19-Feb-2010 -- After spending an evening with Steve and Kathy in Stettler we left in the morning heading south. The Hwy 56 goes dead straight south towards Drumheller across the snow-covered prairie. The sun shone and I had little difficulty in convincing Kate to go to the point - but a condition was that we go to the Buffalo Jump Provincial Park after.
Roads are 1 mile apart here so points should be no more than 1/2 a mile from a road. Each sq mile is 1 section and farmers were given 1/4 section (160 acres) for free (with a $10 admin fee) following the 1872 Dominion Land Act. Farmers had to promise to cultivate at least 40 acres. Women farmers were not eligible..... Anyway back to the point....
We turned west on the 590 and after crossing the valley of the Red Deer river we turned south and then east to reach the closest approach about 300 metres south of the point. We climbed the gate and set off across the snow toward the point. Light running shoes were probably not the ideal footwear as the snow was up to 2 foot deep. Never mind it was a short walk across rough land and just into a patch of scrubby woodland where the point was located. An easy catch. We then walked 50 metres NE to look at a natural gas installation - probably new since the first visit. Back to the car and an attempt to visit the park. No luck due to a complete lack of signposts on the main roads! On to 51N 113W...