Land of the Living Sky

November 19, 2020

12:00 AM

Perry Mack

Meadow Lake

Words by Perry Mack

A trip to central Saskatchewan is …

The provincial motto is ‘Land of the Living Sky’, which I dismissed as just another marketing agency pitch. Then I arrived my first evening in Meadow Lake, and ate three bugs before I realized my mouth was hanging open.

Living in British Columbia we are comforted by our cocoon of continuous hills and mountains. A landscape that swaddles us like children until we climb peaks or take a chair lift to ski, and are on top of the world. The sky is big up top, but it usually appears in two forms, clear blue skies or dense fog, which is why an Okanagan ski resort, Big White, has a local name of Big White-Out.

Perry Mack

We surprised each other

The skies over central Saskatchewan are alive. I found myself stopping throughout my journey looking upwards and turning in circle as though watching a merry-go-round where a unique horse would appear every moment until the circle was complete. Like gazing into a campfire, it was mesmerizing, exciting and calming.

The region around Meadow Lake is in many ways the archetypal small rural Canadian town. Amenities are few, and the people are friendly, with the quirky sights and characters that made the comedy Corner Gas so funny and familiar. Then there is the outdoors. Whatever you may miss from a big city is overwhelming trumped by a landscape that offers an outdoor lifestyle that is hard to replace, and harder to leave.

My new found friends had plenty of suggestions, but I only had a week.

Perry Mack

An undisclosed location in central Saskatchewan

Ed: ‘Do you want to ATV’ing?’

Perry: ‘No thank-you, every field and forest is an impassable bog with high water right now. We’ll get stuck and spend the night out there.’

Ed: ‘I’m not gonna lie to you, that could happen. It will be fun.’

Scott: ‘Do you want to shoot chickens?’

Perry: ‘What? We’re going to a farm? Hell no.’

Scott: ‘No not chicken chickens, grouse. We can use the ATV’s’.’

James: ‘We could go fishing for pickerel and probably catch jack.’

Perry: ‘Whose Jack? Doesn’t matter, I’ll take out-door number three. I’m in.’

James: ‘Jack are pike. You don’t understand much. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.’

Perry Mack

It's not a goal, it's a lifestyle.

Makwa Lake Provincial Park is nearby, it’s a favourite of locals and visitors from Alberta. It offers an immersive campground experience with five lakes, including a number of beaches and boat launches. All your favourite watersport activities are here. Bring your rod and reel for the excellent fishing and use the fish cleaning facility provided by the park. Off the water, and in or near the park, you can enjoy hiking, biking, golfing and birding. Sites go from basic all the way to full hook-up pull-throughs. We saw all the ingredients for anyone to create a stellar outdoor vacation whether it’s an activity packed getaway or a relaxed ‘get-back-to-nature’ retreat.

Perry Mack

A chorus line for fillet leftovers.

Buffalo Narrows is two hours north of Meadow Lake through rolling treed countryside. The highway was spotted with the provincial flower, the Tiger Lily. Bryon was driving and explained that you are not allowed to pick Tiger Lilies as they are provincially protected. He remarked that the were thousands last week until they highway maintenance cut them down with the roadside grass. It seems they are protected, but not that protected.

He then casually remarked, ‘Keep an eye out for black bears, there’s usually five or six along the drive.’

Perry Mack

A crowded day on the beach.

Two hours later the tally was one black bear. And sadly, he was dead. I began to suspect that the stories they were telling me about the large number of black bears, blacks eagles (crows) and white eagles (gulls) were somewhat embellished.

Buffalo Narrows is a village 2.5 hours north of Meadow Lake on Hwy 155 and is sandwiched between Peter Pond and Churchill lakes. These two shallow lakes are ripe for the avid angler and even the inexperienced are almost certain to catch their limit bottom bouncing in around six metres. In true fishermen fashion, I was cajoled into not disclosing their two top ‘hot spots’ where our lines were continually getting hit. After threatening to publish the GPS co-ordinates, I was relieved of filleting and cooking duty, yet ate my fill of fish-crisped pickerel. I’m not proud of my behavior, but it was certainly satisfying.

Perry Mack

The park in Buffalo Narrows has no amenities but the location is enviable.

The Bridge RV Park and Resort is located next to the boat launch and bridge (hence the name), and has both serviced and unserviced sites picnic tables and firepits.

Central Saskatchewan has more to offer than I have pages to describe them. Words and images can’t completely describe the experience of standing still and still breathing with eyes wide open, much less exploring and experiencing. You won’t get the heavy marketing hype of Las Vegas or Disney World, luring you to come for overpriced food and a manufactured faux experience, but what you will get, you will never forget. Pack the RV, turn the key, make the drive, and get ready for the land of the living sky.

Perry Mack

Call them Pickerel or Walleye, we call them Tasty.

I must share one last thing. Before visiting I was continually warned about the quantity and severity of ‘The Bugs’. They were naturally concerned for me, as living in Kelowna, a person can get by living without screens in the windows. Our bugs are relegated to the forests and mountains.

On a Canadian bug scale of zero to horrendous, I give my experience in central Saskatchewan a ‘not too bad’ as a some bug spray and a light breeze kept the little vampires and flesh eaters at bay. Unlike Manitoba and my time in northern Ontario, where you can’t leave your children unprotected at dusk or like piranha, the beasties will strip them to the bone in minutes.

Perhaps I’ve picked up the Saskatchewan predilection towards embellishment – as they say, never let facts get in the way of a good story.