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| bur oak savannah |
Jan 30 – During
the late 19th century, the area around Oak Lake was a popular stopping point
for fur traders and settlers because of the big oak trees around the lake whose
strong wood could be used to repair their wagons.
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| loopy Assiniboine River |
The
Assiniboine River near Oak Lake is the quirkiest river I’ve ever seen on a
map. It wanders and squiggles through
the land, and is surrounded by countless curves where the river used to
flow. It is clear to see that the river has
flooded and changed course often since the last Ice Age that formed this
land. In fact, I keep seeing the Ice Age
glaciers scouring across Saskatchewan, leaving only mud, and dumping all of the
rocks into hilly mounds in Manitoba.
This squiggly river with its phantom oxbows is amusing to me.
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| former blacksmith shop |
Oak Lake
experiences an extreme continental climate. The area is known for its long,
cold winters, with a lot of snowfall.
Blizzards can drop more than 35 cm (~14 inches) of snow at once, which
is blown into drifts that are much deeper. The community can be cut off for a
day or more while snow is cleared from the highways. But, apparently, not many people take photos
of these spectacular snow scenes & post them.
Here is
another fieldstone building that has survived a hundred years. This one was a blacksmith shop.
oak savannah image: http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/manitoba/photo-galleries/tall-grass-prairie.html
blacksmith shop image: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/goldsborough_lg.shtml
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