Friday, July 26, 2013

Parika Lake and the Strawberry Moose


Oh, the trips to the west side of the park are always fun, especially when there is good company for the long drive over the top of the world. A herd of elk on the way there and some big bull elk on the way back graced the tundra. But once on the trail, we hiked up through subalpine flowers and lush forests. Finally, just when we thought all the steep bits must be finished, we topped out at treeline for a view of Parika Lake.  

No moose awaited us at the lake this year, but Rich brought his kite. Despite the downdraft that hampered efforts, he finally got the kite high in the sky. Note for next year: do not fly over a large clump of krumholz when the winds are variable.

Geoffrey and Muneca enjoyed their last afternoon spooning. We finally looked up the definition: it really only means suddling and kissing.

Our group at Parika Lake - Pat, me, Rich, Dave, Trevor and Carl. Geoffrey and Muneca are on the blue backpack.

The raspberries aren't ripe yet this year, but instead we spied wild strawberries close to the ground. They were so tiny and so good. Barely a morsel, but so full of flavor. A flash of red in the undergrowth and we were bending over trying to find the brightest of the red berries. The moose was seen off the side of the road on the way home, but that still qualifies as Strawberry Moose. And a few miniscule blueberries thrown in for good measure.
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