This cache was set out in the middle of winter – a short hike via snow shoes to GZ. In the summer months, there used to be a road that could take you close to GZ, but that road may no longer be there.
Please be aware that in the winter, there could be a lot of snow overhanging the CLIFF, so do not venture too far out on the snow. As well, there is a fence close by which may or may not be covered with snow.
INFO
Basin Lake is located 40 kilometers north of Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Basin and Middle Lakes Migratory Bird Sanctuary was established on March 9, 1925. This sanctuary is a major resting and feeding area for migratory waterfowl and swans. In 2001 Basin and Middle lakes were designated as an Important Bird Area site due to the global significance of these lakes for shorebirds and waterfowl.
In the fall, Basin Lake alone attracts up to 20 000 ducks, 400 Canada geese and 600 tundra swans. This migratory bird sanctuary is also known to be important for shorebirds during their spring migration and the endangered Piping Plover has been recorded here.
Basin Lake and the lands surrounding it were at one time a proposed International Biological Program site. Until the mid-1970s, Basin Lake supported a whitefish fishery, however, due to the fact that both lakes are saline and slightly to moderately alkaline, the fishery is no longer operational.
HISTORY
The following are excerpts taken from the St. Benedict History Book(dated 1993), written up by Fr. Phillip Loehr OSB:
“The origin of the basin is as yet lost in pre-history: which means that it must have taken shape at least a decade or two before 1880. The basin must be of fairly recent origin. One clue is the high cliff at the southeast shore of the lake about a mile north of the Wedekindt farm yard. The cliff suggests a hill that was split in half quite recently, the north half of the hill becoming part of the basin that sank. (The coordinates for the cache take you to this location)
Did some salt formation hundreds or even thousands of feet below the surface dissolve and allow the whole basin to drop dozens of feet below the surrounding terrain? One can only speculate from comparisons with areas of land in western Canada that have sunk below their former surface in recent times. One such phenomenon took place a generation ago in an area north of the Torch River in Saskatchewan.
In any case, that basin northeast of St. Benedict was already there when settlers came in the 1880s and 1890’s. However, the basin had no lake until the summer of 1896. Up till that time the basin, nearly one township in size, seems to have had much the same mix of bushes, sloughs and hay meadows as the countryside around it.
Many people remember being told the the 1880s were very dry, like the 1930s of this centrury. They were also told that the 1890s were wet, particularly the summer of 1896.
A prolonged rain that summer softened the ground in the basin, allowing a spring to break through from a subterranean body of water under the hills to the west. This body of water normally overflowed underground to springs in the Carrot River valley. The prolonged rains of 1896 caused the underground body of water to exceed the capacity of those springs, and the water sought a new outlet into the basin.
It is not known how many people had made hay in the basin that summer, and how many had to abandon hay and hay machinery when the lake came in.
It took well into this century for the lake to reach the level of the underground body of water to which it owed its origin. In the last 1940’s when water was flowing from Lake Lenore to Frog Lake to Middle Lake and then under the bridge to Basin Lake, the level of Basin Lake did not change much.“
During the dry and dirty 30’s the water level began to fall and has continued to fall even in the 50s when all other lakes did rise. I personally have been down to the shore during the 1980's, and the water was likely about a half mile or more back from the edge of the cliff. At the time, many pepople would head down there to pick up driftwood. At present, with all the rain in the past 20 or so years, the lake has risen drastically once again.
AGAIN, PLEASE BE CAREFUL AT GZ, AS THERE IS A FENCE CLOSE. AS WELL, DO NOT GET TOO CLOSE TO THE CLIFF!!!!
To log this cache you must message or e-mail me the answers to the following questions:
1. On the day of your visit, estimate the height in meters of the cliff to the surface below.
2. On the day of your visit, estimate the distance in meters from the cliff to the waters’ edge. (This may be a little tougher in the winter!!)
3. At the following coordinates: N52 34.785 W105 14.432, you will find a BLUE sign. What 2 lakes are mentioned on that sign?
4. As well, a photo of your visit at GZ, with the lake in the background, would be great!!!