2014 Vacations photographs
Photographs are shown in chronological order.
I like the scenery in Canada, especially that of the streams,
fens, and bogs. These next few were taken Saturday, June 28,
at Eating Point Creek, just off Manitoba 6.
Looking north on Manitoba 6, south of Thompson.
Footprint Lake. I camped here in 2010, on my second day.
Beavers have a lodge on the other side of the road from
Footprint Lake.
The Bullfrog King, just north of Footprint Lake.
This wolf stands guard near the Bullfrog King. He's taken a
few bullets for the frog.
This is Soab Creek. Taken Sunday, June 29, 70 miles south of
Thompson on Manitoba 6.
Not all of Manitoba looks like this. The southern part of the
state is farmland, but I am entering a boggy area just north of
the Interlake District, north of Lake Winnipeg.
These wolves and others decorate the streets of Thompson.
My tent site of Sunday. The moss-covered landscape was
pretty cool. This is around 9 pm. I had to wear blinders the
first week or so. At the farthest north, on Reindeer Lake, I
only had about 4 hours of dark, and it wasn't very dark at that.
I was along a back road, just off Manitoba 394, which runs
from Thompson to Kinoosao, the town on Reindeer Lake.
This is a nice tent. Can withstand 60 mile per hour winds.
Wish I had it last year on my ill-fated backpacking trip in
NWT.
A really nice shot of the surroundings.
The Footprint River, which is nowhere near Footprint Lake. I
am much farther north. A Bald Eagle is flying in the center of
the photo.
I took a bird bath here on the return trip.
On Monday, the weather was spotty in the morning, but I did
manage these next few photos.
A beaver dam. Saw many, many of these, but few beavers. I
did see an otter.
For a stretch, between Thompson and Leaf Rapids, I saw one
eagle at every point where the road crossed a river.
A lone Ring-necked Duck.
Same duck.
Yes, it's raining, which is why I am taking these photos;
otherwise, I would be hiking.
Somewhere around Leaf Rapids, I spied this group of gulls.
Tuesday morning, July 1, I am heading toward Reindeer Lake.
That cloud cover had me concerned, but the next 4 days were
gorgeous.
My campsite July 1. I am 20 miles from the nearest town,
camped in a small bay. Around 9 pm.
Nice little beach. Locals complain that the dam on the south
end of the lake raised the water levels and ruined the shoreline
and the walleye fishing. I wondered how big this beach was
before the dam.
My inflatable boat, resting for the night. I could carry this in
my car, deflated.
The small island in front of my campsite.
Some Google Earth shots of my trip. First, the journey from
home to Kinoosao.
Next, an overview of Reindeer Lake. Kinoosao is in
Saskatchewan, on the Manitoba border, shown by the white
line. The small circle on the southern end of the lake is an
asteroid crater. The lake is 700 feet deep here.
Finally, here is a shot of where I had travelled by boat on July 1, to the town from my campsite at the drop pin.
The distance travelled was 23 miles.
First Lake Trout I ever caught! They are beautiful fish, and
good fighters. I was trolling in the middle of the lake with a
daredevil lure, fooling with my new fish locator, and did not
expect a strike. They normally swim in 30-60 feet of water,
but come to the surface to feed. About 4 pounds, I got one lb
of fillet.
Gas station in Lynn Lake, the nearest town to Reindeer Lake,
puts R2D2 to work.
Just outside of Leaf Rapids, the town between Lynn Lake and
Thompson, lies Mr Bill.
I saw a wolf here, just outside of Lynn Lake, but he did not
cooperate for a photo. I saw one here in 2010, too. It's
Saturday, July 5.
Just outside of Lynn Lake, I caught this 5 lb Walleye in the
Hughes River. Biggest one I ever caught. Good eating!
Also caught a smaller Walleye at the same spot.
A duck.
A fox carrying a baby Sand Hill Crane.
Bird is almost as big as the fox. I thought this was the coolest
thing! No one else stopped but me. I am sure they were
thinking "Tourist".
Here are some adult birds. They are 5 feet tall, and tend to
walk along the roads, just on the edge of the forest. These are
not the parents of the foxes victim.
Always see a mated pair.
Sunday morning, July 6, the weather was bad, so I was
photo-happy, as I had little else to do. This is the Odei River
were it crosses the road to Gillam.
Rained pretty hard Saturday night, so the flotsam was
accumulating.
This is upstream, just before the rapids.
Another view upstream.
The bridge over the Odei river.
The view from the other side of the bridge.
Some type of falcon.
This one kept hopping from tree to tree, sometimes landing on
the road, but I could not get close to take a photo.
Pretty good view. Email me if you know the ID.
A Loon, the east coast variety. See my Yukon/NWT photos
from 2013 for a west coast Loon.
Took these landscape shots about 40 miles south of Gillam.
The ground was disturbed, this is not natural.
Just to the south of the last shot.
The dam at Gillam, a town that exists to support this feature.
This is the Nelson River.
The main entrance to town.
I camped at a park on the edge of town. Nice change of pace
from the rocks.
Small dam behind the tent.
Heading back to Thompson.
I would work these roadsides for butterflies.
Tuesday I drove to Norway House, a town on the northeast
shore of Lake Winnipeg, from which the Nelson River flows.
Raining softly. A juvenile bear crossed the road, and when I
stopped for a photo, it approached me, probably looking for a
handout. A bad sign, if it was, as this usually gets the bear in
trouble. This one had probably just separated from mom.
Eventually, he realized all I had was protein bars, and left.
The next day, I was just south of Flin Flon, and stopped to
look for butterflies. I noticed the rocks on which I walked
were disturbed, like a foot path. I found no butterflies, but
when I got back to the car, this bear was watching me. He is
on a ridge above the road. This was an adult. Definitely
wants a picnic basket. He is a pretty good-looking bear.
Watching the traffic, turning from side to side.
Actually, he was bigger than I thought, as you can tell from
this shot.
A butterfly puddle party. These are usually males, taking
metal ions, primarily magnesium, which helps provide energy.
Three different species are visible, a white admiral, a northern
crescent, and a northern pearly eye, in the foreground.
You can better see the northern pearly eye, next to the little
orange one, a crescent.
Later that day, this is Wednesday, July 9, I parked along the
highway. Hot, about 85F, and the flies were murder. Big flies
wold circle the car whenever I stopped, and would follow
when I left. They could fly 35 mph! Fortunately, they did
not follow me, but when I entered the car, 3-4 would rush in
and fly maniacally on the windows. I would crack the
window and off they went.
Crazy!!!!
I spied a momma Redhead Duck with her family on a log, but
when I stopped to photo them, they swam away.
Click the butterfly to visit the home page and find links to
other annotated vacation photos.
Photographs are shown in chronological order.
I like the scenery in Canada, especially that of the streams,
fens, and bogs. These next few were taken Saturday, June 28,
at Eating Point Creek, just off Manitoba 6.
Looking north on Manitoba 6, south of Thompson.
Footprint Lake. I camped here in 2010, on my second day.
Beavers have a lodge on the other side of the road from
Footprint Lake.
The Bullfrog King, just north of Footprint Lake.
This wolf stands guard near the Bullfrog King. He's taken a
few bullets for the frog.
This is Soab Creek. Taken Sunday, June 29, 70 miles south of
Thompson on Manitoba 6.
Not all of Manitoba looks like this. The southern part of the
state is farmland, but I am entering a boggy area just north of
the Interlake District, north of Lake Winnipeg.
These wolves and others decorate the streets of Thompson.
My tent site of Sunday. The moss-covered landscape was
pretty cool. This is around 9 pm. I had to wear blinders the
first week or so. At the farthest north, on Reindeer Lake, I
only had about 4 hours of dark, and it wasn't very dark at that.
I was along a back road, just off Manitoba 394, which runs
from Thompson to Kinoosao, the town on Reindeer Lake.
This is a nice tent. Can withstand 60 mile per hour winds.
Wish I had it last year on my ill-fated backpacking trip in
NWT.
A really nice shot of the surroundings.
The Footprint River, which is nowhere near Footprint Lake. I
am much farther north. A Bald Eagle is flying in the center of
the photo.
I took a bird bath here on the return trip.
On Monday, the weather was spotty in the morning, but I did
manage these next few photos.
A beaver dam. Saw many, many of these, but few beavers. I
did see an otter.
For a stretch, between Thompson and Leaf Rapids, I saw one
eagle at every point where the road crossed a river.
A lone Ring-necked Duck.
Same duck.
Yes, it's raining, which is why I am taking these photos;
otherwise, I would be hiking.
Somewhere around Leaf Rapids, I spied this group of gulls.
Tuesday morning, July 1, I am heading toward Reindeer Lake.
That cloud cover had me concerned, but the next 4 days were
gorgeous.
My campsite July 1. I am 20 miles from the nearest town,
camped in a small bay. Around 9 pm.
Nice little beach. Locals complain that the dam on the south
end of the lake raised the water levels and ruined the shoreline
and the walleye fishing. I wondered how big this beach was
before the dam.
My inflatable boat, resting for the night. I could carry this in
my car, deflated.
The small island in front of my campsite.
Some Google Earth shots of my trip. First, the journey from
home to Kinoosao.
Next, an overview of Reindeer Lake. Kinoosao is in
Saskatchewan, on the Manitoba border, shown by the white
line. The small circle on the southern end of the lake is an
asteroid crater. The lake is 700 feet deep here.
Finally, here is a shot of where I had travelled by boat on July 1, to the town from my campsite at the drop pin.
The distance travelled was 23 miles.
First Lake Trout I ever caught! They are beautiful fish, and
good fighters. I was trolling in the middle of the lake with a
daredevil lure, fooling with my new fish locator, and did not
expect a strike. They normally swim in 30-60 feet of water,
but come to the surface to feed. About 4 pounds, I got one lb
of fillet.
Gas station in Lynn Lake, the nearest town to Reindeer Lake,
puts R2D2 to work.
Just outside of Leaf Rapids, the town between Lynn Lake and
Thompson, lies Mr Bill.
I saw a wolf here, just outside of Lynn Lake, but he did not
cooperate for a photo. I saw one here in 2010, too. It's
Saturday, July 5.
Just outside of Lynn Lake, I caught this 5 lb Walleye in the
Hughes River. Biggest one I ever caught. Good eating!
Also caught a smaller Walleye at the same spot.
A duck.
A fox carrying a baby Sand Hill Crane.
Bird is almost as big as the fox. I thought this was the coolest
thing! No one else stopped but me. I am sure they were
thinking "Tourist".
Here are some adult birds. They are 5 feet tall, and tend to
walk along the roads, just on the edge of the forest. These are
not the parents of the foxes victim.
Always see a mated pair.
Sunday morning, July 6, the weather was bad, so I was
photo-happy, as I had little else to do. This is the Odei River
were it crosses the road to Gillam.
Rained pretty hard Saturday night, so the flotsam was
accumulating.
This is upstream, just before the rapids.
Another view upstream.
The bridge over the Odei river.
The view from the other side of the bridge.
Some type of falcon.
This one kept hopping from tree to tree, sometimes landing on
the road, but I could not get close to take a photo.
Pretty good view. Email me if you know the ID.
A Loon, the east coast variety. See my Yukon/NWT photos
from 2013 for a west coast Loon.
Took these landscape shots about 40 miles south of Gillam.
The ground was disturbed, this is not natural.
Just to the south of the last shot.
The dam at Gillam, a town that exists to support this feature.
This is the Nelson River.
The main entrance to town.
I camped at a park on the edge of town. Nice change of pace
from the rocks.
Small dam behind the tent.
Heading back to Thompson.
I would work these roadsides for butterflies.
Tuesday I drove to Norway House, a town on the northeast
shore of Lake Winnipeg, from which the Nelson River flows.
Raining softly. A juvenile bear crossed the road, and when I
stopped for a photo, it approached me, probably looking for a
handout. A bad sign, if it was, as this usually gets the bear in
trouble. This one had probably just separated from mom.
Eventually, he realized all I had was protein bars, and left.
The next day, I was just south of Flin Flon, and stopped to
look for butterflies. I noticed the rocks on which I walked
were disturbed, like a foot path. I found no butterflies, but
when I got back to the car, this bear was watching me. He is
on a ridge above the road. This was an adult. Definitely
wants a picnic basket. He is a pretty good-looking bear.
Watching the traffic, turning from side to side.
Actually, he was bigger than I thought, as you can tell from
this shot.
A butterfly puddle party. These are usually males, taking
metal ions, primarily magnesium, which helps provide energy.
Three different species are visible, a white admiral, a northern
crescent, and a northern pearly eye, in the foreground.
You can better see the northern pearly eye, next to the little
orange one, a crescent.
Later that day, this is Wednesday, July 9, I parked along the
highway. Hot, about 85F, and the flies were murder. Big flies
wold circle the car whenever I stopped, and would follow
when I left. They could fly 35 mph! Fortunately, they did
not follow me, but when I entered the car, 3-4 would rush in
and fly maniacally on the windows. I would crack the
window and off they went.
Crazy!!!!
I spied a momma Redhead Duck with her family on a log, but
when I stopped to photo them, they swam away.
Click the butterfly to visit the home page and find links to
other annotated vacation photos.
