Canada

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 33 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Mountain Air, Wildflowers and Huckleberries

Last week I took my wife to one of our favourite huckleberry spots about a 1000 m above sea level. She was extremely grateful, as she is a passionate gatherer of all kinds of wild and garden berries. For those of you unfamiliar with huckleberries, they are a distant relative of the commercial blueberries. However, the huckleberries are superior in taste and nutritious value. The heat was bad and the mosquitoes even worse, but the extra pain was worth every minute of the ordeal. I used the opportunity to capture the scenery with my video camera. Enjoy.

Huckleberries among the Wildflowers

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 31 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Near and At the Hart Creek

The Hart Creek provides almost all of Fauquier with fresh mountain water. It originates in the Valkyr Range southeast of our community of some 200 people. Many of the mountains tower over a vast area with a respectable altitude of over 8000 ft. In my younger years, I would take my boys up to Mt. McBride, where after a six-hour strenuous hike we could relax and enjoy the fantastic view. Sometimes, we would even set up camp and stay a day or two in the alpine meadows above the tree line. Today I present to you five photos near the mouth of the creek from a recent evening walk with my wife. Enjoy.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 32 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

The Miraculous Alberta Rose

On a recent walk down to the Arrow Lake and our local Heart Creek we encountered so many wild roses that I decided to devote an entire post to the Alberta rose, which is also native to much of the BC landscape. As an emblem, it represents our neighbouring province to the east. It is extremely hardy as far as roses go. It can easily take -40 degrees weather and raging blizzards, which are quite frequent in that corner of the world. It must feel like being in heaven here in our relatively mild Pacific climate. So here are five pictures of our recent evening walk. Enjoy.

My wife viewed through a frame of roses with the golf course in the background.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 28 Comments

Wednesdays Photos in a Video

Father’s Day Delight

On Father’s Day my wife and I initiated the beginning of summer with a canoe ride across the Arrow Lake. The weather was perfect and the wind was calm, ideal to cross the lake for the first time in 2020. To make sure we would use the least amount of time, we followed the path of the cable ferry, which was busy with Father’s Day traffic on its half-hour journey back and forth from Fauquier to Needles. To our surprise, the water was warm enough to get in a quick swim. Alas, we had left our swim wear at home. Enjoy the scenery.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 22 Comments

Wednesday’s Video

After the Rain

Today I am going to walk you through our yard and garden. You can describe the property as still being in the semi-wild state not typically found on the manicured lawns of city dwellers. After a brief look at our backyard, we enter the garden, which I have downsized by using only raised garden beds, a more age-appropriate gardening method for one approaching the octogenarian stage in life. Then we follow the rapid climb of our youngest son’s hops plants. It reached the present height in less three weeks holding the absolute growth record of all our plants. After looking at the blooming blackberry bushes, we are making a tour around my wife’s art studio with an apple, plum and pear orchard and fire pit area surrounding it. I also would like you to see the rose that finally made its appearance, coming in last after the magnolia, azalea and lilac flowers. Enjoy.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 25 Comments

Wednesday’s Videos

Mallard Ducks and Raging Waters

The contrast between the peace and serenity of our yard and the raging waters of a nearby creek could not be any stronger. On the one hand, there is the pastoral scene of the mallard duck couple happily searching and eating the sprouting vegetation in our yard. We had so much rain that small ponds developed in the low lying sections of our property which attracted the water loving creatures. On the other hand, there was the unnerving warning from our regional district that there was an imminent danger of flooding. Many communities were put on an evacuation alert, as the rivers and creeks were overflowing after heavy rains just a week ago. My wife and I went to have a look at Taite Creek some 10 km south of where we live. Here are two short videos that show peace and power provided by mother Nature. Enjoy.