Our last week of spring excavations at Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park delivered another surprise and several new experiences for our crew. Shari got an early start on Monday morning with a phone interview on the CBC Eyeopener “Notes from the Field” segment, which you can listen to here. Cassandra Mihalicz returned to brave our hottest day yet, with temperatures topping 30 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, Justine made a startling discovery when she unearthed a newspaper fragment from the cellar area of the bunkhouse. With careful handling, perhaps we’ll be able to read a date or headline! Three volunteers (Carol McCreary, Gilles Fournier, and Cassandra) came back on Tuesday to dive into the western units, while Shari continued the cellar unit and spoke to the many cyclists who visited the site. Wednesday brought changes, as construction fences were erected to protect the excavation from being trampled by cattle that were moved into the area for the summer. Gilles was a great help maneuvering the fence off the western units, where he then dug for the day. He and Shari found themselves almost upside-down as they struggled to reach a depth of 50 cm in their respective units. Justine and Shari spent Thursday, the last day of the spring excavation, digging, mapping, and drawing soil profiles, in order to complete our work in the bunkhouse area.
It’s been a great spring and we thank our many volunteers for their enthusiastic participation in our program! We couldn’t have done it without you. We hope to see you in September when we will return to tidy the bunkhouse area and do a small excavation in the village. Check our blog for more stories about the people of Glenbow throughout the summer and watch for updates on our September excavation program.
-Shari Peyerl
