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Pike Lake Provincial Park |
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| FTLComm - Saskatoon - Monday, July 14, 2003 | ||||||||
 Only twelve miles or so South of Saskatoon a curve in the South Saskatchewan
River became a long thin winding lake cut off (Oxbow) from the river over the ages.
The lake is bordered by extensive sand dunes and covered close to the water with
an Aspen (poplar) forest.This green spot is connected to the city with a paved highway that takes around twenty minutes to go from the city centre to the park. Though Saskatoon has a wealth of fine parks within the city the provincial |
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 Park offers yet another alternative for a close nearby to camp and picnic.There is a large beach but the main attraction is the pool and water slide that forms a centre piece for hot weather activity. The nearby concession has fast food and $1.29 yummy ice cream cones but these two elements are the side show to the rich environment with its ample picnic and camp grounds. There is also a miniature golf course and a full course on the North side of the park. |
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 The beach has a rental concession providing canoes and other manually
powered water craft. This one looked particularly interesting as it was able to reach
impressive speed and looked like a lot of fun.The picnic grounds are truly spectacular surrounding the beach area, the pool and play areas near the main parking lot but along the water side in the woods is a picnic area that could easily handle a huge number of people providing all with a surprising cool and beautiful |
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| surrounding. As we walked through the picnic area and reached deep into it we stopped to admire the surroundings and I took the pictures that were used to assemble the 360º QuickTime Panorama of the area (seen below). If your computer has this free enhancement installed, put your cursor on the picture and you can look all around the scene. Push the shift key to zoom in and the control key to zoom out. | ||||||||
| Besides the sand dunes, Aspen forest and little Oxbow lake the area is a rich environment of wild life with a wide range of birds and almost no signs of | ||||||||
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dreaded mosquito.The water level in the lake is maintained at its level by pumping water from the Saskatchewan river keeping a health environment with a steady flow of fresh water. These lilly pads were just starting to bloom and the water they are growing in seemed clear and almost algae free. Through out the park there are rows of trees most planted over the decades producing a well shaded and protected area. |
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 This is why you have noticed that Ensign has been going days without
posting as we are taking time this summer for some camping and time out. Two books
so far and by Kevin McIntyre's advise Tom Clancy is next.Below if you click on the pictures you will see them in full size. They were taken Thursday evening at sunset of the non-electrical camp site area we spent the weekend with families and perhaps as many as forty children all around us. |
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 Saturday afternoon it was very hot and two teenage girls decided to
add another table to their site. Many sites had four or more tents and on Friday
night the campgrounds filled and spilled into the overflow area.There were park patrols regularly and the washrooms were attended to enough to keep them running with as many people that were in the area. Each evening it was campfire time, the highlight of any camping trip. |
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