Capturing the Art of Nature
Lindeman Lake
A lovely day and location for a first hike of the season
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2010
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Hiking to Lindeman Lake is an easy hike to start the season off with yet it offers some stunning views of a lake and mountain setting. I quite enjoy the area and if one just does Lindeman and foregoes the longer hike to Greendrop, the day is quite easy on one's cardio. Ethan and I arrived in good time and quickly set about putting up the cross band repeater antenna. We were out of practice and it took a bit more time than normal but once up it worked well and we were able to reach the Mount Sumas repeater without difficulty. This was our first full use of the equipment since we installed the second battery in the truck and I was anxious to know how it would do.
The initial trail is downhill along an old logging road to Post Creek. I remember there being a foot bridge across the creek but it seems to be missing, I guess a washout carried it off at some point. A shame as I had hoped to grab a few shots of it. After a brief look around the campsite area we started up the trail and were soon making good time climbing the steep initial section of the trail. Still we were no match for groups of young people who were regularly passing us. At the log bridge across the creek where we stopped to get some photos, a couple of young women stopped on the log to pose for me. We grabbed a breather for a few minutes and then tackled the steepest section of the trail. After taking a few breaks on the way up we were finally at lake level walking along the creek just past where it exits from the lake. The ground was quite soggy so one had to carefully pick each step. The collection of fallen rock here is quite spectacular from a scenic perspective but it certainly makes walking over it a challenge.
We returned to the main trail and found ourselves in the main camping area. Several groups had already setup for the week-end and they were about making more noise than necessary but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. A pair of dogs were not doing quite as well. An off leash dog was trying to be friendly to another pair but they weren't much interested and I was sure a full dog fight would erupt any second. The owner of the off leash dog repeatedly retrieved their dog but each time it returned to leashed dogs only to get growled and nipped at again. I don't know why the guy didn't just tie it up for a while, it would have been safer for all around.
Next we made our way along the north side of Lindeman Lake stopping in a few spots for some lake photos. We looked across the lake and noticed a few walking the far side but this side was hard enough with all the rock slides to get over. I really didn't feel like trying it off trail, perhaps another day. At the last slide before the end of the lake we stopped for lunch. There was a huge rock jutting out into the lake which had a lovely view so we climbed on to it and ate our sandwiches. While enjoying our view and food a few groups made their way past us. The lake was a busy place today, fortunately, the noisy ones at the campsite were mostly muffled by here so we weren't bothered by them as much.
Food gone, we continued along the trail and up onto the wooden walk that carried us past a particularly steep section, then it was down to lake level where we crossed the creek to a grassy section. There we met a small group of photographers enjoying the area and taking a number of photos of their small campfire. It seems like they were looking for some specific photos that centred on the smoke of their campfire. While I grabbed some shots, Ethan lazed in the sun and drew underwater patterns in the sand. I shot from a few locations along the shore here and took a number of bracketed shots but the reflections off the water were moving enough that it made for a funny looking HDR image. So I will need to try a different approach to getting wider dynamic range when water is involved. Once done at the lake I wanted to walk up the trail a bit further to a spot I remembered which had an interesting look to it. It was before the next rock slide so the distance was short and the trail easy.
The area was as I remembered it and I took a number of creek and log shots to wrap up our furthest point along the trail. I would have liked to hike in further but the time I went to Greendrop the crossing of the rock slides greatly tired me out and I just didn't feel up to fighting them any more today, I still had to get back over the few along side of Lindeman. Besides, the sun was getting lower which significantly reduces the available light up here. Midsummer with the sun more overhead, the time available with enough light extends much later but such is not the case in early March. So we back tracked along the trail gathering a few more images.
I forgot to mention that the handheld radios worked very well up here, we had no trouble reaching the truck and then on to White Rock where Carolyn was waiting with another handheld to talk with us. The technology definitely works well and I was pleased with the setup. A few people asked about the radios and antennas and were interested to learn about the emergency support we could provide.
By the time we reached the main campsite the sun had dropped below the hills and the forested sections were now quite dark. It was surprising at just how dim things were in the forest with the sun below the horizon. When we finally got back to the road and the truck I was surprised at how bright it still was out in the open. Taking down the antennas and mast went quite smoothly and quickly and soon we were back on the road heading home. We stopped one final time to get a few shots of Mount Edgar which had some nice late sun light on it.
A lovely hike to open the season with, it did show that I still have a ways to go with my exercise program, but generally I did quite well and should be able to do a few peaks again this year.