Yukon Trip 2009 - Day 7 part 2 - Stewart/Cassiar

At the 637 km mark from the south end of the Stewart/Cassiar highway, you come to the turn off to Boya Lake Provincial Park. I have to say that the three provincial park campgrounds along the Stewart Cassiar highway, Meziadan, Kinaskan, and Boya Lake are three of the nicest campgrounds we have ever had the privilege of staying at. Perhaps it is their distance from large population centers that has allowed them to remain pristine.....but it also has to be, at least in part, credited to the park operators who obviously take pride in their job and in the environment. To anyone who enjoys the quieter outdoor pursuits, such as fishing, birding, canoeing or kayaking, or just relaxing in a world pretty much the way it was meant to be, then these campgrounds should be on your 'to visit' list.
This is Boya Lake. The campground, which is actually quite large, runs along the shoreline. You can just make out our unit on that little peninsula. We had the park virtually to ourselves. There were a couple of other units at the opposite end of the park....not even in sight of our spot.

A view of our campsite, the lake in the background and accessible from the site.

This picture, taken by Ernie while on a walk with Shantz, gives the truest rendition of the actual color of Boya Lake. It helped that the weather took a turn for the better as we arrived and set up for the night.

Wildflowers were just coming into bloom. There was a large information sign showing all the various wildflowers that can be expected in this park. Those above are Arctic Lupin and you'll be seeing a whole bunch more of them before this trip is over.

This tiny little thing is a Greenland Primrose. Ernie took the picture, I took one too but his was better. We'll be seeing this little plant again as well.

Ernie also took this photo of some sort of Anemone.........

While Ernie was out walking and getting flower pictures, I was hanging around 'home' watching the birds. This Gray Jay was enjoying the sunshine as much as we were.

There were a number of Gray Jay's here, and obviously used to campers....they lived up to their alternative name of 'Camp Robber'.....I put a handful of dog food out on the picnic table and they wasted no time in cleaning it up!

One of the birds I had really hoped to see and get pictures of was the American Redstart. This picture is the best I now have, but still not great and it took a whole bunch of 'editing' to get it to even this stage!

Bohemian Waxwing made an appearance here as well and kindly posed for a few quick shots.

This is the only picture I managed of a Blackpoll Warbler. We were sitting at the table having supper and I just about choked as I looked out the window and saw this guy perched on the branch a couple of feet away. Grabbed my little camera and took a quick picture, it is through double paned, mirrored glass........

an evening walk, still just using my small camera because it was getting kind of dark for the SLR, I came across this Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle variety - white rather than yellow on the chin).....he kindly posed for a number of pictures.

While I was wandering around close to the camper, Ernie and Shantz went for a much longer walk, down past the far end of the campground and around the end of the lake. They had gone pretty much as far as they felt safe (we were in Grizzly country) and were starting back when Ernie spotted an 'ear' sticking up above the grass. At first he thought it was a rabbit but then realized it was too big to be a rabbit and realized it was a baby moose!!! First thought was, "oh no....where is mom?" 'cause there is nothing more dangerous in the woods than a mother moose defending it's young. He snapped a couple of shots of it as he quickly went by and got out of the area really fast. He never did see the mom (thank goodness), especially after he realized that the baby must have been there when he and Shantz walked past heading out. Think his heart was still pounding when they got back to the camper!

Campground fee: $15 Total distance traveled to date: 1,913 km.