The Pinawa dam ruins located along the beautiful Pinawa Channel are fascinating to see. The generating station operated from 1906 to 1951 and pioneered year round operation of a hydro-electric plant in a cold climate and transmission of power over a long distance. The Canadian Armed Forces used it for demolition practice in the late 1950’s yet most of the structure still stands!
The coordinates are for a monument at the beginning of a trail. The final cache coordinates must be solved using information from the thirteen plaques along the self guided trail. Leave yourself at least an hour to walk the trail and explore the ruins. Have a dam good time finding this cache!
The park is only open until 9:00 PM. Also, watch for the numerous deer and bear in the summer as you drive up highway 211. Use caution as there are deep crevices in the rock that could swallow up a cacher. The park gates are locked in winter and you'll need to park near highway 520. The cache becomes incased in ice in the winter - usually until some time in April. You'll need a hammer and chisel to retrieve it.
The final cache coordinates are: N50 12.ABC W95 55.DEF
A: Add up the number of vanes on the runner before you, and the number of Francis Turbines connected to each generator
B: Subtract the number of house generators from the number of main generators
C: Divide the number of generators at the Limestone generating station by two
D: Divide the number of transformers that were in the transformer house by three
E: Subtract the number of main generators from the head level (the distance the water falls through the generating station)
F: The last digit of the year construction began
We don’t want to make this cache too easy to find so there’s no hint, but with a little searching and looking for a good hiding spot you’ll find it. The difficulty of 2.5 is mostly due to the time it will take to solve the clues. The terrain of 3 is because you’ll be climbing over rocks and crevices (so keep and eye on children and absent minded cachers). The cache is in a public part of the park so you won’t get into any trouble sneaking into places you shouldn’t be!
The cache originally contained a FTF Certificate and gift certificates for the Burger Boat in Pinawa. The Burger Boat is located at the marina in Pinawa and serves great ice cream cones and fruit smoothies as well as burgers! It’s only open in the summer.
If you’ve worked up a hunger after your caching expedition, Jennifer’s in Seven Sisters Falls is a nice place to eat. It’s open from fall until spring and closes at the end of May.