On a July morning I took the Sun Peaks Chairlift to mid-station and hiked trails on Tod Mountain. I followed the Gil’s trail through the forest on the east side of the mountain, then went out to Tod Lake, and then returned on the Saddleback Trail to Crystal Bowl. Much of the route was through damp forested slopes and … Continue reading →
On a sunny morning the outing was up at Lodgepole Lake – twice around the lake in a kayak, then a hike around the lake trail. At m, this is a mixed forest with lots of marshy areas and damp soils. The Lodgepole Lake Trail is a single track around the lakeshore. One side of the lake … Continue reading →
On a hike from the Trophy Mountain trailhead to the alpine ridges below the summit, there were many wildflowers in bloom. Keeping a steady pace on the longer hike, I paused to take a few photographs of species in bloom, picking ones that were found in seep zones, stream gullies, wet meadows, and by tarns in subalpine forests and … Continue reading →
We are in nature’s gardens every day, mostly hiking in the hills, paddling on lakes, and exploring the grasslands, forests, and ridges of the area. We also are in the garden every day, taking on the usual tasks of landscaping, weeding, deadheading, transplanting, harvesting, and whatever maintenance needs to be done. We take the time to appreciate the wide … Continue reading →
I paddled and hiked at Stake Lake and on the next day Rossmoore Lake, both in the Lac le Jeune area. Along the trails and launch areas I observed a some wildflowers and photographed a few. Shared here are: stonecrop (Sedum lanceolatum) fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) lupine (Lupinus sp.) red paintbrush (Castilleja miniata) wild rose with a … Continue reading →
Each day I am out hiking, running, paddling, and exploring. As I travel I watch for flowering plants. The wildflowers shared here are from two outings a few days apart. On a rainy day, I ran and fast-hiked the Bunker Road Trails. A few days later I traveled to Tunkwa Lake to paddle the shoreline of the … Continue reading →
I was first on the Sun Peaks chairlift to hike from mid-station to the top of Tod Mountain. The hike was in dry conditions for much of the route, but it was wet or snowy at the upper end. Wildflowers were abundant in the subalpine zone and the whole route had some seasonal wildflowers emerging or in bloom. Featured … Continue reading →
On a mid-spring day, I drove up the old bumpy road from the highway up to Pat Lake in the Six Mile Hills. i paddled around the lake twice, once in each direction, the secured the boat before I hiked around the lake, following faint trails on grassland slopes above the lakeshore. I stopped to observe blackbirds, wrens, … Continue reading →
Every month brings new flowers, maturing vegetables, and herbs, and shrub growth. We go out every day to weed, deadhead, harvest, transplant, rebuild, clean up, and survey what needs to be done. But we also go out just to enjoy the beauty of the plants in the gardens. We often take photos, but only keep the best ones … Continue reading →
We hiked a series of trails in the Lundbom Grasslands in the hills southeast of Merritt in mid-June. For over 3 hours, we hiked through open grasslands, open forests, aspen groves, glades, dales, and over ridges. The south-facing slopes were dry and only grasses and a few summer-flowering plants were spotted. On north-facing slopes, wildflowers had emerged over … Continue reading →
