I seem to be on a lake theme this week! In keeping with that idea, here are some pictures of Skaha Lake, the smaller one that borders the south end of town.
We had a beautiful autumn day and many people were sitting on the beach reading or just relaxing. It was very comfortable in the sun.
No one was in the water, although it’s probably still warm enough after heating up all summer and also because this lake is shallower than the much larger and deeper Okanagan Lake at the north end of town.
Skaha Lake beach also has trees growing under the sand that are of course very popular during the summer for their shade.
A couple of days ago we enjoyed a beautiful autumn afternoon stop at Vaseux Lake which is 27 km (17 mi) to the south of us. It really was nice enough to have dawdled on the beach.
A couple of days later we experienced a different kind of beauty. It was cooler in a very familiar autumnal way and also a bit blustery, but the sky was so arresting with its layered cloud formations.
Geese across a cloud.The pretty fan-shaped leaves of a gingko biloba tree. A dragonfly.A September pond. A lovely tea rose. Cameron Lake, Waterton National Park. Upper Waterton Lake, Waterton National Park. A pink petunia.
Over the course of the last four months, I’ve been watching an hydrangea shrub growing in one of the city’s parks that’s morphing from a variegated dark pink and white to blue and purplish-blue and lastly, to red. I first posted about it here.
June 23
As I indicated in my previous post about this hydrangea, one that shifts from red to purple, blue or purplish-blue and back to pink or red again is a “Bigleaf” hydrangea (hydrangeamacrophylla) that is reacting to soil ph levels. This one has been putting on a particularly magnificent colour show all summer long that is now extending into autumn.
July 3July 18July 22August 22August 28
By the middle of September this shrub was well on its way to turning a dark, autumnal red as you can see below.
September 15 September 15
And as of October 2, those dark red hues were very predominant.
October 2October 2October 2
It’s amazing how beautifully this hydrangea shrub has changed and transformed and provided colourful blooms for months.
A beautiful photo and travel quote from Tricia at Travels Through My Lens. To see more of Tricia’s photography or to read about her travels, please click the link above.
These well camouflaged little ones are hard to see, and not too concerned, either. They all stared at me and then resumed their ignoring.
A dear deer ear.
When it’s time for rest, rest. We humans could learn from that attitude!
While out for an evening ramble, this deer pair followed me for a bit on the sidewalk before veering off to enjoy something yummy in a parking lot. These photos aren’t great as they were taken at night with my cell, but they give the idea.
I hate it when my foot itches!
I love these. I don’t care what they are; I just love ‘em.
One of the trails we took at Waterton Lakes National Park was from Lower Waterton Lake to Middle Waterton Lake and then through to Upper Waterton Lake.
Much of the trail was through prairie grasslands with increasing forest density as we came closer to the mountains.
In the photo above you can spot the iconic Prince of Wales hotel in the far distance. It is an historic building that was erected in honour of Prince Edward’s – he later became King Edward VIII and then abdicated a few months later – extended visit to Canada in 1927. Unfortunately he never made it to his namesake hotel.
We saw a couple of bears on the other side of the lake above and immediately changed our route. We admired them from afar. They were play fighting and in and out of the water but I wasn’t able to get a picture of them because they strolled among the bushes and shadows and I couldn’t seem to get a good capture.
We sat in the Parks Canada red muskoka chairs to admire the Middle Waterton Lake. Every national park has at least one set of these red chairs placed at advantageous viewpoints.
The photo above shows the little channel – very quaintly called “the Bosphorus” – that connects Middle and Upper Waterton Lakes.
In some of the pictures I’ve posted you can see evidence of a forest fire. The fire was started by lightning in 2017 and destroyed huge swaths of forest in the park. It is recovering well though and there are many small pine, spruce and aspen trees growing among the remains of the previous forest.
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 