Down by the River

My time in the North is drawing to a close and I STILL haven't made it down to the Salt Plains.  Sure I went to the lookout, but that's not quite the same thing.

I've almost made it to Grosbeak Lake, which is a lot like the Salt Plains (or so I've heard anyway), but each time I try to go to these spots something happens. Sometimes plans get changed, sometimes it's the weather, and other times I'd have to go alone; apparently not a good idea with bears in thum thar woods. I'm still hopeful to make it there, but I really only have one more shot...this Saturday and even that's not looking good.

These photos are from one such failed attempt.  They are from Salt River day use area.  That little creek you see is actually Salt River; depending on what's happening with a far off dam, it can grow substantially...or so I've been told.  I haven't actually seen it happen.

This Jack Pine cone picture was from an overlook area for the Parson's Lake & Salt Plain direction. There was a fire burning in the Salt Plains/Parsons Lake area...another VERY good reason not to go there.

The other pictures didn't look very interesting so this is all you get from that portion of my little day trip. I loved the way the sun dappled the background. Yes, I shot into the sun on purpose :)

Pine Lake Picnic

I work with a number of very dedicated and hard working managers, so it was nice to take a day off together and enjoy some of the silly side of life.  When you work the kind of hours we do, you forget how the simplest things can brighten your day.

This past weekend 3 of us, spent the day at Pine Lake for the annual Pine Lake Picnic.  You may recall an earlier post where I highlighted a few photos of this amazing Lake.  The sun was quite cooperative and highlighted the turquoise water beautifully.

With all the old time games, it's easy to forget you aren't a little kid anymore...and join in the fun.  Although my old knees would never let me do the sack race it was just as much fun taking pictures.

Who wouldn't enjoy a tug-o-war contest with a giant beaver?  And such a friendly fellow too!

The highlight for most was the canoe race across the lake and back again.  People gathered around to watch four separate heats of the race.

Like most high pressure games, there were a few mishaps along the way...

...and the in the finals, the race was on right to the finish...the team on the left won by a hair.

Four Mile LAKE

A couple weeks ago I went on a little field trip to Four Mile Lake with my photography group.  Here are a few of the pictures from the area.

A few days after we visited Four Mile Lake, a forest fire started in the area. I went by the area yesterday and was relieved to see that the fire wasn't close to the road or close to the bay itself.

Belated Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Canada!

I know, it's July 18th; I'm not exactly on the ball.  I guess I was busy, or distracted, or maybe just too lazy to get around to posting these pictures.

For a small town the Canada Day parade is actually pretty long and I think most of the population either participates in it or comes out to watch. Some floats may lack a little in budget but the spirit is certainly there.

We also have a few (faux) furry friends who join in the fun.

...and of course it wouldn't be a Canada Day Parade without the RCMP marching along.

My personal favorite though, is CANADA BOY, or so I like to call him.  I can't imaging hopping the entire parade route. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  I guess that's why you need to be a super hero!

Fort Smith also puts on a free fish dinner, where people line up by the hundreds.  I couldn't take a picture of it because I was too busy lining up for my dinner.

We have live entertainment as well.  I have to say not as impressive as last years line up and a little head banging at times, which of course wasn't to everyone's taste...

This one little girl was amazing.  I wish I could remember her name, but she's one person I'm sure we will recognize one day in the future...she's going places!

Unfortunately we don't get to have fireworks in the Northwest Territories, so if you got to see them this year, I hope you enjoyed them and had a great Canada Day!

My Apologizes

I would just like to extend my apologizes for the terrible looking white highlighted lines that have started to appear on some of the text within my blog.

I have no idea what's causing it, so if you know, please post a comment and I will happily correct the problem.

Heading back

With a section of the road between Watson Lake and Whitehorse being washed out by a land slide, we decided to make Watson Lake our final destination on this trip across the Yukon Highway.  With more time,  and money, I would have made the trip more slowly to allow for some exploring along the way. I would recommend going the full distance to Whitehorse, and beyond to anyone planning the trip.  I hear that Dawson is pretty amazing too, complete with swinging saloon doors and Can-can girls.  Ah, maybe another time...hears to dreaming anyway.


I've decided to make my return trip portion of this blog, mostly about the animals, with a few scenery pictures tucked in the mix.

Although I've gotten accustomed to seeing buffalo along the road way, there are a few other animals that are still quite alien to me.  First and foremost are the mountain sheep.  If you are like me, you don't know the difference between the different types, so here's a little cheat sheet from one of the signposts along the way.

I was relieved to read this sign because I had been rather concerned that the sheep were eating gravel...and I was a tad worried about their digestive systems.  

So the sheep above are male stone sheep.  They can look pretty scruffy when they are shedding their winter coats as you can see from these pictures.

Have you ever wondered why they use goats as a symbol of the devil...I'm thinking it's all in the eyes...

Of course baby pictures are always adorable, and baby sheep are no exception.

The females have short pointing horns.

We have moose in Ontario, where I'm from originally, but they tend to be more to the north, and are a bit shy, running off before you can get a good picture.  Apparently that holds true in the Northern BC and the Yukon too.  Although we saw a few, this is the best I could manage for a picture.

One of my favorite animals to see in the wild, was caribou; not the large herds you hear about (that would have been really cool), but at least I saw a couple.  Again, they were pretty skittish and ran off before I could get a good picture.  Here are the best of the ones I got.

I was really hoping to see a grizzly bear since they had signs posted about sightings close to Liard Hot Springs, but the brown coloured black bear,  from my previous post, was the closest I got.

and of course lots of "regular" coloured black bears.

The bonus of having to retrace our trip to get home was that we passed by Muncho Lake and the beautiful rivers I mentioned before.  Here are a few other shots from that area.  I love the colour so much!

Once back in Fort Nelson, we could have taken the other Highway back to Fort Liard and Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, but since we there had been a lot of rain, it would have been a rough ride.  From the NWT border the road is gravel (aka Clay) for a good portion, which makes for a slippery, slimmy adventure.  We opted for the highway back down to Fort St. John then cross country to Grimshaw.  The cross country trip was quite pretty actually but there weren't any opportunities for photos along the way.

Strangely enough, as we got close to Pink Mountain again, we ended up driving right into the clouds.  I actually mean into them...not under them. Strange sensation.

Finally back at Hay River, we were chased by threatening clouds all the way back to Fort Smith.

 Great trip, but I would have loved to have gone further...right into Alaska. What a beautiful part of the country.  If you can make the trip, DO IT, you won't be sorry!