KIKOMUN Provincial Park - British Columbia

One of the very handy things about living where I do is that I can get to Canada, British Columbia, in about fifteen minutes.

Yesterday morning was really a stunner so, still reeling from my website debacle, I decided to treat myself and Koty to a trip to Kikomun Provencial Park. I love this little park and it's a scant thirty miles from my home.

The park has a number of small lakes but my favorite is Surveyor Lake. There is a trail that loops around the entire lake and two beaches for people to launch their watercraft or just hang in an awesomely beautiful landscape. Koty and I probably spent two hours strolling the trail and taking in the sites. During that brief time I saw a loon, a pair of mergansers, numerous mallards, a great blue heron, a woodpecker, and a slew of painted turtles.

Another special feature of this lake and trail is the Canadian Rocky backdrop one can see from the west end of the lake, just spectacular.

Below are photos of some of the wonders that we saw.

A couple of redheaded mergansers out for a paddle.

Unfortunately, this loon was a bit far afield for my lens but I couldn't resist "shooting" it anyway. Loons are one of my most favorite birds. Not only is plumage design extraordinary but it's call is simply alluring. It is one of my most favorite sounds in all of creation.

The Surveyor lake water is crystal clear. This photo was taken of the lake bottom right through the water.

The view across Surveyor Lake to the Canadian Rockies, more precisely these mountains are called the Kootenay Rockies.

Painted turtles lined up on a log taking in the sun.

This was as much of the paint job as I could get a picture of from any of these turtles. Painted turtles are usually pretty shy guys and dive in the water at any sound or disturbance.

I nearly forgot to mention, the wildflowers were starting to bloom. If there is such a thing as a wild snap dragon then that's what this is. I'll have to look it up to make certain.

Mornings like this one are what life is all about for me. Imagine, I can be in and drink up this wonderland in a matter of minutes. I am one lucky ducky!

©Kinsey Barnard

Kootenay Trout Hatchery

I took a little wander up into B.C. and stopped by the Kootenay Trout Hatchery. The drive up was really lovely as we are still getting snow and the Kootenay Rockies were gleaming with fresh fallen snow and pastures are turning into green velvet carpets.

Kootenay Rockies

I always stop in at the hatchery any time I'm in the area because it's a very nice little campus and there's no telling what you might see.

The Kootenay Trout Hatchery raises approximately 2 million trout, kokanee salmon, char and white sturgeon annually and provides research facilities for biologists. Lakes throughout British Columbia are stocked with these rainbow, brook and cutthroat trout to enhance recreational fishing opportunities. White sturgeon are also raised here as part of conservation programs for the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers.

At the entrance to the hatchery there is a moat with trout swimming in it. Some of them are REALLY big. This was  the first time I've been that the water wasn't clear,  algae was floating on the surface. Clearly temps are rising.

Inside the facility is chock full of displays and information.  The photo below is of  young brook trout in a display aquarium. The trout were lovely but the fascinating thing, to me, about this photo is that it was taken practically in the dark without a flash. Oh, the marvels of digital technology. The camera I was using has a max ISO of 3200 which is what made this image possible.

Your tour is self guided which I like. The main room in the facility is what they call the "trough" room. It's kind of like a trout nursery, each of these troughs has thousands of tiny fish swarming in them.

But, the main reason I always stop in is because you never know what wildlife you may find on the grounds outside. There is a lovely pond on the west side of the facility that form time to time will have a variety of birds. This particular day all there were only a few mallards paddling around but I have seen osprey, heron, eagles and hawks. I was there smack dab in the middle of the day which isn't prime time for viewing or photographing wildlife. This because I spent the morning over at Kikiomun Provinvcial Park. I'm still working on the images I collected at the park. Still, I always like watching the ducks. I just never tire of observing wildlife.

Mallard in Flight

The grounds are lovely even if for just a stroll and a picnic and there are some very nice aspen standing about. I was able to make this image of lichen on aspen which struck me as extraordinary.


Lichen on Aspen by Kinsey Barnard

If you're in the area and want to check it out, the hatchery is located just a few miles off highway 3 on Wardner/Fort Steele Road bewteen Fernie and Cranbrook. It's open 365 days a year eight to four.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

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An Afternoon in British Columbia

Journal: May 09, 2008

Ok, so how cool is this? At about 1:00 in the afternoon we decide we want to got to British Columbia. Ten minutes later we are there! And the mountains shown in this photo about say it all for us! The snow pack this year is fantastic and the Canadian Rockies are in their splendor!



Since it was late we couldn't go too far so we looked for someplace we hadn't been before and did we make a score. We found the Kikomun Creek Provincial Park. It's a complete mystery to me how this little gem has escaped our attention. There are five little lakes in this park and pictured above is the one we spent the afternoon walking around. Sorry mom didn't make note of the name. Bad on her!




We saw all kinds of critters. I tried to chase after them all but was limited by my leash. Drat! We saw mallards, squirrels, Canada geese, painted turtles and a pileated woodpecker. Mom thinks the pileated woodpecker is the coolest bird around and has been trying to get a fine art photograph of one since forever. She still doesn't have one! This guy flew into a tree right in front of us. These birds are pretty darned shy so rather than take a chance of missing him altogether mom just fired. Not good! Way underexposed and no chance for a second shot. Better luck next time mom!





There is a trail that goes all the way around the lake. Way cool hike. The water was crystal clear and beautiful shades of many colors. There was, quite literally, beauty everywhere we looked. Mom was the only human in the place. All I can tell you for sure is it was one fabulous afternoon! Mom was even talking about bringing Clementine up for a night or two so we could explore in greater depth. Oh, boy, I sure hope we do! We love Canada!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography