Trains and Grizzly Bears, A Canadian Roadtrip - Cathy and Heather's Day 2

Friday, September 27

I was up at 7:30 today as I wanted to go with Cathy on her morning dog walk.  It was very foggy and a little cold, but it wasn’t raining, so off we went.  They really live in a great area and we had a wonderful walk.  We walked about four miles and went through woods and by bogs and streams and ponds which all looked ethereal in the morning fog.  The fall color is coming on strong so that added to the beauty.

Even though it was foggy and overcast, it gave it kind of an ethereal look/

 

Heather and Cathy's two dogs.  I remember that one is named Sookie, but my bad memory for names extends to dogs as well as humans and I don't remember the other one's name.  It is the hunting season so hence, the orange vests.

 

This was a spider's web with multi sized droplets which looked very interesting.

 

When we returned Val was just getting up and wasn’t feeling well at all.  The plan today was to go north of McCall and visit Hazard Lake, but it looked like Val wouldn’t make it.  After a bit of discussion, we decided that we would go ahead with our plans, but Val would stay at the house and spend the day resting.  We hated to go without Val, but she insisted.

We all had a late breakfast and chatted for a while and then it was time to get going.  We reluctantly said farewell to Val and hit the road.  It was still foggy and overcast, but as we drove north, we started to see blue sky and by the time we reached the forest road to Hazard Lake, the sun was out.  The temperature was still in the 40’s, but it was still comfortable.

The drive up the forest road was very scenic with the fall color and the variety of plants growing amongst the pines.  There were some shrubs that had turned a bright red rust color and they were spectacular.  We made a stop at an overlook and then continued on to a lower lake called Goose Lake.  It was very low as it is fed by the snow melt and by this time of the year, that had ended.  We wandered around a bit and took some pictures and then continued our trek up mountain.

The view looking back down the valley.  There was a prescribed burn going on that the smoke was coming from.

That is Goose Lake off in the distance.  The lake is all the way up to where I'm taking this picture in the spring and early summer, but the snow melt has ended and as we saw in the Canadian Rockies, the lake recedes as winter approaches.

 

Heather and Cathy.

We made a couple more stops at some scenic spots before arriving at Hazard Lake which was absolutely beautiful.  The lake and the surrounding marsh lands were very scenic and with the blue skies and puffy white clouds it was very photogenic.  We took lots of pictures and hung around for a while before starting back down.

As you can see by the number of pictures I took, I found Hazard Lake very picturesque.

 

We made some more stops on the way down to take pictures of the colorful foliage and at one spot, a small lake in the canyon below.  This was a wonderful drive and we all felt bad that Val had missed it, but it was more important for her to rest and start feeling better.

As we headed back to the house, we stopped to get Val some tea and then it was home for some relaxing.  When we got back, Val said she was feeling a little better and had spent the day sleeping and resting.  Our day trip had taken much longer than expected and we had missed lunch so we decided to just have some snacks to tide us over until dinner.  I also wanted to take some pictures of Heather and Cathy’s house, and of them, so we did that for a while and then spent rest of the afternoon chatting and relaxing.

Heather and Cathy on the front steps of their home.

And on the rear deck.

It was a beautiful view from their deck.

 

Val joined Heather and Cathy in front of the fireplace.

And finally it was Val's and my turn for a picture.

The original intent for dinner was barbecuing some ribs, but that would take quite a while and we realized it would be a very late dinner so we shelved that idea and decided to get a pizza instead.  There was a very good pizza place in McCall that Heather and Cathy liked so Cathy and I went there to pick one up and some salads for dinner.

The pizza was the kind that you bake at home so that was done and we decided to watch a movie while we ate which worked out nicely.  After the movie we spent some time talking, but Val was getting tired so we called it an early night.  Tomorrow morning Val and I leave for Winnemucca, our next stop on our way home.