Chief Whitecap Trail

Today, we drove down Chief Whitecap Trail (SK 219).  First stop was Beaver Creek Conservation area.  A former student of mine from Evan Hardy was one of the interpreters.  Haven't been to Beaver Creek in about 5 years.  It's getting older, but it was a nice trip.  I didn't know aspen bark has a natural sun screen you can use and some beaver slides were pointed out along the trail.

Beaver Creek

Chipmunk and Franklin Ground Squirrel

Next stop was the Gardiner Dam, about 100 km south of Saskatoon.  I've never been to this earth dam which is a major hydroelectric station.

SaskPower Coteau Creek Hydroelectric Station

Gardiner Dam

I thought the 5 concrete towers were generators, they are not.  There are three hydro generators at the Coteau Creek station downstream 1 km from the dam.

In the evening, I noticed my Saskatoon berries in the garden were ripe.  We put nets around the bushes this year so the pesky birds couldn't strip them clean before harvest. Some robins still had the guts to grab some berries.  This is the first harvest ever from our smoky cultivar bushes.  We also have a Thiessen cultivar, but it hasn't grown much in the 8 years we've had it.

Saskatoon berries

The ivory silk lilac tree is also blooming.