At the last reunion in the Cyprus Hills some of us talked about going back to Uranium City for a visit.

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In the Photo starting at the left are Terry Bachmeier, Peter Wilson, Pam Wilson, Pat Cardinal and Wayne Johnson

We decided to meet in LaRonge Sask. where Pat Cardinal lives and go from there.It is important that you plan your trip to Uranium City carefully if you decide to go because the facilities are very limited once you get there. At the time both Norcanair and Transwest Air had regular flights to Uranium City. This may change when the hospital closes in March of 2003. I also think you may be able to charter out of Fort McMurray or Fort Smith but it could be expensive. We decided to use Transwest Air out of LaRonge Sask. at $600.00 per person round trip. It was the best price we found at the time. Be sure to book well in advance and prepay your ticket to make sure you are on the flight. Transwest has a modern Saab 340 turbo prop aircraft that seats 30 passengers. When we flew up it only went as far as Stony Rapids. From there we transferred to an 8 passenger Piper Navaho which normally lands in Fond-du-lac on the way to Uranium City. On our trip we went directly from Stony Rapids to Uranium City because there were no passengers for Fond-Du-Lac that day, but we did stop there on the way back.

The only problem we had with Transwest was they bumped our luggage on both the flight up and the flight back. We did get it the same day however but we had to wait 2 or 3 hours at Uranium City on the way up and our luggage was 5 hours behind us when we got back to LaRonge. Transwest did make it up to us though with free rooms at their Waterbase Inn for one night. The number of passengers determines the number of planes on that particular day and your luggage may not be on the same plane as you?

As for transportation once you get to Uranium City you can rent vehicles from Sonny Lepine, (306) 498-2248. We rented a 4x4 crewcab that seated 6 people. He was charging $100.00 per day plus gas. Gas could be purchased from Dean Classen at the bulk dealership but like everything else up there it's expensive. $1.67 per liter at the time.

If you decide to go you should plan it like a wilderness vacation unless you have someone to stay with once you get there. You should try to take everything you need with you. Dixie Parks has a small convenience store that is open at certain times but her stock is understandable limited. There is also a lady on Eldorado street that sells frozen Pizzas, but that's about all you can buy for food. Everyone living there must fly in their groceries, so you can imagine the cost!

We were told that Dean Classen had a B&B but other than that there were no lodgings available for rent in Uranium City. Harold Grazely was operating the Fish Hook Bay lodge at Eldorado Beach and he may offer lodging. He can be contacted at (306) 498-3474. Bill Holland used to have a motel in Uranium City but since he passed away it has been closed. You might want to check and see if someone has reopened it. There is one other possibility, you might be able to rent a house if someone is maintaining one for summer use, but I would inquire first. Marg Belanger may know. You can contact her at Northern settlement of Uranium City (306) 498-3441 .

We were fortunate to enjoy the hospitality of friends when we were there, which was good because without them we might have had to stay in tents, cook outside and bath in the lake. Pam and I stayed with Marg Belanger, bless her heart, she doesn't have much room but still had us stay with her, Pat stayed with Raymond Herron, who to everyone's sorrow has since passed away in Saskatoon. Terry and Wayne enjoyed the hospitality of Andy and Clarice Schultz. We would like everyone to know how much we appreciated all the hospitality and generosity we enjoyed on our trip.

When we went you could take 75 lbs of luggage on the Transwest flights which was good because we needed it for food. We took all the food we would need to feed 5 people 3 times a day for 5 days. We took perishables in Coleman coolers and nonperishable items just in packs. With the exception of some frozen items that Pam and Wayne brought we purchased all our provisions in LaRonge the morning before we left for Uranium City.

Remember you should take everything you need from bathroom tissue to bug spray and especially those two. The frozen foods worked out pretty well, but we had the use of Andy and Margs refrigerators! Andy also has an ice making machine and you may be able to get ice from him for your coolers if he's in town. If you have to cook camp style you will need to give serious thought to what you take. Don't take more than one of anything you can share. Remember you still have some weight restrictions on the flights. Also remember that you can't take anything flammable on the flights, like portable cook stoves.

We took fishing rods and fished at Goldfields , Bushell, Crackingstone Creek, Martin lake and Donaldson Lake. The fishing was good, but I wouldn't count on it as a food source. If you do catch some fish and would like to bring some back remember Andy has an ice making machine and you may be able to get some from him if he is in town at the time. Your luggage weight should be reduced on the return trip so you shouldn't have to pay extra for the fish and ice. Still if it's a long way home this is something you probably won't want to do.

If you find that you will have to camp out don't count on staying in an abandoned house. Many of them have been burned or torn apart and the ones still standing are really not suitable to stay in. The high school will keep the rain off you if that happens but it no longer has any windows.

There were 167 people in Uranium City when we visited. Marg Belanger was still working as the town manager and postmistress. I think Bobby Auger was the town foreman. There was a First Strike forest fire fighting station. Dean Classen has the bulk fuel business. John (Sonny) Lepine looks after the airport, the roads and rents vehicles, Pastor Jim Pfaffenroth runs the Beacon Bible camp and Harold Grazely was at Eldordo. Last July the owner of Norcanair flew an number of plane loads of children up to the camp. I understand he did it at his own expense! I think the camps go for most of the summer and they still have church services there every Sunday in the summer with an accompanying pot luck lunch. The Ben McIntyre School is still being used to teach the children in Uranium City. The hospital was still in operations. The Kiwanis beach is still maintained and the cemetery is kept mowed.

Many of the cabins in the surrounding area are still being used. Like Danny Murphy's home at Millican Lake and others at Mickey lake, Fredette lake, Ace lake, Donaldson lake, Beaverlodge lake, Martin lake, and Bushell bay on Lake Athabasca .

For the most part the roads in Uranium City and area are in fairly good shape. The roads between Donaldson, Eldorado, Uranium City and Bushell being the best. The road out to Goldfields is also in pretty good shape. The streets in town are not bad either, but some of the roads out to the old mine sites like Cayzor, St. Mikes and Rix are pretty well grown in. Many of the town business buildings are gone. The United Church has been moved to Beacon Bible Camp at Ace lake. The Evangelical Church is still standing though we didn't go into it. The Roman Catholic Church is still in remarkable shape after all the years. On the inside it looked like the congregation had just left mass. I hope it stays that way, because for the most part the town is in pretty bad shape. Shannon school and Gilchrist schools are gone but the arena and curling rinks are still there and used in the winter.

If you decide to make the trip, the country side and lakes are just as beautiful as they ever were but be prepared for a bit of a shock at the condition of the town. Remember it has been 20 years since the mine closed!

At the same time be ready for a flood of memories. When we drove from the airport to Uranium City, Pat and I were in the front seat of the truck and Pam was in the back seat between Terry and Wayne. She said for the rest of the day and most of the trip there were four guys pointing in four different directions all saying the same thing's "Do you remember when"! That's something you will have to consider before you decide to go back, do you want to see it again or do you want to keep it in your memory the way it was? I myself was glad I went. I still have my original memories intact, but some who have made the trip have said they wished they hadn't. You'll have to decide that for yourself.

Peter J. Wilson

7723 Bowcliffe Cr. NW

Calgary , Alberta, T3S 2S6

(403) 288-5400

As a foot note. Today is February 3, 2003. Yesterday I talked to Marg Belanger in Uranium City and she told me that TransWest Air has decided to suspend regular flights to Uranium City by the end of this month. They may continue flying as far as Fond-du-lac on a regular basis then you would only have to charter from there to Uranium City, but you will have to confirm that yourself.

Marg thought that Norcanair would continue with regular flights.

She also thought that some of the people still living in Uranium City would be leaving once the hospital closes at the end of march, herself being one of them. She also thought that Dean Classen would move his family out and operate his bulk fuel business as a fly in fly out venture so you would want to check with him to see which days he would be open for business.

So if you have the desire to see the place again you should think about doing it in the near future, while you can still get there for a reasonable cost. It looks like with the closing of the hospital there will be even fewer people left. Thing could be very different from when we made the trip so make your plans very carefully.