Wedgemount Lake and Elfin Lakes (August 27)

In August it was time for some hiking and exploring closer to home. I had never been to Wedgemount Lake before and enjoyed the short but steep trail that got me on a glacier in 2h driving+3h hiking from our doorstep. Glorious views to be had but apparently lots of loose rocks to watch out for when scrambling the surrounding peaks.

A week later I went for a 3-day hike to Elfin Lakes and although there were other hikers at the campsites and cabin I had most of the place beyond this for myself. Great scenery at Elfin Lakes, Gargoyles, Opal Cone and Rampart Ponds in Garibaldi Park, a mix of moonscape, Haleakala and Nepal. And there was special light show for night entertainment. The northern lights. It wasn't very strong and rather pale so at first I didn't realize what it was - just wondered why there was this bright area to the north; there are no cities in this direction. But when I reviewed the photos on my camera the green was very obvious.

Gathering and harvesting (but no hunting)

Fall is harvest time. This year rain was sorrily lacking and my plants looked rather skinny, despite my rinse water collections. But I still could harvest a good number of tomatoes, beans, carrots and potatoes.

And what pleasant surprise: we had never paid much attention to a bushy tree in the corner of our garden. This year it grew plenty of plums and we picked 8 kg of them.

But not only our garden provided us with food, we also found plenty of mushrooms, blue- and blackberries (although I had to discover that the sweetest of the blackberries were also most likely to host unwanted inhabitants).

Garden yield

Forest goodness - King boletes and some other mushrooms

Mt St Benedict - August 22

First time for us to fly Mt St Benedict (or Benny) in Miracle Valley. The road to launch is rough and requires a high clearance 4WD vehicle, so it doesn't see as much traffic as the more popular launches at Woodside and Bridal.

But this weekend a big group congregated for a ad-hoc fly in. Great views were had all day as the smoke from the WA wildfires never quite reached this part of Miracle Valley. Although I don't quite agree with Al that the air is much smoother than in the Fraser Valley, many thanks to him for excellent site guiding and developing the site (and all others who had a hand in this).

Early bird Pete

Robbie Reid and Judge Howay behind Stave Lake