The Wintergreen Trail

There is nothing like fresh blueberries on your pancakes in the morning. 

Especially when you just picked them from around your campsite minutes before eating them. Now that is as fresh as it comes.

After eating breakfast we checked up on our ant and wasp situation.  The ants had covered the tops of most of their holes with sand during the night. Perhaps to keep out predators? Or maybe to keep out rain? We are unsure. 

Our friend the Ant-Queen Kidnapper was back and was busy digging around in the dirt. We were amazed at how far it could throw the dirt it was digging. It was like watching a dog dig in the dirt. We decided to name our wasp "Digger". It wasn't digging for ants because the ant hills were everywhere and easy to find. No, it was sticking to a certain area and seemed to be searching for something. It was only a few minutes before we figured out what it was looking for.  It was looking for its own nest. Whenever it left its nest it would bury the entrance with sand and then when it came back it would dig the opening up again.  We assumed this one had a little bit more trouble because we had been walking in that area and moving our chairs around and we probably messed up this wasps world a little. As we watched a couple other wasps open and close their doors, we noticed that the entrances were often near the base of a plant or stalk of grass. 

I wanted to show Carsten and Penny one of the beaches on one of the lakes that I liked but I couldn't remember which one it was. So, after breakfast we hopped in the car and drove around to some of the lakes to try to find it.

The first one we stopped at was Green Lake.  This one was not the one I was thinking of but it was a nice one too and we got out to look around for a bit.  It had a big picnic shelter and then a little shelter beside it so that you could BBQ in the rain if you wanted to. 

It had 2 sets of stairs that went down a hill and joined together in a Y shape. 

At the bottom of the stairs was a nice little sandy beach where some kids were playing and catching frogs. 

The bouyed area seemed deep enough for  good swim but we didn't test it out. 

Off to the side of the stairs was a quiet bench and picnic table area. 

On the steps we found  couple of Clear-wing Grasshoppers. 

And in the grass we found these little white flowers that looked to me like the wings of a butterfly. I haven't been able to find out what kind of flowers these are yet. 

We got back into the car and drove around to the other side of the park. We went to Point Lake next.  This was the beach that I had been thinking of. 

Just like last year it had pretty little pink Musk Mallow flowers growing all over the place. 

We also found a large patch of Round-leaved Sundew growing off to the side close by the shore. I had to rescue a small dragonfly from the plants sticky grasp.

Carsten pointed out these three-leaved, dark pink plants growing near the sundew. They are pretty but I have no idea what they are. I tried looking them up but no luck so far. 

On each of the fence posts there were patches of Pixie Cup Lichens growing. Love that name! Truly makes me picture little Pixies coming by and drinking dew drops out of these. 

Also sitting on the fence was a White-spotted Sawyer beetle. We call them Pine Beetles and avoid them because they bite. 

But this little beauty I have no fear of. This is a Spotted Spreadwing Damselfly. I just love the colour of its eyes. 

After driving around to the beaches we went to the Visitor Center to see the displays. The girl running the Visitor center told us that the park is often nicknamed "The Bird Nursery" due to the high volume of birds that are sighted by visitors. It isn't actually a bird nursery, it just gets called that. But we could see the reasoning for it because we had seen more birds here than we have seen in most other parks. She also told us how to identify an owl feather by the down at the top of the feather. We learned that Irrigation Lake is the deepest lake in the park and that it is stocked with Trout.

​After the Visitor Center we went next door to the park office to treat ourselves to some ice cream. Carsten wanted a cup of coffee but there was no water in the coffee machine. When he told them about it at the desk he was made to feel like he was inconveniencing them for mentioning it and that they were going to begrudgingly fill it even though it only took them a couple of seconds to do so. 

​Soon after that we decided to go for a hike on the Wintergreen Trail which was walking distance from our campsite. 

This trail is a beautiful, wide, flat, open trail. It starts off like a road and then narrows a bit as you go, but always has an open feel to it. 

At the beginning of the trail there is a Bird Bingo card. We took a picture of it and played it as we walked. Carsten was the first one to complete it. It gave the trail an extra little bit of fun. 

We hadn't gone far when Penny acquired a hitch hiker on her shoe.  It was a beautiful Silver-bordered Fritillary butterfly. This butterfly liked her shoe a whole lot. It wouldn't get off. She would shoo it away and it would just come right back. 

Eventually it found a place in the sand that it was content with and Penny was able to leave it behind and continue on with the hike. 

But there were lots more of these butterflies where that one came from. 

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day of sunshine for our hike and we were seeing all sorts of plants and flowers and things that we would stop and take pictures of.  

As we were walking and talking we heard a little scurrying sound and a tiny creature dashed out across the path and into the underbrush on the other side. I peeked through the plants and there, hiding in the moss and leaves, was a tiny little mouse. It sat perfectly still and didn't move a muscle. We quietly moved around it to try to get a good picture and it never moved at all. I guess it thought that we didn't see it and as long as it sat still we wouldn't notice it. We got our pictures as quick as possible and left the area so that the poor little thing would feel safe enough to move again. 

We discovered a couple of benches along this trail which was a nice touch. 

We were able to sit down and watch the woodpecker in the tree nearby. 

And look at one of the lakes though the trees. I am guessing that at one point the trees were not as tall and the view of the lake was better, but it was still a nice enough view even now. 

As we sat a little green Pink-edged Sulphur butterfly came by and landed on a green plant. 

If you didn't know it was there you would almost think it was one of the leaves on the plant. 

A little Tricolored Bumble Bee was also hanging out in the green leaves but he didn't do as good a job of blending in as the butterfly did. 

Further down the trail we found a spot where you could see the lake much better through the trees. 

On the other side of the lake we could see a beaver lodge but no beavers. 

As we left the trail and came back out to the road we decided that since the Slab Lake beach was along the way between the Wintergreen Trail and our campsite, we might as well go down and check it out. 

Penny and I started looking for turtles and frogs down by the lake while Carsten went and found a picnic table to sit at and wait for us.  We didn't see any turtles or frogs but we did see a Chipping Sparrow. 

And we also saw another woodpecker.

As we were bird watching long came a group of young people, probably about 8 of them or so, all with life jackets on.  It soon became apparent that none of them had ever been in any sort of boat before in their lives.  Penny and I joined Carsten at the picnic table as the entertainment began.

First, one of the guys grabbed a kayak and he seemed to do all right. But then a couple more guys grabbed a canoe and tried to get in it before it was far enough into the water to be able to go anywhere. A couple of the girls and guys had to come and push them into the water. One of them was sitting backwards in the canoe and both of them were trying to paddle forward. It was hilarious to watch! 

Next, a guy and a girl tried to get into the paddle boat. They couldn't figure out how to steer it and ended up getting it tangled in the buoy lines.  Now they didn't know what to do. It took 3 of them to try to untangle it. They tried diving under and they tried lifting it up. Finally they got it untangled only to jump back in and almost get it tangled up a second time.

By this time the canoe was back and one of the girls tried getting in while it was still out in the water. She couldn't get her legs high enough to get in, so a couple of the guys tried to turn the canoe over on its side for her to make it lower so she could get in. Of course this led to the canoe filling with water and the girl falling completely into the lake.  Now the canoe was full of water and they kept trying to empty it by turning it on its side while it was still in the lake instead of bringing it to shore to be emptied. 

I am not making a single bit of this up. This was all unfolding before our eyes and we were just sitting there watching it all and laughing like it was  a TV show.  Of course they were all laughing and shouting and having a blast too. So we didn't interfere or try to show them how it was done. 

Eventually we decided to leave them to their own devices and head back to camp for supper. 

But as we walked up the path away from the beach I spotted something green and metallic on the ground. It was a Splendid Earth-boring Beetle. It was so pretty and so shiny! 

I didn't want it to get stepped on so I picked it up and carried it off the path and over to a quiet little mossy area near some trees. 

We had enjoyed a wonderful day and now we were ready for supper and a quiet evening of board games by lantern light. 

Tomorrow we will be trading in our tents for a cozy little cottage here in the park.