Wapati Regional Park

Last night we went to Wapati Regional Park for a Picnic. It is also a Four Seasons Resort and Ski Hill. Ski hill, you ask? In Saskatchewan? Well, this is the way it goes. Hills don't go up from the prarie. They dip down into the prarie. So, you can not see them -- you have to know they are there. Small dips are created by creeks and are surrounded by little groves of trees and shrubs. Larger dips are things like the Wapati Ski Hill, where there is a large river surrounded by trees and shrubs. So, you are driving along and all of a sudden you drop into this valley and there it is. By B.C. standards, it would not be considered a hill, nevermind a ski hill. But since it has all the requisite features of a ski hill -- an incline, snow, runs and a chair lift -- it is a ski hill.

In front of the ski hill there is a nice little penninsula that has been grassed over so that it is a park. There is a corner store, washrooms, hookups for campers, a set of monkey bars, a few picnic tables, and the stage. Yes, I did say the stage. Apparently sometime in the not-so-distant past the Wapati Walleye Competition took place in the lake and they left their mark on the park. They built a small plywood stage, about 10' X 5' with a back wall about 8' tall. On the side you see when you enter the park there are charts posted with the results of said fishing competition. But what is really spectacular is what is on the other side of the wall.

The entire stage and walls are painted yeloow. That's right, bright yellow. And on the back there is the name of the competition, along with what I would describe as the insignia of the Death of Walleye. It is a stylized fish skeleton, complete with wide open mouth, gaping eyes, rib and tail bones.

Just beyond the stage, there is one picnic table on the very edge of the penninsula, looking out on the lake. The lake is very pretty, with trees all around it and of course the famous, luminous Saskatchewan sky. So, the picnic was lovely, from Hubby and Baby's point of view. But I really enjoyed my view of the Death of Walleye. It gave me something to reflect upon -- life cycles, chatch and release vs just catch fishing, if a fish's eye sockets really look like that -- you get the idea.

Well, I had best go tidy up the books my 1 yr old has strewn all over the floor before he trips on them and experiences a minor calamity. TTFN