Lily Pad Lake

On Saturday morning, Kristina and I went for a nice hike to Lily Pad Lake. The views were absolutely stunning as we hiked up! We used the Forest Service bridge to cross over the river, raging and cold with snowmelt, and then we crossed a smaller stream by means of a beaver dam.

When we arrived at the lake, it was true to its name! Almost the entire surface was covered with lily pads, leaving narrow passageways for the ducks to navigate. A blue jay mocked us, dragonflies zoomed overhead, and Kristina temporarily turned into a water mammal when she braved the cold waters to get a closer shot of a lily pad blossom. A log floated in the middle of the lake and we were quite surprised to see an animal glide toward it, climb up, and sit on top of it. We quickly realized that it was the resident of the beaver dam we had crossed! It was so fun to watch him, especially when the baby ducks swam too close. They startled each other so much that the beaver disappeared under the water and the duckling paddled as fast as those little legs would carry him, back to the big momma duck. That happened not just once, but twice. It was so entertaining!

We didn't want to leave, but all good things must come to an end. I'm so lucky to get to see these kinds of things so close to home. (The trail we took is less than five miles from the house.) Who knows where we'll go hiking and what we'll see next week...