Summer in the Cariboo

We swam in Chimney Lake (above) a couple of times during the hot spell.  One afternoon we spotted a new fire and soon after the bird dogs and tanker planes and helicopters arrived to put it out.  It looked like it was just on the other side of the lake but later, looking it up on the wildfire website, it was really quite a ways away.

Bumper crop of choke cherries this summer.

There were about 10 pelicans loafing on a raft floating in the Scout Islan marsh.

Coming back from a medical appointment in Kelowna we took a side trip to the Merritt to Spences Bridge highway.  Checked out a new cafe in Merritt, then had lunch at our old haunts the N'kwala Rec Site, which has been closed since the 2021 flood wiped out the highway.  It's now open again though not as nice as it once was.  The river has moved way over to the other bank from the campsite.

Also spotted a herd of Bighorn sheep, nicely camouflaged against the dry slope.

All females and lambs, the males hang out separately except during mating season.

Somebody set several fires to the dry hillside above the Stampede Grounds. The fire came right up to our friends' property before the firemen put it out.  

The smoky air is not from any local air but from the Clinton fire to the south

When we checked out the damage I was amazed at all the prickly pear cactus that was hidden in the grass and now exposed after the fire.  Interesting how it's adapted to survive fire.  That's our friends' house in the background.

We went for a hike at the Farwell Canyon dunes.  As you can see the sky was pretty tempestuous. 

We got caught in one short but heavy shower.  Then as we were leaving the dunes the wind picked up and we were in the midst of a sandstorm. We managed to get back to the truck just as another thunderstorm broke out.