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

If you enjoyed this blog please feel free to share.

I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt!

Dang! I am good looking aren't I? :) And, what a week I had winning the Arte de Pico Award I have no idea what it means but it must be a good thing right?! And, many thanks to those of you who offered congratulations.



So, what did we do this week? Oh, yeah, we went to Whitefish and Kalispell to do a little shopping. No shops in Eureka. The above is the best shot of a moose mom ever got! Don't tell her I said so. This one is outside our favorite outdoor store.


On the way home we stopped for a stroll along the Whitefish River which runs right through Whitefish and has lots of ducks floating around. They have great walking paths along the river.



On Wednesday we had a gully washer of a storm. Like everything else this spring the monsoon arrived late too. There was thunder and lightening like you couldn't imagine, rattled the windows. I don't like that stuff! I hid out in the house whilst mom tried to save the driveway. But, the rain came down so hard and so fast there was no saving it. When she came back in she looked like a drowned rat. Nice try mom. Better luck next time!



Thursday we went down to Dickey Lake. It's one of the more beautiful ones around here. The water has that rock flour stuff from the glaciers and it makes the water the most beautiful shades of blue. The lake is half private and half public. This house was built by some folks from Alberta. Lots of Canadians around here these days what with the tar sands and the very strong Loonie. Must be lots of money in that sand!



And, here's my favorite photo of the week. Some people say I have an over active imagination but this looks to me like a fuzzy headed, green monster munching on it's lunch whilst a little grouse hen looks on. She had better be careful. She just might be on the menu for desert!

Green monsters are cool! Thunder and lightening I have no use for. I sure hope that's the last of that!

Well, that was our week. Hope yours was great too!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Hanging Around Our Backyard

That's a kind of misleading title because our backyard is a wee tad larger than most. It's probably like about a million acres of National Forest and State Game Range. Early in the week we hiked the Game Range looking for a herd of big horn sheep. By golly we found them and I'm lucky I didn't get a whipping because I got so excited, and made such a racket, they up and ran away before mom could get much in the way of photographs. I'm a bad boy! ;)


On any given day you can see elk, big horn and other critters on the game range. This particular day, besides the big horn herd and a slug of mule deer, we saw this lone grouse up on the ridge sitting under a tree. They really are beautiful birds but dumber than posts. If I weren't on a lease I could catch one so easy! Mom says you don't need a gun to hunt them, you can just boink them with a rock. Mom is a reformed hunter but even in her hunting days she would not have found much challenge hunting these silly beauties.


There is an old apple orchard on the range. The trees are pretty close to giving up the ghost, having been planted nearly a hundred years ago by homesteaders. The bears come here in the fall to see what they can glean. And it is a beautiful setting.


We also took a walk along the Tobacco River. The river is rising as Mother Nature finally releases her grip on the snow pack. We spotted this Canada Goose pair with their brand new gosling. It simply amazes us how the little ones in the wild survive. The current in the river was fierce but that little gosling paddled like a trooper.


Now you're going to have to really look at this photo because there is more in it than can be readily seen in this low resolution photo. But maybe you can make out a wood duck pair and a male mallard. It was a pretty scene and you know how whacky mom is about those wood ducks.


Last but certainly not least mom got a new abstract for her collection. She just loves these photos that look like impressionist paintings.

Well, that was our week! Hope yours was a good one too!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

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

Walden Pond

You may recognize the name Walden Pond. My mom pilfered it from a guy called Thoreau. I think this fellow has been the most influential force in mom's life.

When we came to Montana nearly, six years ago, it was just after the death of Lady Jane, mom's mom. Lady Jane had Alzheimer's. Mom and I cared for her for nearly seven years. Mom was pretty worn out.

Mom fell in love with this place the moment she set foot on it. She purchased it on the spot. And, from that moment on set about turning it into a wildlife sanctuary. It has turned out to be as much a sanctuary for her as the wildlife.

As part of the plan she built a pond out in the middle of the property and she called it Walden Pond in honor of Thoreau. And, much like Thoreau we lived apart from the rest of the world for quite a time. Me, I'm happy no mater what's going on. For mom it was the elixir of life. All this to say that is how the pond came by it's name.


The weather has been really whacky since we returned. One day the sun is shining and the next it is snowing. This morning the sun is shining but it's 19 degrees!

The photos that you see were taken on a sunny afternoon over at Waldon Pond. The ducks are a mallard pair and a goldeneye pair. They were so beautiful to watch paddling along on the pond. The reflections in the water gave them a really special quality.

Naturally, I would have preferred to be off exploring in the woods but this was pretty nice too. Yeah, I can see why mom loves this place so much.

I think that guy Thoreau would have loved it! I'm not big on quiet contemplation but if I were this place would be Nirvana.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

EMPIRE LAKES

Whilst we were driving around we discovered this really cool place called Empire Lakes. It is a park that is right in the middle of Coos Bay. It is really beautiful. The paths, for the most part, are asphalt so just about anyone can enjoy it. Rather than bore you with my drivel I'll just let mom's do the talking for me today. Enjoy!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Spokane, Spokane River, Hat Rock

Thursday Clementine went in for her check up. It didn't take long cuz she didn't have anything wrong besides a few adjustments here and there.

In the afternoon we took a walk along the Spokane River. It surely must have been beautiful during the turning of the leaves. The river was just teeming with mallards and Canadian honkers.

Friday we had one of THOSE days. Well, mom had the day I was just along for the ride.

Around noon we headed out for Milton Freewater but we never got there. Mom got all tangled up at the tri-cities and we ended up in a place called Hermiston, nowhere near Milton Freewater.

It was getting pretty late and I could tell mom was pooped. She pulled over to try and find an RV park in her handy dandy Good Sam directory and ended up getting one at Hat Rock state park. As we pulled out of the place we stopped to make the call Clementine did some rocking and rolling. The overhead doors blew open and all our food went flying. Poor mom.

We found the park. The water had been turned off for the winter and the place smelled like dog urine. Course, I loved that but mom wouldn't let me hang around outside because of it.

When we got up the next morning it was raining cats and frogs. But, mom had promised me a walk and walk we did. The Hat Rock state park is probably really pretty but it was kinda gray today. Hat Rock might be pretty interesting on another kind of day.

After our morning walk we headed for Portland on 84 along the Columbia River. Man that is a big river and boy does the wind blow through that gorge. We saw a guy on a surf board getting pulled by what looked like a para glider chute. That guy was going so fast!

Mom wasn't taking any chances this time. She had researched a park near Portland and made a reservation. That's where I am right now.

We took a walk along the Columbia River after we got set up. It was a beautiful afternoon. Marred only by a rude driver that flipped mom the bird because she was just doing the speed limit on Marina Drive. I thought people in Oregon were supposed to be nice?!

Until next time ....
LAKOTA SUNRISE

©Kinsey Barnard