Seven Days in Saskatchewan

Monday

Approximate Distance Travelled: 240km
From the border town to Swift Current. Awakening in the park, we toured the nearby attractions for several hours before driving south. I have never seen so many "Broken Pavement" and rough road warning signs in my life. The Korean guy at the campground directed us to a bad chinese restaurant, where even the staff doesn't know what's spicy on the menu.

 

The silhouette of the tower loomed on the horizon, like a gigantic, stocky golf tee. The grounds were overgrown with waist-high weeds, and enclosed by an old fence still topped by concertina wire. We eagerly approached the cold-war relic, amazed to find it so intact.

 

Orange light filters into the dome through the weathered panels that make up the curving walls and ceiling. In the center of it all stood the large antenna, still resting on its rotating podium. The strangest echoes rang brief and metallic after every sound. I am happy the station's radar never needed to be put into action against hostile airborne enemies.

 

Beaten and extremely weathered, the small building stood out in the middle of the pale ground. We walked over, the wind picking small puffs of dust from our footsteps and throwing them behind us. The metal structure was still reasonably solid, although every surface was coated with the white powder.

 

The wind howled and grabbed at my clothing, making the climb considerably more frightening. I had to steady myself at the top, as the gusting wind was very strong for such a relatively low height. Standing in a veritable crow's nest atop the elevator in the center of the group of silos, I had an excellent view of the processing plant.

 

Small, abandoned farmhouses were so common along the highway that I began to consider them distance markers. This brick structure, presumably a former schoolhouse, had undergone odd renovations over the long years. At present, the only inhabitants were some wild kittens.

 

Suspicions aroused by the gigantic, decrepit shed, we drove onto the mysterious property. Debris lay strewn about, at first giving me the impression that we'd stumbled into a medium sized junkyard. But the rusting piles of scrap still had faint traces of common purpose that coated their surfaces. A weathered, dirty pile of white powder near a lake at the back confirmed a former mine; although there wasn't much left to explore.