Hikes

Twelve hikers came out for another amazing hike at Saunders lake.
There were a number of pelicans on the lake, as well as lots of ducks and a few hawks.

Then we saw a bald eagle, coming…going…and just sitting on a tree overlooking the lake. (We had seen two eagles there when we scouted on Thursday.) Dustin took this amazing photograph.

Scott found a massive puffball mushroom. We got all but three left feet in this photo.

We saw a few hawks as well, and of course, lots of ducks.
Lunch was in the shade on the road allowance at A33. There was a breeze for most of the hike while the sky remained fairly hazy. Temperature-wise it was quite pleasant.

Sixteen people arrived at the boat launch to begin our trek on the particularly sunny morning. The stillness of the air made the lake look like glass. The rain from the previous day had filled the dips in the trail, but it barely slowed us down as we stepped around, aiming our boots for the lush grasses.

The saskatoons here are still ripening on some bushes. Clearly, it’s not too late to enjoy this year’s abundance.

As we approached the final section of our trail, we were more than a little apprehensive when we saw a (gorgeous) herd of brown and white cows blocking our stile. As we were plotting our strategy (stay together–look big), the cows reacted first and collected themselves away and towards the centre of the valley.

Prominent flowers included the richly purple smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) and the many-flowered aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides). We saw some pelicans and several instances of wolf spiders’ traps on the ground, as the heavy dew on their webs really made them stand out.

Oh!–and Vadim Bulitko managed to capture a porcupine.

Check out our photos on Flickr.