Autumn on Flower Ridge

The day was cloudy when I left home but the sky was clear as I drove towards Buttle Lake about 50 km distance. I arrived at the empty parking lot and started my hike at 8 am. The days are getting shorter and I don’t like hiking too early around here as I am reminded of the cougar warning still in place at the BC Parks website. Animals become more active around dawn and dusk.

The trail around the lower part of the hike resembles a creek with water running down it. 

 Swirls of foam in the water logged trail

This always happens in Oct after days of rain. There is no shortage of water at this time of year. Despite the sunny weather, I had to wear my rainpants as the shrubs encroaching in on the trail are dew laden. About an hour into the hike, I reached a creek in the forest. I noticed the creek running full which means that there must be melting snow at the higher elevations.

This shaded trail makes a pleasant walk in the woods on a hot day but with no views it is rather boring. There are nice moss covering rocks and throughout the forest floor. I noticed some of the shrubs are turning red so the autumn colors are emerging. The trail is not maintained as the same deadfalls are still there; one nasty one with a couple of downed trees across the trail making it a bit of a struggle to get through.

The sun was just too bright and there was not a cloud in sight. I had reached the subalpine and the lower part of the ridge in 2.5 hours. The ground appeared frosty with small chunks of snow in the shade. It must have snowed within the last day or two. The bushes are heavily covered with dew and if it wasn’t for my rainpants, I’d be soaked. Some of the tarns which had dried up are replenished with water so there is no lack of drinking water. 

 The lower part of the ridge where I camped in August

The sun was warm at this time of year and this caused condensation for form on my camera lens. To make matters worse, condensation formed inside the lens and I had to wait until it dried naturally. In the meantime, I switched to my wide angle lens but noticed that I couldn’t see out of the viewfinder because it had fogged up from the inside. There was nothing I could do but wait. 

 Mt. Myra across the way

The fall colors were nice around the area where I had previously backpacked and camped in early August but this time the blackflies were out in full force. 

 Moss and autumn colors

I couldn’t believe they were still around in Oct. In September it was the mosquitoes and now it’s the blackflies which are out in numbers. Just lucky I came prepared with my mosquito headnet. Mosquito repellant just doesn’t work on blackflies. They were a nuisance flying in front of the camera lens and around my head. 

 Mountain ridge with snow

There was fresh snow on the higher ridge and along the surrounding mountains. The bright sun made the snow and autumn colors stand out but made photographing them challenging due to the high contrast. I stuck around for a couple of hours before heading back down the trail.

When I reached the deadfall in the forest, I scared a grouse. Other than that, the only other sign of animals was deer prints in the mud on the trail. I’ve been making a habit of scanning the area around me and looking back once in a while. This is not easy when heading down a steep trail with rocks and slippery roots requires concentration. 

 Double Falls

Before I reached the creek in the forest, I went off trail and caught up with the creek higher up. There was a couple of small falls channeling through mossy ground which I had to photograph.The rest of the hike down was uneventful.