Test

 Just trying it out.

New format, maybe

In order to get better resolution and bigger size on  the photos I post, I am trying the Flickr photo sharing site.  This first post on the Flickr site has many of the same photos as the last post on this site, so there is some redundancy for this first trial.

The photos are from a hike the dawg and I did in September to the Lyle Lakes basin, on the route to Mount Brennan.  It was a gorgeous day, one of the warmest for the month, and that made for a very enjoyable time in the highlands.

To see the photos click this link

WTD#29 - Lyle Lakes and More

The fall is always a busy time but the dawg and I managed to get in one last jaunt to the high country. I'd never hiked the Lyle Lakes trail but we finally got around to it in mid-September.

The trail-head is on the Rossiter Creek Forest Service Road near Retallack.  This is a view from the trail and the waterfall is Lyle Creek which comes out of the lakes in the basin above.

It was late in the season and the fireweed seeds had been mostly blown away on the wind, but this one still had a couple of stubborn blossoms left.

After about a three hour climb, we emerged in the Lyle basin, where the lakes are nestled among lush alpine meadows.

Lyle Creek flows through the wetland between the lakes and here, for some reason, was a small aquamarine pool on the edge of the stream.

The seedheads of this patch of western anenome were glowing in the afternoon sunlight.

Most of the meadows had already made the transition to autumn, but we found this one small, sheltered basin with paintbrush and arnica still in bloom.

 There were lots of insects still flitting about, including this butterfly (a fritillary of some kind) foraging on the mountain arnica flowers.

A bee or bee-mimicker also feeding on the arnica.

I believe these are seedheads of the purple monkey flower (not sure though)

It was a hot day and the dawg was happy to be able to cool down in the cold water of the lakes at every opportunity.

We picked the perfect day for our outing.  The route to the summit of Mt. Brennan is through the valley in the centre of the photo.

This is broad-leaved willow herb, which we found growing along a gravelly streambank of Lyle Creek.

Interesting looking seedheads, but I have no idea what it is :)

This American dipper was foraging in the icy water of Lyle Creek.

A "stitched" panorama of the Lyle Lakes basin, with Mt. Brennan in the background.

Meanwhile, back in the valley bottom, the elderberries were ripening,

As were the chokecherries.

A checkered white butterfly on a chickory flower on the rail trail near South Slocan.

The fall-blooming Douglas asters are among the last flowers to be seen before another winter sets in.

Winter!?  That's not for a while yet is it?

WTD#28 - Late Summer Rambles

We've been trying to find time to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having lately, before the fall rains set in.  I finally took a half day to stroll around the Champion Lakes trails, something I'd been thinking about for a few years now, but never seemed to get around to.

 This complex of lakes, streams and marshes forms a vibrant ecosystem, rich with aquatic and riparian life.  The third lake has been developed with a public beach and campground, but the second and first lakes are in their natural states.  Above is the second lake, where the road ends.

There are plenty of Columbia spotted frogs in the lakes and wetlands, usually diving to hide in the mud when humans (or dawgs) approach.

 There is a loop trail to the first lake and a trail that goes all around the second lake, through a dense and shady mature forest.

 Dragonflies are everywhere, including this cherry-faced meadowhawk.

 This one is a blue-eyed darner, one of our largest and most common dragonflies.

 Apparently the name darner comes from an old myth that they would sew one's lips up with their stinger (they don't have a stinger).

 This little northern saw-whet owl fluttered up into a tree as we walked by on the trail to the first lake, and swiveled it's head around to keep an eye on us.

 Play of light on a small pond in the forest.

 A couple of muskrats swam by while we were standing on the trail above, but dove as soon as the camera shutter  clicked, not to be seen again.

 This is water smartweed, growing in the shallows of the first lake.

 A family of three common loons was enjoying the day on the far side of the first lake, preening and splashing about for a good twenty minutes while we watched.

 Just in case you didn't notice.

 Back in the Kootenay valley near the canal, the summer fruit is ripening.

 Leaves that are green will soon be changing colour.

I don't think this is an aquatic plant, rather the beavers made the water rise around it - my guess, anyway.

 An alder leaf in the late afternoon sun.

 A yellow salsify seedhead, with it's golden parachutes.

 More parachutes.

 After a hard day on the trail, the dawg has worked up a thirst.

WTD#27 - Some Summer Hikes

It's been a busy summer but we've managed to get into the hills a few times, and hope to get out there a few more before the snow flies.

The Mel Deanna trail near Castlegar is a leisurely hour-and-a-half walk through the forest - nice and cool on a hot summer day.  This is the fruit of the Hooker's fairy bells, growing along the trail.

Foliage reflected in the water of one of the lovely ponds at the end of the trail.

Red twinberry - the fruit for which this plant is named.

Grasshoppers in love.

This snowboard goddess is perched on the ridge that leads from the Baldface ski lodge to Mount Grohman.

There are gorgeous grassy meadows along the ridge, and this one little pond.

Butterflies were active this day, including this anise (aka Zelicaon) swallowtail, one of six species of swallowtails found in the Kootenays.

This Columbian ground squirrel is keeping a watchful eye on the dawg, who has never allowed her inability to catch anything discourage her from trying, ever again.

Looks like a pictograph, but is just an interesting pattern in the rock.

One of a few variable checkerspot butterflies flitting about on the ridge.

There are some nice vistas from the top of Mount Grohman, including this view down a tributary of Lemon Creek.

On the way back down the ridge we came across this mule deer buck, who lay motionless in the meadow and allowed us to get quite near.  Because the deer was so still, the dawg did not notice it.  We walked around a small cluster of trees and when we emerged on the other side the deer was gone.

In early September the dawg and I hiked in to this lovely lake situated on the ridge between Koch Creek and Hoder Creek, at the southern edge of the Valhalla Range.  We usually come up here once every couple of years or so.  I don't think it has a name.

Most of the summer flowers were gone, but there were still a few late bloomers, like this aster (I think, or perhaps a subalpine daisy)

We ran into occasional bushes of ripe huckleberries, which were also being harvested by this chipmunk.

This little mountain chickadee was foraging in the lichen growing on a subalpine fir tree.  Mountain chickadees are one of four chickadee species to be found in the Kootenays.

The transition to autumn was well underway up here, with the leaves beginning to turn even on the second of September.

From the ridge above the lake we got a peek at Gimli Peak.

Beautiful blue-green water in the lake

This is fringed cup of Parnassus - a complicated flower with a complicated name - growing along the little stream that flows out of the lake.

A red-tailed hawk with a not-so-red tail checked us out before continuing its hunt for rodents in the mountain meadows and screes.

Well, I got a sunburn and my knees are aching. but altogether a pretty great day in the high country.  How about you, pup?

"I'm on top of the world!"