Paddling Flat Lakes Provincial Park

We mentioned our visitor center guru in the prior blog entry.  He suggested that, for a good paddle, we should consider Flat Lake Provincial Park.

Our campground sat on the shore of Lac La Hache, and we originally thought we would put our kayaks right into Lac La Hache itself; but an in-depth discussion with our visitor center guru in 100 Mile House suggested that we would much more enjoy paddling the largest, unnamed lake in nearby Flat Lake Provincial Park (shown just below the park name, west of Davis Lake, in the map below):

Our guru was so correct (as most gurus and lamas tend to be).

As we set out on May 9, 2019, we had quite a Jeep drive of about 15 km through fir and aspen trees west of 100 Mile House --

--- until we found a small parking/campsite along the shore of the little lake.

Putting in, we found the lakeshore edged with beautiful, arching reeds.  They were not so thick as to impede the kayaks, but made little brushing sounds as we skimmed through them:

While the lakeshore was mainly flat and marshy, there were places where boulders cropped out.  This one was bedecked with reds, oranges and yellows from lichens:

All of the margins of the pond, in the water, revealed water plants sprouting out of the lakebed and straining for the surface, ready to explode red and yellow on the surface of the water.  Unfortunately, we were a week too early, and all we could see was the plants straining underwater toward the surface, already showing their colors:

Above the lake, fir trees stretched toward the sky and reminded us that we were in British Columbia:

All we had was open water and fir trees:

The waterbirds shared the lake with us, and they were plentiful, including this one on a snag --

-- and this one on a rock --

-- and yet another one on a boulder sitting on the shoreline:

And another bird on a branch:

The water is salty with minerals, so trees whose roots become inundated with water soon die.  This bleached tree sits in contrast to the still-living in the background:

While we have been working our way up the Fraser River Valley, we did get glimpses of mountains in the distance, perhaps the Cascades to the west, or perhaps the Rockies to the east:

We stopped for lunch on a small island, with steeply rising banks above the shoreline, where we could sit, munch our sandwiches, and enjoy views of the lake:

Back in the water, we marveled at the sculptures formed from dead trees along the shoreline:

This bird performed acrobatics for us over the water:

And then there were our old favorites, the loons, who always appear in calling pairs, both diving and looking around the lake manically:

Parts of the lake have started to fill in with reeds -- so, what was once a passage between islands has become a causeway-in-formation, being formed by a mat of reeds.  Beyond the reeds, we could see the other part of the lake, quickly becoming a separate body of water:

We couldn't have hoped for a more interesting paddle, and, as we pulled our little boats out of the water, we thought of our visitor center guru and gave thanks to him for suggesting we visit this pristine corner of the Cariboo.  It only whetted our appetite for more.