Down in the South Country it was a smoky day, hazy
Two old Moose Jaw travellers felt a bit crazy
Exploring the back roads for one day away
From the stress and strain of a pandemic day
Apologies for the above, but we wanted to travel the back roads south of Rockglen, specifically the Coal Road on the route to the West Poplar border crossing.
Not consulting our map enough lost us time by driving within a mile of the border. Back tracking, we found the faded Coal Road sign and turned east.
There were once attempts at mining the poor quality lignite coal under the ground at Coal Creek.
Hawks were abundant this day but the huge bird on the post above was a superb specimen of a golden eagle. The bird sat there while I snapped photos, finally taking off like a cargo plane with a five-foot wing span.
We continued past the stubble fields and pastures, unsure of the new terrain and finding the land less rugged than we had believed.
The thought of home-made pie from the Burning Hills Cafe at Rockglen was in the back of our minds.
We made it to the pretty town nestling on a hill with fall colours on the trees just at noon. New operators have taken over the cafe. The dessert cabinet was bare except for 10 pieces of withered jelling lemon and custard pie that looked like store bought.
Darn! Another of our home-made pie havens gone to the dogs.
The meal was good, just no pie to top it off.
On our way south from town, a coyote inspected us from a nearby creek bed. Another hopped through tall grasses in the distance.
Heading east, we took a trail through heavy stubble fields that ended at a fence line, back tracked and found a nice gravel road that went on and on.
The desolate country with hardly any inhabitants reminded me of the late Ron Bader’s description of the grasslands: “They are so desolate they are beautiful.”
The road went by the sign for the Grange Corner School which opened in the fall of 1918 and closed in 1953 — another reminder of the time when lots of people lived here.
Numerous clumps of planted trees and deteriorating buildings indicate past residents.
At the Ingram ranch we turned north, not certain where the route would take us.
The road connected with Highway 36 to Willow Bunch. Improvements to Highway 36 from there to 13 make it pleasure to drive. Nice to have a cabinet minister from the area.
The sun had come out and we were thirsty so we stopped at Willow Bunch, noticing a cafe/bakery. Maybe pie?
We had missed the 2 p.m. closing by minutes. Coffee was at the Jolly Giant pub. Could have used a beer but I was driving and beer isn’t on my new medical diet.
We headed home via the highway through Crane Valley. Last time on this road rewarded us with wildlife sightings. This time: nada.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The Link LonkSeptember 27, 2020 at 12:30AM
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Another home-made pie hangout in the South Country lost - moosejawtoday.com
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