Somewhere near Butterfly Lake

A couple of weekends ago Bernie had an itch to go spend the day out on a lake.

I likewise had an itch to go take pictures somewhere near a lake.

Our itches complimented each others very well!

I packed a lunch and off we went.

 Bernie had a lake in mind, or actually two lakes in mind.

Both lakes apparently were on a lot of people's minds as well.

We could not find parking!

We drove on up into the mountains and spotted this lake instead.

We hiked in from above, parking our car on the road side.

(The hike was about a five minute hike, rather steep for the first few yards then it was just a plain old walk.)

We had the lake entirely to ourselves!

I got busy trying to photograph the blooming blue gentian flowers.

If I had brought my waders I would have been wading out on the lake to get closer to the water lilies too.

 You can see the rings on the water where some trout had risen moments before.

Awfully pretty for a no-name lake.

Bernie had hiked in with his inflated Fishcat.

He was getting his fishing gear all hooked up while I was walking around the lake.

I love the stripes deep in the Gentian's throat.

There were a few water lilies blooming close enough to shore that I could get a reasonably good close-up without wading into the water.

Monet's "Among the Lilies" comes to mind.

I didn't have a Victorian dress and white parasol though.

The gentians are about the size of a nickle.

OK...just scroll on down to come along with me on a walk around the lake.

I thought the sun sparkle on the water and the water pools on the leaves were beautiful.

Three Gentians here...one in tight bud, one ready to open and one already open.

Some gentians had almost black stripes inside.

Others had yellow and green stripes.

By now Bernie was afloat.

I thought this heap of a mountain was kind of interesting.

It was quite bare.

Fern like moss...

Grew in the shape of a heart.

I climbed up just a bit so as to look down on the lake.

It was surprising how many campfire had been enjoyed around this lake.

I suspect a Scout troop may have camped as the fires were not too far apart and looked to be equally old.

The water was so clear.

The water lily flower looked tough, like it was made in ceramic.

The water lily pod that formed after the petals had fallen was pretty interesting too.

When ever a breeze blew across the lake the water lily leaves would ruffle and the edges  would rise.

As soon as the breeze stopped the leaves (or pads) would go flat again.

I had no idea that they were so responsive to wind.

Many interesting kinds of grasses grew along the edge of the lake.

(I wonder if I should actually call it a pond...not sure how big a pond has to be to be called a lake or how tiny a lake must be to be designated a pond...)

A close up of the water lily pods.

Aren't they cool with their even brown stripes?

See the damsel fly?

Here's a closer look.

The log almost didn't look real.

There were lots  of dragon flies stitching through the air above the water lilies.

They tended to fly along the grassy lake edges then dart out to the lilies.

I was determined to photograph them...

About fifty shots later...Ta DAH!

I took a break from doing dragonfly shooting and did a close up of this flower which all together was about the size of a silver dollar.

Each individual flower was a perfect little daisy shape all by itself.

Then back to shooting dragon flies.

Holding the camera steady and burst shooting at an area where the dragon fly frequented eventually caught one mid flight.

Oh it is hard not to follow them with one's camera!

I like this shot because it has the sun diamonds just beneath the leaf.

A bit magical...perhaps fairies store their lanterns under the lily pads during the day?

I like this shot too as the dragonfly's shadow can be seen.

Soft yellow green moss makes a perfect backdrop for blue gentian.

More dragonfly hunting...

A good clear shot but not particularly colorful.

Caught the sunlight on the wings in this shot.

I admit I have a thing for shadows.

Bernie enjoyed himself although the lake had no reasonably sized trout to catch.

Sometimes it is more about getting out on the lake than it is about actually catching fish.

We hiked back out and drove on a bit looking for a place to picnic.

We found a dirt road that wound beneath the aspen and a river ran just below it.

A lunch of potato salad, fresh peaches, sandwiches and Gatorade was enjoyed as we marveled that we could eat in such a place all alone.

Our Southern California roots have shaped us to always expect other people passing through even out in the great outdoors.

Back on the road...a sign that was ambiguous.

Were we to slow down because sheep were crossing nearby?

Or were slow sheep in the area and they were likely to be crossing the road?

Or was it a commentary on the intellectual capacity of the local sheep that are cross near by?

A few yards down the road we saw some sheep that made us think all  three interpretations were likely to be true.

A nearly full grown sheep was nursing on its patient mom right next to the road.

I felt like yelling at her that that lamb needed to be weaned already!

And then there was one very slow sheep who plodded across the road as if taking all the time in the world was his goal.

Good thing we were not in the slightest hurry either.

A day outdoors is just the thing to end the desire for any hurrying at all.