A Day out in Horsefly Lake

Mark and Patti's lakefront campsite

 We were supposed to take our new trailer out for a shakedown camping trip to Horsefly Lake Provincial Park last week.  Unfortunately, we had some issues with the electrical so our friends had to go without us.

Instead we made a day trip out with our kayaks.  We paddled to to the end of the lake and back but I was remiss in my picture-taking duties. 

Later we hiked up the short but lovely trail to a lookout over the lake.

Enjoying the hike

And enjoying the view

The flowers were just starting to come out, and we enjoyed the lushness of the vegetation compared to Williams Lake.

Horsetail are flowering too.

Apparently it rained the whole day before so we picked the right day to come out.

It was cloudy but no rain.  Looking forward to a few days at Dugan Lake Rec Site next week for our actual shakedown camping trip.

Let the summer begin!

Balsamroot Expedition

 A group of us drove out to the Junction Sheep Reserve in the Chilcotin for our annual balsamroot tour.  Well, almost annual, last year  we didn't make it out. The roads were too iffy because it never stopped raining last year!

At first it looked like it was not a good year for the flowers, and the road in was pretty muddy.  We had to drive around some holes, and we had one vehicle get stuck.

Fortunately, we had tow ropes handy (after our last adventure) and pulled them out quickly.

We drove further on our route and the flowers definitely improved!

Too top it off we saw a black bear who ran off across the meadows.

A great day, but nothing beats the florapalooza of 2018.

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Paddle to San Jose River

 

We paddled down Williams Lake with some friends to the outlet of the San Jose and a little up the creek.  

It was a cloudy, cool day and not many birds were around. Nice to get out in the boats though.

(Essential) Visit to Smithers

 

Hudsons Bay Mountain from the South Side of the Bulkley River

Two weeks after our vaccinations we made a trip to Smithers to see my mom, who we hadn't visited since Thanksgiving.

Aside from a great visit, we made a few hikes, including a 10 km walk along the south side of the Bulkley.  Right away we saw this bear from a distance along the tracks.

Photo blurry because super-zoomed from quite a distance.

He went his way down the tracks and we went our  way.

The spring flowers were just coming out.

Calypso

Or Fairy Slipper

We were impressed by the hard work of the beavers along the trail.

(Woman in hat included for scale)

More gnawing

One of three dams on a side channel of the Bulkley River

Another day we hiked up to a bluff that looks out over the Railway Station and the Bulkley Valley.

I love the varied hues of the newly leafed out trees.

Spring flowers here too:

Arnica

Violet

Jacob's Ladder

We saw another bear on this hike! It was far below us.

Birds of Mission Road

Mountain Bluebird

 

Red-tailed Hawk

Lesser Yellowlegs

Yellow-rumped Warbler

April Flew By

 

Pussy willows at Scout Island

We repainted our entrance hall.  Still not finished, we need to replace the linoleum.

We saw our first wildflower of the spring:

Daffodils bloomed in the garden,

And the Polyanthus came out.

We went for a hike along the Fox Mountain ridge:

Henry was very interested in this muskrat that was2 browsing about 2 feet away.

What's up with animals these days?

Closeup:

And best of all, we both got vaccinated!  Leo had a strong immune reaction and felt under the weather for a day or two.  I had a sore arm.