Back to the Dempster 2011 – Part 4

When last we left we were at Kiniskan Provincial Park…

woke up that morning to fresh snow on the mountain peaks…this was August 16th.  The next stretch, from Kiniskan to Boya Lake goes over it’s highest point – Gnat Pass ….I was looking forward to seeing what this looked like without ice and snow…

and there is the answer…this is looking at the road ahead…and yes that is snow on the back hill

and this is looking back the way we had come…it would have been more worth exploring if it weren’t for the bitter wind that was so strong you could barely stand up in it!

another look at this alpine area…this directly across from the pullout…you’ll note that it was actually sunny!!!

Next stop was Jade City…where we did some early Christmas Shopping…this small community exists because of the Jade mines in the area.

on we go…headed now to Good Hope Lake – this is really to show you people that fear the Stewart Cassiar highway, that it is just a road and a pretty good one at that.

There was a Bald Eagle perched beside the road – not that we haven’t seen one of those before!

and a family of Ring-neck Ducks…the ducklings almost full size…

and finally reached our destination….and yes…staying in the exact spot we had before…but this time it was purely by accident as all the others in the area (although not in the campground) were occupied.

Boya Lake is famous for it’s colour…I don’t normally like the tone Ernie’s Panasonic camera gives to landscapes, but in this case it is the most accurate – that is the colour of the lake!

The Gray Jays were there to greet us as soon as we got parked…

and a very ‘worn’ Boreal Chickadee….not at all co-operative for a picture…  This had been a very ‘birdy’ spot when we had been here in late May/early June…with the number of people camped here this time there wasn’t the same opportunity to search for birds…

In the evening Ernie took Shantz for a walk around the end of the lake…

where she found this wonderful treasure which she insisted on carrying all the way back to the campsite…a distance of several kilometers…once she got it home she never paid any more attention to it.  The next occupants of the campsite must have wondered about this ancient bone sitting in the middle of it.

The day ended with a rainbow over the lake…and tomorrow, we’ll finally cross the border into Yukon.

Spring Trip 2010 – the last day – Manning Park

Sometime during the night, back at Kettle River, it started to rain, and the rain continued into the morning.  Whether that or all the walking done the day before, we all slept in….really slept in…so didn’t get anywhere near the early start we had planned on.

back on the road and headed west, stopped at a different look out on Anarchist hill to get a view of the highway as it descends into the town of Osoyoos…

here is another look, for all you ‘flat landers’.  Stopped in Osoyoos for the last fuel up of the trip, then carried on to Keremeos where we stopped for my favorite Saskatoon Berry honey, then a late lunch in Princeton and on to Manning Park….

It was now mid afternoon, we were less than 2 hours from home, but since the weather was the best we’d encountered that day i.e. dry, and since Manning Park, and especially Cold Spring Campground in Manning are one of our favorite spots…we decided to pull in and spend one more night, that way we’d get home early in the morning (well not too early ~ knowing us), and we’d have the rest of the day to unpack and get back to life at home instead of on the road. And, of course, there was lots to see….

the ground was a carpet of wildflowers.  This campground used to be very forested….but the pine beetle took care of that…so now there are wide expanses of open areas and the native plants have taken them over nicely…

Here is some Creeping Phlox with some ‘Spring Gold’ ~ a variety of Desert Parsley, in the background.

That Creeping Phlox comes in a variety of shades from white to quite a deep mauve.

Wild Strawberries….

This Shrub, which is called ‘Utah Honeysuckle’ was in full flower, smelled wonderful and was full of Hummingbirds!  Not that I could get a picture of one.

Here is a close up of the individual flower….Manning is interesting in that the plants that grow there are a curious mix of those found on the coast and some, like this shrub, normally found in the interior of the province.

Here is some more of that ‘Spring Gold’

We had no sooner parked the truck when we were visited by a pair of Raven…..

this very vocal pair were our constant companions for the duration of the visit….you don’t realize just how big these birds are until they are only a few feet away from you!

We had the campground pretty much to ourselves, at least until late evening when a couple of units pulled in.  There is Ernie and Shantz taking some pictures of something….and the truck at the site…

These yellow violets are ‘Round leaf Yellow Violets’…

and of course, there were Ground Squirrels…our familiar Columbian Ground squirrels….

this one obviously had a den down in the roots of this stump….by the way, the stump gives an indication of the size of some of the trees that were in here prior to the pine beetle invasion…

This little wildflower was new to me…it is ‘Three leaf Anemone’ for obvious reasons – sometimes plant names make perfect sense and other times they make no sense at all!

I’ve mentioned all the trees that were removed from this campground….well it has been replanted…every one of those white plastic things is actually a little greenhouse containing a tree…mainly young Aspens which are quick growing….

I had to take a peek in them and pretty much all of them were thriving….many having already grown well above the protective shelter.

there were other birds here besides the Raven….I was surprised to see Chestnutbacked Chickadees …

on the other hand, I expect to see Dark Eyed Junco here…

and Townsend’s Warblers are usually found in coniferous forests like this…

There is another Ground Squirrel den under this fallen log…

and there is one of those Raven again….

the river, which runs around the back of the campground was quite high with melt water….in fact when we talked to the park attendant, this campground, on the May long weekend, had also been ‘under snow’ ~ although not a foot and a half of it!

This part of the campground is called the ‘dog leg’ and is only open during the busy season.  We will actually stay here come August….

Going to throw in a few more ‘shrub’ pictures….these are Dwarf Blueberries and they were in full flower…

here is a close up of those delicate little pink flowers….

and this is Kinnickinnick….

just for contrast…I thought the colour of these young cones was gorgeous!

and finally, what would be a stop at Manning without a few Gray Jays…..

and so concludes this years big trip.  Forty days on the road…not going exactly as planned but still a pleasure.

This, in real time, now being past the middle of August, we’ve already done a few weekend trips, with a few more planned, and perhaps 10 days or so in late September….so there will be more posts coming.  Next big trip won’t be for almost a year….the plan is to head north again, but this time, to see the fall colors.

Kane Valley – February 21, 2010

With this being one of the mildest winters on record and with this past Sunday being another sunny, warm  day, we decided to pack a lunch and head out for a drive.  Our destination was to be the Kane Valley.  The Kane Valley, which is one of our favourite haunts, lies between the Coquilla (#5) and Highway 5A which is the old highway from Merritt to Princeton. This area, in spring through fall is a birders paradise and the wildflowers in late May, June to early July are spectacular.

We pulled out of our drive at 8:30 am, the temperature was 0 degrees and the sun was shining.  This time we remembered winter boots, jackets etc. (although there was no need for any of them).  We even took along ‘Tizzy Lizzy’ our Garmin Nuvi GPS, so dubbed because she gets into such a ‘Tizzy’ every time we insist on going on roads she doesn’t think exist.

First stop was for fuel and coffee in Hope, then up the Coquilla where there was no more snow than there had been when we drove this way a month or so ago…in fact, if anything, there was less.

Here is the parking lot at the rest area just past where the toll booths used to be.  Doesn’t look much like the middle of February does it!

a number of Gray Jays greeted us…..

also some Steller’s Jay…..

and even this Raven.  That would be pretty much it for birds this trip.

There are a number of ways to access the Kane Valley, we would take the most direct from this route, which is to take exit #256 off of the Coquilla, driving to and through Kingvale, turning right onto the Kane Valley Road.  The very first part of the Kane Valley road is actually paved as there are a number of residences

however it doesn’t take long to get to gravel…this whole area between the Coquilla and Highway 5A is criss crossed with roads, all good, but all gravel, so if you are the sort that doesn’t like to get your tires dirty – this area isn’t for you.  There are ranches scattered through out, so these roads are kept open in winter, but can be muddy in spring and dusty in the summer.

here we are looking southwards towards the Voight Valley, another area we like to explore.  With the road looking a bit muddy and knowing that it would climb and is shaded so would most likely be icy, we decided to leave that area for another day.

taken from the same spot, this is looking back in the direction we had just come.

We are now pretty much in Nicola Ranch territory. 

having now passed the turn off to the Voight Valley, and going over cattle guards that announce a ranch house complex, we are now looking south again.  The bright but low sun made for challenging photography.

Like so much of the interior of our province, this area has also be decimated by the Pine Beetle.  We were a bit appalled to reach an area that on first look appeared to have been completely clear cut, but when we looked closer we could see that all the young trees had been left, so even though it looks awful right now, it will fill in with native grassland and wildflowers.

A bit further along we stopped at this favourite spot. There is a shallow lake here that is a favourite nesting spot for all sorts of birds including Black Terns, Yellow headed Blackbirds, Killdeer, etc.

 

This is a closer look at the stump you can see in the above shot. 

and there is Ernie back there with his video camera taking pictures of me taking pictures. I should mention that as of this point we hadn’t seen another vehicle since leaving the Coquilla Highway.

Just past this shallow lake there is a junction.  The Kane Valley Road continues on straight ahead, while another road goes off to the right that will take you to Aspen Grove on Highway 5A.  This is a very twisty and in some places, steep road, although there are a number of ranches along it, we thought it best to leave it for another day and continued on in the main direction.

This whole area is full of little lakes, and before long we had reached another one.  There is actually a spot here where you can camp…it is Nicola Ranch property and there is a sign stating a fee for camping although if anyone ever actually collects it I don’t know. 

on this day Shantz took advantage of the spot to do a bit of digging in the snow!

While I attempted to get some interesting shots of the bull rushes that were growing along the edge of the lake.  This area too is very ‘birdy’ in season and is also popular for fishing as are most of the lakes in the area.

A woodpecker could be heard in the distance but not spotted.

 

 

at this point I think I will post this much and continue on tomorrow.  We have the rest of the Kane Valley to visit, Kentucky Allyene Provincial Park to stop in at, then drive down to Princeton and back home via Manning Park….so a long ways still to go!