I don't really need to leave the area that I live in to find things to do. That's the positive to living in a wilderness area with hiking trails at three different parks within 5-15 minutes from my backdoor. That being said, I do need a mountain/camping fix a couple times a year so I went on a two day road trip.

I left home at 7:30am on Thursday and arrived at Fish Lake in David Thompson country at 11:30am. I knew the outing was going to be a good one when I caught the first glimpse of a doe and two fawns getting a drink of water from a pond. Beauty.

There were storm clouds on the horizon as I headed south but I stayed dry. In fact it was dry until I got camp set up. I snagged the last first-come first-serve site. It was meant to be. Well, there were other sites but nobody pays heed to the park regulations that state 'no saving spots'. On the way to my site, there were at least 4 if not 5 of them saved.

The camping part of the trip was a last minute decision so totally unplanned but I keep all the gear together. Well, at least I thought I did. The normal routine is to roll the poles inside the tent and store it so when I grabbed the tent, I thought the poles on top of the second tent belonged to it. Wrong. I had the tent but no poles.

That worked out okay because I rented a car with seats that could be adjusted so they fit like a glove and they were heated. Had the best camping sleep ever! Didn't hear any of the things that go bump in the night or the slamming of outhouse doors. It was drier than the tent would have been from the overnight showers and in the morning I turned on the car, cranked up the heat in the seat and was 'mosty toasty' when I crawled out to pack up the gear.

I wanted to leave early so I could capture the morning light on the mountain peaks and had hoped that the animals would still be out in search of food.

Fish Lake itself was my first stop before leaving the campground. It was cool overnight but the sun was out and steam was coming up from the water surface. The water was like glass. The only creature I saw in/on the lake itself was a dude skinny-dipping by the dock. As I left and headed west along the David Thompson highway, the first critter I spied was a hare. 

The highway heading west is a tale for another day.

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My Forest Friends

After two days of gusty winds, most of the trees are bare.  I hiked the trails at the Strathcona Wilderness Center this evening with the hopes of seeing some wildlife.  When the underbrush is covered with leaves, the deer and moose have a place to hide.  With the empty branches, I really wanted to see some forest friends.




 


I spent some time gazing at the beauty of the pond.  There was still some color on the trees that reflected in the water along with the reflection of the fluffy white clouds.  What a serene scene!

I started out on the Wagon Loop trail.  The carpet of leaves crunched under my shoes.  Blue jays were busy hiding food under the leaves.  Squirrels ran up and down the bare trees, nattering at me as I came by.  Dark eyed juncos flew through the underbrush looking for seeds.  A large owl swooped out of a tree top.  Once again I miss getting a photo!

My first bit of luck happened early on the hike.  A young hare was sitting amidst the leaf carpet.  It was still brown in color and showed no signs of turning color.  Looks like its not thinking of winter yet.  A moose was drinking at one of the sloughs.  It heard my noisy steps and ran off into the trees.

I kept watching for the owl.  As my eyes traveled up and down the tree trunks, scanning the branches for the elusive bird, I felt some eyes staring at me.  A couple of white tail deer were not far from me.  I hoped that they would stay put while I got the camera out.  Lucky for me, they did not run off until I got a few shots.  A raven flew over and scared them off.

I made my way back to the trail head at the pond.  The muskrats were busy swimming from shore to shore.  As they made their way through the water, they created v-shaped ripples on the surface.

The rose bushes alongside the pond are still holding onto their leaves.  The bright colors stand out against the bare tree trunks.

The evening was calm.  As I stood by the pond at the end of my hike, I could hear geese, chickadees, ravens, and bluejays.  It was peaceful, serene and the perfect way to end the day.