Today I’m going to finish off this entry…just as we were heading home in a relatively quick fashion, I’ll end this the same way…
We left Alberta, entering B.C. via the Crowsnest Pass, skirting the city of Cranbrook and spending the next night in a delightful little provincial campground, located right beside the highway in the town of Yahk.
this was one of the lovely sites which backed right onto a little river…
Shantz was quite delighted to have the water to play in as the weather had turned warm again once we’d got back to our side of the Rockies.
This squirrel was very busy in the campsite the whole time as well….
Next morning we were up and on the road again. Anyone who has driven across B.C. via highway 3 (The Crows Nest Highway) knows it is like driving a roller coaster….up one side of a mountain range and down the other, then up again and so on. The steepest ‘up’ you encounter is going over the Salmo – Creston summit. Fortunately, there is a lovely rest area situated at the summit to allow for frayed nerves to calm and engines to cool….
this little lake lies between the two main sections of the rest area and there is a lovely trail that winds along the back side….a great place to give the dogs a bit of a walk…
Up here the fall colours were much in evidence, these tall stems are what remains of the flower heads on this unique plant known as ‘Bear Grass’. I’ve only ever seen Bear Grass in flower once, and that was in Waterton National Park, the year we accidently discovered the Wildflower Festival.
There was an array of native berries….including these Wild Currants…
this Mountain Ash sported not only edible berries for the birds, but some bright red fall colour.
Next destination was Kettle River Provincial Park, located just outside of Rock Creek. This is another park that we enjoy as it is a birder’s virtual paradise, especially in the spring. The varied habitat located in the park itself attracts a wide range of bird life.
This trip we didn’t have a lot of time for birding but couldn’t resist a picture of these Oregon Grape berries, with just a hint of fall…
Chipmunks were busy here. I did see some White – breasted Nuthatch (only the second time I’d seen them) but couldn’t manage a decent picture.
Back on the road, we headed north to Kelowna via the east side of the Okanagan, then up the Coquilla Connector to Kentucky Allyene Provincial Park.
When we first started traveling, back with our original truck and camper, Kentucky Allyene was our favourite place to come. There are actually two campsites here. One sits on Kentucky Lake and is only open for part of the year, the other sits on either side of the road that actually bisects the park and is therefore open year round, although without any amenities, such as running water, during the off season.
When we first started coming to this park, you could actually camp on that grass covered hill in the distance…there was one site on the hill and another few located at the bottom of the road I am standing on to take this picture. They were isolated from the rest of the campsite that is located at the other end of the lake and we have many wonderful memories from our stays here. This park used to be run by Douglas Lake Cattle Country, whose lands abut the park….but when the running of it changed hands, the access to this end of the park was gated off. A ‘group’ campsite was created at the end of the road and the hillside was completely blocked off and reclaimed…as an environmentalist I should applaud these measures, but I do miss being able to camp in this isolated spot…..
This isn’t actually the lake itself, but a small lagoon which is what those original campsites sat on…you could access Allyene Lake by a very narrow channel….just wide enough for a canoe…
here we see the lagoon and in the distance, the end of Allyene Lake…..and I think with that, I will bring this entry to a close.
Our next trip isn’t planned for a few months yet and our destination, as yet, unclear…possibly eastern Canada…..but I will continue to make postings. I have approximately 20,000 pictures in my computer that I am working through, editing, tagging etc. so you’ll never know what might show up.
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