Drive to Muncho Lake

On May 29, 2019, we took a day trip up to Muncho Lake, further along the Alaska Highway from Summit Lake.  We stopped on the way to hike up the Erosion Pillar Trail in Stone Mountain Provincial Park.

It was an easy half kilometer hike uphill.  Along the way, we spotted items of interest, including this wreckage of a 1940's Army truck that had probably been used in the construction of the Alaska Highway and then discarded when it no longer functioned:

The erosion pillars -- or hoodoos -- are eroded pillars of sand that have survived the ravages of wind and rain because of capstones of harder rock.  This pretty pillar greeted us as we started up the trail --

-- but this bad boy was the main attraction:

With some difficulty, we climbed up the steep trail to above the erosion pillar and were rewarded with this dramatic view of the valley from the pillar's perspective:

Having satisfied our curiosity on questions of erosion, we continued our drive toward Muncho Lake, but soon encountered these Stone Sheep hanging out on the highway:

This wasn't to be our first sheeply encounter of the day, but more on that subject later.  The MacDonald River valley beckoned to us as we drove through the Northern Rocky Mountains, on a drive that is as grand and beautiful as any the Rocky Mountains can provide to a visitor:

The road almost seems part of the dramatic landscape, and it pulled us forward and deeper into the mountains as we proceeded:

This beautiful alluvial fan built from white stones was too dramatic to pass by without stopping for a photo and a look-see:

Reaching Muncho Lake, we saw these two cute Stone Sheep near the Wildlife Viewing Area.  Ironically, while there were a lot of tourists at the viewing area, these two canny sheep had moved down a quarter mile or so, in order not to be so bothered by the tourists.  We caught them, nevertheless:

We decided to have out picnic lunch on the shore of Muncho Lake at MacDonald Campground, where there was a pretty little boat ramp.  We had brought our kayaks in case the weather permitted a paddle; however, the day was very windy and we contented ourselves with a walk after lunch.

The lake is a beautiful emerald green, which we are told is caused by the large amount of copper oxide that has leached into the water from the adjoining mountains and rock formations:

Every view on Muncho Lake is breathtaking:

Having satisfied ourselves with Muncho Lake, we started back to our campground at Summit Lake, and were surprised and rewarded with an encounter with a moose alongside the highway:

Further on, near our campground we had a fourth and final encounter with Stone Sheep.  This fellow was occupying the center of highway lane and really didn't want to give it up.  Finally, he vacated the highway in a quick leap over the guardrail.  His leap was too quick for us to capture in a photo, but he did leave us with this majestic pose as consolation:

All in all, the drive proved to be rewarding in every respect.  We returned to Summit Lake, rested from our Flower Springs Lake hike the previous day and ready to take on another challenging hike tomorrow!