Fall Hikes and Walks

I haven't made an entry here since September 1, 2011. This year it was my intent to keep a log of how far I have traveled under my own power, meaning walking, skating, skiing and paddling. I have done pretty well. I think I had a notion that I wanted to go about 500 miles this year but I am not going to make that. I am very close to having logged 500 km this year. Not an amazing distance by any stretch but still not so bad. In fact this total doesn't include every walk or bike ride that I have taken this year. I have even done some paddling that didn't get noted, but this Blog is not about statistics. What I really want to do here is guide the reader to take a walk, or paddle, or bicycle as often as possible.

I have now hiked many if not all of the trails in Elk Island Park. In August I was camping in Elk Island National Park and as I was driving north from the Sandy Lake Campsite toward Lamont I noticed the sign for the Beaver Pond Trail. I had not hiked that trail before so on August 23, I hiked the 3.68 km trail with a friend of mine. August is a time when plants are maturing and fruits are forming. The insect population had subsided a bit making walks a lot more tolerable. There were many interesting types of mushrooms along the trail.

On August 30 I did a short but interesting walk in the Blackfoot Recreational area. I only walked about 2.2 km but a lot of the way was through bush and not on the trail. I came upon some bones. By the size and length of the bones I guess they were moose but they could have also been elk. If I had found the skull then I would have known for sure but there was no skull.

On Sept. 2, I did a short walk in the Wagner Natural Area.

2.17 km

On Sept. 4, Walked with a friend in the Clifford E. Lee Wildlife Preserve.

2 km.

33 min.

Waterfowl were in their fall plumage so they are impossible to identify. Well almost so, the Shoveler's bill is very distinctive. It was good to see standing water in many more areas this year although the water is still a long way from the board walk and judging by the size of the trees encroaching onto the boardwalk it has been this low for many years.

While fishing at Mink Lake with my daughter and her partner on Sept. 7, 2011 I paddled around

Mink Lake solo in my canoe.

4.6 km.

Elevation 2460'

On and around the lake there was a Bald Eagle, many ducks in fall plumage, Killdeer, terns flying over head, Great Blue Heron, beaver, and sand pipers. I caught a fish.

In the afternoon and evening I went fishing and paddled another 7.3 km.

September 13, 2011, My brothers and I did a hike to a small cabin near Ozilinka Mountain called the Ozilinka Hut. The hut is maintained by some folks who live just outside of McBride, BC and it can be reserved and rented. The hut has a wood burning heater, a 3 burner propane cook-stove, pots and pans and foam mattresses so there is no need to carry a tent, a camp mattress or a camp stove and dishes. The hike to the cabin is just over 6 km and it took us about 5 hours to get there. The total ascent is 1489 ft. and the maximum elevation is 5757 ft. We arrived at the Hut at about 3:53 pm. We noticed some bear poop on trail and 1 bear track in trail further along. It was a calm evening and fair weather.

On Sept. 14, the three of us did a day hike to Phalarope Lake and Ozilinka Lake.
We hiked 9.9 km, 4 hrs 47 min moving and 2 hrs 55 min. stopped, our total ascent was 3276 ft. and our maximum elevation was 7138 ft.

There are entries in the log book of people hiking to the summit so we looked for a route to the summit but it all looked too rugged for us to try. I think this is the highest elevation I have obtained this year so far. Many flowers. Marmot tracks. 1 dead lemming.

That evening we checked the maps in the Hut and found another lake. So the next day, September 15, 2011 we hiked to Fan Lake. We hiked about 10 km, our total ascent was 2435 ft., and the maximum elev. was 6891 ft. We found fur and a jaw bone of a lemming which appeared to have been preyed on by a falcon. the fur was removed in small pieces. There is lots of Lemming poop in piles. We found a nice waterfall on the way back. A thunder shower caught us on the way back so we got wet and it was nice to have a warm and dry place to go to.

On September 16, 2011 we did a day hike to Clyde Pass.

7.8 km, and we were gone about 5 hrs. Total ascent 2082 ft. Max elev. 6447 ft. We observed several Lemmings dead and decayed. The trail to the pass had been cleared and flagged just the day before we went so it was easy to find and follow. After Clyde Pass we did a side trip to where Jim, Doran and I thought the pass was last year. We left just after noon and arrived back by 5 pm. A very pleasant day.

September, 17, 2011, Hiked out. Started at 8;30 AM and arrive at the vehicle at 11:57 just over 3 hours out.

Great Beaver Lake, BC

I urged a my brother Jim to rent me a kayak and take me on a trip so on September 18, 2011, he took me to Kayak on the Great Beaver Lake. We left from the Forestry Campsite on Great Beaver Lake, BC at about 3:45 pm. Our departure was delayed somewhat because as I was entering the kayak I tipped it and I got rather wet. Fortunately it was a reasonably warm afternoon and paddling kept me warm until I was able to dry out. We paddled 8.54 km, in about 2 hrs 3 min. We saw an Eagle , and fish jumping like porpoises. We arrived at camp at 6:10 pm.

September, 19, 2011. We stayed in camp all morning. I whittled a walking stick out of Aspen. After lunch we went for a paddle across the lake to a place where Jim had camped twice before. We saw an Eagle, waterfowl, we heard a heard moose ( Jim saw the moose and said there were 2). We also may have seen an osprey. We paddled 9.8 km. in less than 3 hours. We were back at camp about 5 pm.

September 21, 2011 we paddled back 8.62 km in about 2 hours.