Paul Lake

The best time to see
a lake is when there is no
one else around there! 

~ carliewired

I left the house at 6:15 AM. The sun was up and the stormy skies from yesterday appeared to have changed for the better. I took a chance that Paul Lake would be quiet on a Sunday morning. It is about a 20 minute drive uphill from my home. 

It was 12 C at my house, but only 4 C at the lakeshore when I arrived. The mist was rising up off the water. A solitary Common merganzer was cruising along on the lake. These ducks nest in hollow trees and live on fish, so Paul Lake would make them very happy. The lake is surrounded by forest and has been stocked with trout and kokanee which are a land-locked salmon. 

I drove to the north side of the lake which features Paul Lake Provincial Park. It has a picnic area on the shoreline, miles of hiking trails and 90 campsites above the lake in the trees. This is a very popular place, especially in the heat of summer. There are private cabins along the lake close to the park boundary. Across the lake there is the little community of Paul Lake. I was very surprised to be the only person on the lake side this morning. Paul Lake was named for a local chief, Chief St. Paul. 

I left the park at 7 AM to go in search of a croissant and coffee downtown. I stopped briefly to photograph two old cabins by a pond about halfway down the hill from the lake. Above the cabins I could see Harper Mountain, a favourite ski hill, now very green in spring. I learned to ski there many years ago. The horses on Schedam Flats were grazing far away from the roadway. They seemed to have found an abundance of green grass just below the treeline. 

I zoomed home with my breakfast and was back inside well before 8.

After a big downpour overnight, we've got a lovely day. The forecast is for a high of 22 C today. This is my favourite time of year when it's warm enough to have a window open at night and the air conditioner is not needed during the day.