Day 28: Serendipity

Lake Diefenbaker is formed by the damming of two rivers: the South Saskatchewan and the Qu'Appelle. As such, it looks like a twisted 'T' on the map, the left and right ends of the 'T' being the two dams. The inside left bend forms a sharp corner, called the "elbow", which I was approaching while wondering where I was going to stay for the night. If I pushed, I could probably reach Douglas Provincial Park before nightfall, but not with enough leeway to continue on if they had no spaces available.

My map coordinates were indicating I was at least half a mile on shore. But my eyes said, no, I am clearly still on the water, or at least the sailboats all around me would seem to indicate!
I pull over to decide what to do. I hadn't seen any wonderful sites on this side ofthe lake, and since I was soon approaching the branch of the 'T' I would soon need to make a crossing anyway. But neither side of the Qu'Appelle branch looked too appealing. If only there was some nice beach right here!

I looked over at the shore I had parked at. There were old footprints in the sand, leading up to an established firepit, and behind that, a flat sandy patch under a tree where many a tent had been pitched over the years.

It seemed like a nice spot. I spent the remaining hours of the day reading, writing, and working on my math problem, while wondering if anyone with a greater claim would come along to wrest this perfect site from me.

No one did. I used the half-burnt logs in the fire pit to make my cooking fire, and went to bed in my secluded site.

Day 28 ended: 51*04.789N, 106*41.270W

Day 22: Prickly Feet

My maps, or my GPS, or possibly my eyes did not make any sense. There were supposed to be islands here, big islands, longer than a mile. But I was lost at sea -- the beginning of Lake Diefenbaker. There was one last chance. I saw a little patch of vegetation near that shore that looked a little closer than the land around it. Coming closer, it was indeed an island, although a small one.

I expertly maneuvered my canoe in close and got out to see if there was enough space for a tent on it. In bare feet, of course. I like to feel the earth beneath me.
About ten feet up I was at the top, and couldn't see any place for a tent here, although there was possibly room on the other side. So I began to - ow! a dozen spikes pierced my foot. I had just stepped on a cactus.

Somehow I had missed them on the way up, but going down I saw them everywhere. All kinds of cactus. Small ones, big ones. Well, I do not know their names. But I had at least two kinds of spikes in my foot as I was trying to make my way down this sandy hill covered in cacti.
After several painful minutes I got back to my canoe and plucked the spikes out with my pliers. I zipped out of my "parking spot", and came around to the other side of the island.

I had to laugh. Every plant I saw had thorns, spikes, and bristles. Even a caterpillar was covered with a thorny layer of protection. But there was a clear sandy spot justbig enough for my tent, so I had found my campsite for the day.

It was kind of funny. The night before had been the island of mosquitoes. Huge clouds of the things humming and buzzing about me. I guess the deer and coyotes I saw there weren't enough for them. It was like I was living a Super Mario Bros game. One night I am on the mosquito world, and having defeated it, I move on to the dersert world. I wondered what the next level was going to be like.

Day 22 ended: 50*51.032N, 108*27.749W