20-Jan-2001 -- Fifty-three north and 114 West meet a few kilometres offshore, in a fresh water lake, in Alberta, Canada. In the summer, Ma-Me-O Beach Provincial Park (3.78Km SE of the confluence) is suntan spot and swimming hole for Edmontonians. On January 19, with a mild 0°C temperature, and 60cm of ice on the lake, it is a staging spot for ice fishing, skating, snowmobiling, and confluence-hunting.

We walked out onto the frozen lake, past a father and son practicing their hockey skills on a small rink they'd cleared near to shore, and out toward a cluster of people ice fishing. There we chatted with a retired couple who were teaching their granddaughter to fish, and got assurances that there were no underwater springs that would make the ice unsafe out toward the middle of the lake.

Truth be told, we could have driven out onto the ice, to find the confluence: the ice was solid, and the snow was only a couple centimetres thick, with drifts no deeper than 10 cm. But Cathy wasn't entirely enthusiastic about making the old Nissan Sentra walk on water, and I wanted exercise, so I strapped on my ancient wooden skiis and headed across the ice, while Cathy stayed with the couple from Edmonton. My trajectory took me within metres of a lone fisherman, 2km out onto the lake. He was a bit leery of a stranger skiing across the ice straight toward him, but after I'd gone right on past, then returned 20 minutes later, his curiousity overcame his caution, and we had a pleasant chat. From the fine catch he had, it seems fresh-water fishing is better the closer one is to a confluence.

Coordinator's Note: This visit is incomplete as it doesn't meet our photo requirements.

In Pigeon Lake, about 2 km from the lakeside.