The first part of day was in Alberta but for the second portion we would explore Saskatchewan. A rather remote section of Saskatchewan but that does not mean we will lack for anything of interest. We meet a dinosaur, see an observatory, fail to buy anything at a yard sale and end up in the Cadillac of Saskatchewan villages.
It has been many years since I have driven to Saskatchewan and the first time my son remembers coming. The 1989 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale was the first car to receive a tow from this spot right at the border with a suspected fuel pump problem. Speaking of fuel pumps my middle son had helpfully informed me a few days prior departure that the Mustang had failed to start occasionally for him. I had not driven it in months as he had become the main driver so this was news to me. Not wanting to get stranded with no replacement parts I had bought a fuel filter and pump to bring along in the worst case scenario. It is a job (the pump) that requires dropping the tank so really I did not want to do it at the side of the road but it would be do-able and certainly more appealing than a massive tow bill.
The road split off from the highway at the border heading south. This was not our route but I was intrigued by the designation of a “summer only” road. Why would that be? The most obvious answer would be a massive hill which seemed unlikely around these very flat parts and a terrain map does not show anything dramatic. I would be happy to receive any knowledge or indeed speculation in the comments below.
On the Alberta side the road was called Highway 501 and as we entered Saskatchewan the road named swapped to Highway 13 which is certainly a grand name for a gravel road. I do wonder how many people have planned a trip based on a map and been surprised by how the modest the road actually is.
After a long, long period of gravel road travel we found ourselves in the village of Consul where we caught up with the recently repaired Oldsmobile. The issue had been a fuel pump ground that shook itself loose on the gravel roads and so the car was back in the action with only a brief tow. While we were stopped it seemed like a decent time to check on fluids given that the Mustang had only been used as an in city runabout previously.
This 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne looked rather sharp in front of a pair of classic Texaco gas pumps. Once home I later found out it was for sale ($7,000cdn) along with a large cache of other vehicles. Shame I had not seen it before setting off otherwise I could have taken a closer look at the collection of project cars. Not that I need another old car to fix up at the moment.
Consul had, according to the census in 2016, a population of 73 souls down from 84 in 2011. This downward trend is fairly common in small rural centers leading to unoccupied buildings like this one.
Consul does still have a surviving grain elevator however. As you can see we had finally left the gravel behind for the much appreciated pavement.
I found this sign amusing which states “Customers Welcome, I don’t call 911, Whiners & Bitches” which has a depiction of a horse rider shooting what I presume to be a trespasser. There was a house in town with a similar sign out front as well. Home and work for the same person?
Continuing on we came across the Wilkinson Memorial Observatory. The build was started by local blacksmith and machinist Jack Wilkinson who built his own telescopes and lenses. He was unable to finish the observatory as he passed away in 1953. Friends and neighbors finished it to honor him. It was not clear if the building was in active use or not anymore.
Setting off again we travelled down the road into the scenic Frenchman River Valley. This area is home to similar scenery (but on a much smaller scale) to Drumheller from a few years back which feature so called Badlands landscape and fossil hunting opportunities.
The landscape was a little more apparent as we descended into the valley where our challenge was to meet “Scotty”.
An unusual traffic sign …
We soon came to the T. rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, Saskatchewan. The building itself is nicely integrated into the landscape.
Inside we met the 65-million-year old Scotty, the world’s largest Tyrannosaurus or T.tex. These fossils were the first T.rex discovered in Saskatchewan back in 1991 by a high school teacher. The Discovery Centre was then later built to house it.
These stops are a great place to see your fellow competitors and their vehicles.
There are likely not too many events in which a Hudson competes with a Plymouth minivan.
Back in town we came across a yard sale which featured a number of antiques and unique items.
There were several items of interest but nothing I actually needed so despite some heavy sales pressure I walked away empty handed. Several of the other competitors did purchase items including my friend Rod who snagged himself a vintage 1960s orange outdoor chair.
The rest of the town held quite a few interesting buildings including this one which was boarded up and looking a little past its best. Shame about the open windows.
There were several curbside classic finds that could have also been at home as competitors on the GBC.
As well as several that were a little too nice like this International pickup truck.
Back on the road many of the farms and ranches had very nicely done metal signs.
Next the place on the map was Shaunavon which as a town of 1,699 (2016 censes) and as such was one of the bigger places on the route. Here we stopped for some dinner for ourselves and gasoline for the car. The Mustang had burned or leaked a bit of oil so that was topped up as well. My son’s phone had died and his cord was stuck in the back somewhere or possibly left at home. His only option for purchase at the gas station was a bright pink cord. It still to refused to charge at this point likely due to dust in the charging port. Rod had a portable charger that seemed to do the trick after a port clean. It was my wife’s birthday the day after the GBC so she got a pink charging cord from him as a gift.
There was some oil and gas development in this area. It was certainly less remote overall but certainly still sparsely populated.
In western Canada the year 2021 went down as a very hot and dry summer and so most farmers had already harvested their crops.
These buffalo or bison were an unexpected sight.
At this point there was not time for any more stops as the sun was setting and I wanted to avoid setting up our tents in complete darkness if possible.
We finally arrived at the village of Cadillac, Saskatchewan where we were able to set up our tents with the remaining light. The population is listed as 92 in 2016 so our group at least doubled that by filling their campground. Amusingly all the street names had an automotive theme including some more obscure ones like Napier.
My eldest son is one of the lucky ones who had turned 18 (drinking age in Alberta) during the pandemic and as a result we had actually never managed to grab a drink at a pub together. The Cadillac hotel was under new ownership who were renovating it and so as a result was not fully open yet but did have a limited menu.
We shared some Bagel Bites and a beer each while having some lively conversation with the locals which ranged from the GBC to farming to gophers. They warmed us that our route for the next day had some very remote and rough roads. One local commented that we were likely to need a few spare tires which we, of course, did not think to bring. I had the untested and almost thirty year factory spare but that was it.
No photos but the number of stars visible even from the camp site was amazing with no big urban centers near by.
The most interesting sleeping arrangement we saw was the Dodge pickup with the agricultural pivot on it. This swung out to create a base for their tent. That wraps up the first day. Day two promises some more gravel roads (hurray), rough roads, small towns and the world’s biggest teepee. Will we need to spare tires as promised by the locals? Or will the Mustang continue to perform well?
The whole Great Beater Challenge 2021 series
The Red Coat Trail on Day 1 Part 1
I used to see a fair few dry weather only roads i Aussie it usually mean proceed at your peril if its been raining in some areas there isnt a choice, its the only road, then the fun starts, fairly remote areas where you guys are travelling and I like 58 Chevys and I owned an International that model good find.
thank you for the pictures and commentary. i dont hail from “big sky ” country…but for the view i wish i did. i have traveled along 66 from san bernadino to Amarillo and your pictures evoke much of that feeling. Perhaps someday I will sit down and try to type out an article worthy of this site Recounting meeting this older gentleman who had been profiled in a book about Route 66 with some decent pictures. I took that drive-in a particularly pleasant car at the time a 1992 rental Lincoln town car. What I remember to this day Was how revelatorily smooth and reasonably powerful the the 4.6 was… Indirect comparison to Ford Crown Victoria’s I had recently rented that had the 302.
Those of us who live in the USA need our own version of the GBC! Route 66, The Loneliest Highway, many ghost towns…
I wonder if those summer-only roads become impassible due to snow drifts in that flat country?
It looks like you found the route that would have been ideal for your climb-phobic K car of a few years back. And sharing a beer with an adult kid is a pleasure.
That was my thought too. Here in West Michigan we have seasonal roads that are not plowed in the Winter or maintained by the counties. These are usually used as snowmobile trails or in the Summer as “off road” trails by jeeps and other ORV’s.
It’s the only logical explanation. Not plowed for snow.
It’s quite common hereabouts.
Common in this area, too, though usually roads in remote mountain areas.
Snow drifts is a good thought. Probably bad in that area. I bet they don’t plow anything within a 100km of this spot.
My younger son and I drove from Winnipeg to Regina, SK a few years ago so the landscape is starting to look familiar, while mainly flat all of the Ag is interesting and quite pretty, especially when the canola is in bloom. One of the highlights was the T-shirt we got him at the province border red stop: “Saskatchewan – hard to spell, easy to draw” with a picture of the outline of the state.
The Mustang seems to be holding together quite well (so far). If a car can survive daily driving by a teen, it would seem to be well prepared for the rigors of a trip like this!
We even have some seasonal roads here in New England. Sometimes it’s that the road is impossible to safely maintain in the Winter but other times – and this is what I expect is true for the road you saw – it’s simply not economical to send a plow down there in the winter when there’s perhaps another way to get to wherever that road goes. So they put up a sign saying the road’s closed, which absolves the powers that be from liability if someone winds up getting stuck down there.
Loving the pictures and the story!
Wish I could have gone this year, the flat terrain would have been a bit more VW friendly. And that sunset!!
My daughter got her first legal drink in AB this year too, after spending the summer in Princeton BC she road tripped it back to Edmonton with one of the other girls she had been working with and flew home from there. Before she left they went out for lunch, I forget what the drink was but she apparently only finished half of it. 🙂
Looking forward to part 3.
I so want to drive to the Frenchman River Valley in Saskatchewan.
Yes, the terrain is very much like the Drumheller area in Alberta. I recently watched a You Tube video showing the area and the abundance of hiking trails and such. Did not know the T. Rex Discovery Centre was in the midst of all that. Glad your group highlighted that part of the province.
I’d love to take a couple days on my own to explore the area further. An interesting place for sure with more than one would think to do around there.
Great travelogue as usual, David.
The scenery is breathtaking, and that sky… huge. I would’ve loved to have seen it at night, being an amateur astronomer.
Switching from astronomy to paleontology for a bit: I thought that Sue was bigger than Scotty. After a quick Google search “Sue vs. Scotty”, the matter seems to be up for debate.
Nice CC finds along the way. I love the ’58 Chevy.
Where you were is only about 5 degrees west of straight north of my part of Wyoming. And It looks like parts of Wyoming, as well as the part of north central Montana just south of the border where I’ve also driven.
Roads closed in winter due to drifting is common here. So is strong wind. You can’t put snow drift fences everywhere.
The best dinosaur attractions tend to be in places just like this. This summer we drove to Wyoming and visited a place called the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite, which contains one of the world’s biggest concentrations of preserved dinosaur footprints. Very neat place if you’re ever out that way, and it’s down a few miles of unimproved roads, just like most of these sites in Saskatchewan.
And regarding your comment about how many people plan a trip based on a map and are then surprised at the road condition, I bet a lot of people get a surprise like that when visiting sparsely-populated places out west. Google Maps, etc. doesn’t seem to distinguish gravel roads from paved roads and will frequently route people down 30 miles of a gravel road because it’s a bit shorter than a paved route.
And that picture of the mid-60s F100 is terrific — that looks like that truck’s natural habitat, for sure.
Oh, I’m sure your wife enjoyed the very thoughtful pink cord as a birthday gift!
Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite turns out to be on the list of places I picked to hit next summer during an anticipated epic road trip to the Badlands (and environs)…inspired by my friend who’s a fossil collector.
We visited the Badlands and environs this summer — Red Gulch is great for folks who like things off the beaten track. Speaking of which, Red Gulch is 5 or 6 miles off a paved road, but fortunately the road is in good shape (not always the case out west, and it’s tough to figure out ahead of time). We made it in a minivan. Below is a picture of the road leading there… the only traffic we encountered was of the hoofed variety.
And if you’re in that area, I highly recommend the Big Horn Mountains – scenery as remarkable as anything I’ve seen, and virtually no crowds. My favorite hiking trail of that trip was 20 mi. west of Red Gulch.
If you enjoy that area and are into mystery/crime/suspense-ish novels, check out the series by CJ Box focusing on fictional game warden Joe Pickett that is based near the Big Horns. In the scope of the series the books do meander all over Wyoming but they are entertaining and quite informative as to the landscape and wildlife all over the state. If you’ve visited, your mind’s eye will fill in the written words with visuals and if you read before visiting, once seen will make it seem somewhat familiar…
Thanks! I’ve never heard of CJ Box since I’m not much of a fiction reader, but I’ll definitely check out his books. Having personal experience with (and a liking for) a book’s setting often makes for an enjoyable read.
As someone who grew up on a farm in southern Saskatchewan, I’m enjoying this saga. For a place with a population of 73, Consul has a remarkable car show. I attended this summer and was amazed at the turnout. The Texaco garage along the highway houses a showroom where one of the locals displays his classic cars(photo attached). Mostly, though, I like these small towns for the friendly people who are very easy to connect with. It’s quite a contrast to the big city where I now live(Calgary).
Another photo from the Consul car show which was held on July 3, 2021. This is a 1930 Ford Model A.
That is an impressive turn out. I lot of folks on farms have space to store old cars, mechanical skills and time to fix them up over the winter which leads to a greater density of old cars in these sort of places.
Rural Iowa is full of roads labeled ‘No Snow Removal’ or ‘No Maintenance’. I can tell you from experience that they are not kidding.
In Ontario the signs say “NO WINTER MAINTENANCE”.
A wonderful travelogue with top-notch pictures and narrative. Thank you for this.