Clearwater Lake
For the first time the temperature was
below zero at daybreak. After a passage at
the Post Office and a frugal lunch on the
Walmart car park, I took again the road in
order to bivouac at the edge of Clearwater
Lake. Alas camp-grounds were closed.
Sunset Beach was deserted and, although
was reserved for a day use I decided to
overnight there. The day was cold and
sunny.
I stayed here two nights
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| Sunset Beach |
 |
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| Sunset Beach, Green
Everglade Resort |
The Pas
The Pas is a shortened version of
Opaskwayak, meaning in Cree language,
where the river narrows with wooded banks.
The city counts about 6000 inhabitants
witha McDo and a supermarket. The
official buildings dating from the end of
the 19th century are out of bricks. But
alas there too the museum housed in the
old Court House was closed. I went to the
Post office to know the address and the
zip code of the Main Post Office in
Edmonton where I must receive a parcel in
poste restante. But after having consulted
the site of the Canadian Post Office and
to have questioned someone in Flin Flon I
had three different addresses and three
zip tcodes. I would try my chance at
Prince Albert in Saskatchewan. I elected
my bivouac in Dawson Bay on the port at
the edge of Winnipegosis Lake. The place
was not very filling with enthusiasm, but
I remained two days there because I should
not reach Edmonton before October 8th.
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| Landmark |
 |
 |
| Post Office & Court
House |
Dawson Bay
On Thursday morning September 20th I
carried out the small maintenance of my
truck while the Panda Generator charged
the batteries. I did not find any anomaly.
Around 11 a.m. a fisherman showed me his
extraordinary catch in a few minutes. Then
after lunching I strolled in the village
without activity. The day was gloomy,
without sun but without rain. In the
Northland of Manitoba beautiful days
alternate with bad ones. I am north of
51th parallel.
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| Dawson Bay |
 |
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| Bivouac |
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| Fisherman |
 |
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| Bombardier's vehicle
cemetery |
During a previous control of my truck I
had detected that the front kneecap of the
steering bar was in bad condition. Through my brother Man-Bresse informed
that the bar had to be changed supplements
(!) My brother will forward it by UPS
with my semi-annual provision of medicines in
Edmonton, Alberta. I will then make it
installed by Volvo which had made the oil
change in August 2011. On the gravel road
towards Norway House I passed a vehicle
droving at high speed. Although I headed
at low speed it launched gravels on my
vehicle of which one struck the windscreen
with an impact. Alas yesterday a crack
appeared which was propagated. I hoped not
to have to change it before reaching a MAN
workshop in Querétaro, Mexico, if it exists,
(+12,000 km).
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 |
| Kneecap of steering rod
#3 |
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| Windscreen crack |
Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan
Friday, September 21 the first village met
after the crossing of the border between
Manitoba and Saskatchewan is Hudson Bay in
memory of the terminus of Hudson Bay Line
in the Twenties. I made a round trip in it
to find the library which did not have any
Internet connection. At the exit the
Tourist Information Center is located in a
park reconstructing the village at the
time of its heydays, but behind a
padlocked grid. Tourist season is over,
it's winter…
 |
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| Hudson Bay Park |
On the way I noted that the harvests were
still in hand. Sometimes red tents were
pitched in meadows, perhaps scarecrows.
In the early morning of this first day of
the autumn the temperature under my truck
was -3°C at an altitude of about 450
meters. I left this coldness to head to
downtown Melfort to bivouac on the Mall.
On the way landscapes were typical of the
Prairie in Saskatchewan.
The Public Library has a good Wi-Fi
connection.
 |
 |
| Landscape of the Prairie
in Saskatchewan |
Before leaving Melfort I made a stop
prolonged in front of the library where
Wi-Fi connection functioned outside. The
way to Prince Albert was short, I stopped
on a rest area to lunch. While arriving at
Prince Albert by a beautiful autumnal day,
I made a detour in Tourist Information
open all the year but closed on Sunday.
Obviously I stationed at Walmart.
