On to Victoria

Felt a bit odd taking the ferry the next morning.  So many people all crammed together.

Soon after we arrived Dorothea took us on a 3 peaks tour of her neighborhood.  We began by walking up to the reservoir above Dorothea's long ago rental house on Montrose Street (Leo lived there too back in the day).   

Haeussler sisters come in matching g burgundy.

Then we headed over to Peacock Hill where we saw fawn lilies and lots of naturalized daffodils.

A host of daffodils 

Lastly we climbed up Camrose Park before returning via the Cedar Hill Golf Course.  

View from Peacock Hill

I had to look up the parks on Google maps to get their names.  Dorothea will correct me if I'm wrong.

Trip to Vancouver Island

 We hadn't seen my sister Dorothea since Spring of 2019 so we were overdue for a visit.  

It was our first trip through the Fraser Canyon since the fires last summer and the November floods cut off all our highway connections.  They were busy repairing the flood damage (only a few short waits), but we were more shocked by all the fire damage.  A fence has been erected along the highway to prevent viewing of the Lytton fire (the town was destroyed) but what I could see through the cracks was devastating.

We spent a day in Vancouver visiting our friends there, also not seen since Covid.  Ken took us on a walk around the neighborhood.  We visited Kits beach

and past his favorite giant camelia bush.

The next day we were invited to lunch by our good friends Ann Marie and Andrew.  Ann Marie and I were roommates at University and each other's maid/matron of honor and this year is their 40th wedding anniversary!

Ann Marie's lovely home

We got to tour the laneway house they built for their daughter in the back yard (no photo).

So good to se these old friends.  Feels like the end of a long winter.

Happy Easter!

 Our Forsythia was just starting to bloom when we got hit with -10 degrees overnight temperatures.  But I cut some branches for an Easter egg tree and once I brought them into the warmth they blossomed.

Spring is coming.

First Visit to Scout Island in 2022

 The waterfowl have returned to Scout Island so we wandered down to see what we could find.

Lots of geese in the marsh.

Two pairs of pintails.

Female Pintail

Several common goldeneye.

Lastly Leo took some very dark photos of a merlin perched in a bush on the far side of the new bridge, and miraculously photoshop fixed them right up though the background is very washed out.

Other birds we saw but took no pictures of:  six trumpeter swans, mallards, common merganser, red-wing blackbirds, green-wing teal, and ring-necked duck.

Not spring yet.

Aldrich Lake

 

On our last day in Smithers we drove past the Ski Hill Road to Aldrich Lake.  There's a short trail into the lake, well trodden by walkers and snowmobiles.  Then  we followed wolf tracks around the lake.

There's a great view of the back side of Hudson's Bay Mountain.

We came upon some mystery poop in the middle of the lake:

We do love our mystery poop on this blog!

Which we determined to be grouse or maybe ptarmigan.

Eventually we followed the wolf around the lake to a pair of muskrat airholes.

The wolf inspected them but did not dig them up.

A fun and educational excursion!

Fun fact: Aldrich Lake is tributary to the upper reaches of the Zymoetz River (also known as the Copper River) which crosses Highway 16 east of Terrace, 218 km away, a 2 hour drive from Smithers.  It's much closer as the crow flies, 77 km.

 

Trip to Smithers

Lovely sunny day on Seymour Lake.

 We drove up to Smithers to visit my mother last week.  My sister and brother-in-law kept us busy with several good walks.  On the first day we circumnavigated Seymour Lake which is a few minutes from their house.

The next day we drove out to Telkwa and walked along the Bulkley River.

Crossing the Railway Bridge across the Telkwa River

After  the walk we stopped at the Creamery Cafe for lunch.  They make very good soup and bakery goods.

The next day we returned to Seymour Lake  to put up the duck nest box Leo made Syb  and Dave for Christmas.

Before the ice melts they will return and install some metal skirting to keep animals away and deter the beavers that have been felling trees all around this one.  In the summer they can come by in their kayak and check for residents.

A few Outs and Abouts

 In February we went for a walk on Williams Lake (above), numerous walks in the creek valley

and late in the month we drove to Mission Road, where it was cold and windy and zero birds were seen.