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| David is specialized in
renewable resource technology and has worked as a
conservation officer and has owned an outdoor
adventure store. The Sawyer Lake project is
something that has been his dream for a long time
and is a work-in-progress. Part of his spread has
never been cultivated and is home to native
grasses and plants that he is having formally
catalogued. |
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| Young elk running off excess
energy at Sawyer Lake |
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With miles and
miles of boreal forest surrounding his site, and with
clearings provided in strategic areas, his site is home
to elk, deer, moose, timber wolves and coyotes. "I
can't promise," he said. "This isn't Banff and
it isn't Disneyworld. Sometimes we see lots of wildlife.
Sometimes, none. It's up to the animals. They aren't
pets." |
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| The next Sawyer Lake cabin
in progress, after selective logging |
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We did meet his
Norwegian Fjord ponies which are close to being
pets. David uses them for logging - ecologically
sound logging, carefully, one tree at a time. He
and his partner saw their own lumber and sell
slabs to local farmers for corral fences. He's
collecting enough to build at least two more
cabins. At first, he said, he just worked his own
land but now neighbours are calling to have David
and the horses cut timber for them. |
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Camp site is a
little three-bedroom clapboard cottage with a big porch,
a large kitchen/dining area and a non-working bathroom.
There's power, but no running water. |
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| "It made more
ecological sense," said David, "to buy
this place and move it than to have this wood
burned and use more trees to build a log
cabin." Brittany and I shook out the kinks
and had a rest while David whipped up supper - a
wonderful meal with pickled beets on the side and
freshly picked mushrooms cooked in cream and
served on toast, and rhubarb cake for dessert.
David did all the dishes. |
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| One of David's Norwegian
Fjord ponies which are used for selective
logging |
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We hiked until
10:15, coming back by moonlight, wandering down to the
lake and then back to the cottage. David picked the paths
where, with our binoculars, we could watch deer and elk
feeding. We didn't bother them, they didn't bother us.
David, who is from St. Bruno but who has lived most of
his life in the shadow of the Mid-Boreal forest, acted as
spotter for us, picking out birds by their songs - though
it was Brittany who found the nine pale eggs after David
spotted the nesting duck. |
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| Brittany found the duck nest
camouflaged in the tall grass |
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Coyotes serenaded us on
the way home while David told us, very seriously,
that, when the chorus was the song of the timber
wolf, "the guide was off duty and it was
every girl for herself." The plan had been
to spend the evening canoeing but we had arrived
in high wind and it showed no signs of easing.
"I'll get you up at 5 a.m. and we'll go
canoeing in the morning," David promised. I
winced. I'm a night owl, not an early bird. |
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| We sat up and talked
over tea - my kind of conversation - free-flowing
philosophical, good-humoured. He doesn't want big
groups at Sawyer Lake, David said. He wants to be
able to tailor each vacation to each vacationer -
and I knew that if I had said I just wanted to
sit on the porch, listen to bird songs, and
vegetate, he would not have argued. Up at five,
cup of tea, and down to the canoe. I looked at my
camera for a long time - then left it behind.
It's not easy to relax when you're concerned with
capturing interesting photos. Time, I thought, to
stick to capturing memories. |
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| A small but curious resident
of the Sawyer Lake area |
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We paddled,
stopped, listened, parked the canoe, watched the ducks at
play, beached the canoe and hiked through the woods,
admired the giant spruce, visited with a family of frogs
that were no bigger than a thumb nail, paddled some more,
paused and listened, and let the silence and the gentle
late May sunshine do their work. |
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| Another little creature who
seems curious about my camera |
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From frazzle to mellow
in 18 hours. It was nothing short of a miracle.
Back to the cottage - and to David's flapjacks
with saskatoons, served up with maple syrup and
chokecherry jelly - positive ambrosia. Besides,
both Brittany and I were starving. |
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Time for another
hike, a pleasant scramble through the woods, an
opportunity to become reacquainted with the spring
flowers that I had been able to identify as a child. Pack
up the truck and say good-bye to Sawyer Lake. David had
been regretful that we hadn't had a close up visit with
an elk. As we pulled onto the road, two magnificent
animals strolled across the road right in front of us.
David claimed he didn't plan it. Another scenic tour on
the route to Preeceville. Ice cream with saskatoons as a
send-off snack. The drive home was pleasant. I hadn't
been so relaxed in a very long time. It was weeks before I realized how
carefully David had planned an adventure that included
both an energetic 22 year old and a 55 plus freelancer
who has lived with the family gift of arthritis since she
was 40. We had covered miles. Brittany had had a good
time and I was exhilarated, wound down, and not at all
sore.
David Weiman and Sawyer lake
Adventures can be reached at Preeceville, Sk, phone or
fax 306-547-4661, Box 1000, Preeceville, Sk S0A 3B0
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