this extended family group of Canada Geese escorting their closely guarded goslings right through hordes of beach goers.

After a short visit with friends in Prince Albert, and on the way to a high school reunion in my home town, I managed to track down a historical dam on the North Saskatchewan River, just upstream from it’s junction with the South Saskatchewan.  This is the remains of the partially completed dam, abandoned in 1913.  It is the La Colle Falls dam that almost bankrupt the city of Prince Albert, who were still paying off the debt up till 1965.  I became acquainted with the site when we canoed past on school canoe trips.

I recall seeing bags of ‘petrified’ concrete piled nearby with the burlap pattern of the bags still visible.

The class reunion was a success, but part of the festivities were held at the local seniors centre – and a whole bunch of ‘old people’ showed up instead of high school kids.  Even some of our teachers were in attendance!

On the way home, a very intense banging on the roof of the truck brought us to an abrupt halt near Rosetown.  The underside of the overhanging bed section had separated and was pulled down by the wind – banging on the roof of the truck.  Without enough tools along to do the repairs myself, we resorted to a local RV dealer for a temporary repair, but it was starting to come apart again only a few miles down the road.  Once at home, proper permanent repairs should keep the rig going for another 20 years!

After the requisite repairs, and mowing the grass at home, it was time to get back on the road, this time west, into B.C.  Blasting on through Banff, Yoho, Glacier and Mt Revelstoke National Parks we headed north up along Revelstoke lake looking for some of our favourite camp spots.  To save driving in to some of them only to find them occupied, we used our aerial abilities to fly over and have a quick look at some before driving on.  The lake is about 130 km (80 miles) long, so there are quite a few camping options.  Near the north end we found a great spot all to ourselves on a little point of land jutting out into the lake.

The entry road is a tad narrow, but a large clearing would provide enough room even for John & Brenda, the Bayfield Bunch, and Wandering Willy!  Even Ernie & Deb’s ‘tiny’ class A!

After a few days enjoying this paradise, we headed back southbound down the lake.  My UAV took this photo of us as we crossed one of several bridges crossing side channels down the lake.

After fueling and re-stocking a bit and getting up to date on e-mail and such in Revelstoke, we headed south and took the ferry across the north end of Arrow Lakes, and down to another favourite spot on Trout Lake.  ‘Our’ spot was occupied for a night, but we were able to get it for a couple days.

This spot is beautiful, and private, but definitely not suitable for anything bigger than a truck camper or tiny trailer.  Although private, I had daily visits from the BC Forest Service looking for any fires I may have started!