A quick update on grain markets and trading opportunities!
The Pint-Sized Agfinity Newsletter!
More exciting than that time your nice little fishing trip turned into a survival quest… This is the Pint Sized Agfinity Newsletter!
You never step in the same river twice…
– Joseph Billett
On the western point of Abraham Lake, AB, there is a camping spot on the David Thompson Highway called Preachers Point. Abraham Lake has a surface area of 53.7 km 2, a length of 32 kms, and is fed by the North Saskatchewan river. We’ve been camping around this lake and at this spot for years. Because your right in the middle of the valley, Preachers Point can be a little windy at times; however, we have a travel trailer and gladly take the 360 panoramic views, wind and all!
Abraham Lake was created in 1972 with the construction of the Bighorn Dam. Because it’s a forestry site, you can camp wherever you like. The ever-changing water levels creates a different area and new experience every time, and this year, it was close to 50 feet lower than the last time we camped there. Which comes into play in a moment…
This summer, Amy’s parents wanted to experience Preacher’s Point with us, so we planned a 4-day weekend camping trip together. One of the things we love to do as a family is take our 11 ft inflatable boat out and fish. Last year, we went out on the lake several times, fished, came back, and never had any issues. This year was different!
To set the scene, it was windy, and the river was flowing fast! The river you experienced last year or last week isn’t the same river as today. This was the revelation I needed… Nevertheless, Hannah, my 11-year-old daughter, Truett, my 6-year-old son, Andy, my father-in-law (age unknown), and I figured it would be a good idea to head out for a boat ride. Now, I could tell Andy was slightly unsure of this little adventure we were embarking on, but my confidence from years past seemed enough for him to come along for the ride. And like I said earlier, the water level was roughly 50 feet lower than last year, meaning the slow, deep, lazy river of last year was replaced by a fast-rapid ride.
As Grandpa, the kids and I hopped in the boat, I got the 8 hp Evinrude fired up and we were gone! When your flowing down the river and the two stroke is purring, you think everything is fine. It wasn’t until my son Truett said, “Hey Daddy! Turn the engine to full power!” and I said, “That is full power,” that I realized we might have a problem… This really came to light when Grandpa turns and says, “That’s all she’s got? … Will we make it back up the river?” and my response was a sure-sounding, “Well, we got back no problem last year,” knowing right after I spoke that the river and lake were completely different the year before.
As we cruised at breakneck speed down the river, Abraham Lake appeared to be quite a bit further away. Coming to the realization that getting back to camp may not be as easy as mentioned in the tourist brochure earlier, I began to reconsider our destination. So, I said to the crew, “Hey, the waters a little choppy. I’m going to turn us around ’cause we’ll just get beat up if we try to fish here.” I did my best to sound confident and upbeat while increasing levels of anxiety crept up to levels I wished the water was at…
Turning the boat around, the water began to liberally soak all of us. It didn’t matter how warm of a day it was, we could pretty much see the glacier this water was melting from. As we headed back up river, it was apparent that the old 8 hp Evinrude was not up to the task. We were inching ahead, but every minute going a little slower, until we concluded we were not going at all. When all that water is rushing by you, it’s a little deceiving, but when that tree hasn’t moved after 5 minutes its time to formulate a new plan!
In case I forgot to mention it, I also had my father in law on this adventure, which makes the temperature of the water not the coldest thing in the boat… But we had a problem and needed to solve it, so thankfully there was no time for petty things like blame and accusations. At this point, we felt the best course of action was to go over to the shore and walk the boat back. The one critical detail we should have discussed a bit more was which shore to go to… Decorated with big banks and rocks, the side we were camping on seemed treacherous, while the other side was relatively flat and unobstructed. So, solving one problem at a time, we went for the easy side. There is a saying I’ve coined over the years and that is, ” Adventure starts when things go wrong!” … At this moment, it was clear we had embarked on an epic adventure!
Thankfully, I have wheels that drop down on the back of my zodiac style inflatable, but that doesn’t make dragging it and the motor any easier. Andy and I came up with a pretty good system though, where I would carry the motor ahead several feet and then come back and we would roll the boat together. For me, this was an opportunity to do some Strong Man training. For Hannah and Truett, they were running around and playing. But for Grandpa… I just couldn’t put my finger on if he was having a good time or not.
After two kilometers and two hours of trekking, we got to a spot that was far enough down river that we could put the boat back in and squeeze all the juice we could out of that old Evinrude to get across. It worked like a charm and we got back to the side of the river that we were camping on.
If you caught my tongue-in-cheek mentions about Grandpa, you can only imagine how thrilled Grandma was about our adventure. But by the end of the journey, everyone was back at camp, safe and sound, maybe a little more tired and sore than anticipated for a simple boat ride to Abraham lake.
This adventure taught me a few things, which all good adventures do, and I eluded to it earlier: The river is never the same every year.
Every harvest, every market is a little different year in, year out. And not just because the terrain, weather, equipment or prices have changed, but so have we. We are different every year we get back to that same spot on the river. Maybe we’re a little wiser than the last time, or perhaps we don’t get in the river because of fear from the last adventure… Either way, things are flowing and changing every day and it’s up to us to hop on for another ride and see where the river takes us.
