White Lake Grasslands Observatory & Ranch

That first hike of the day was as close to a bear as I want to get in the wild by myself!  But did I tell you about the walk up the road I live on the other night?    “Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.   I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.  If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;  but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.”
Psalm 66:16-19 (NIV)

OK So I was praying all the way down to my car trusting that the black bear found something more interesting to follow.   But the night before,  Nolan and I had gone for a 4.5km walk down to shop and no sooner had we got back in the door when Zach burst in and said did you see it?

Zach was on his way back up our hill when he noticed flash lights beaming through the bushes two doors down.  Zach volunteers for citizens on patrol so he investigated what was up.  Turns out that a bear was in the neighbours back yard and the family next door wanted to get a closer look at it.  So they were out with their two kids, flashlights in hand starring down the bear.

Who knew?  Nolan and I walked right past them and paid no notice!  That was the night before I decided to have a 10km hiking adventure through White Lake Grasslands Site 5 and had another bear adventure.

This is part two of that post.  Part two because after being chased off the mountain by the black bear I went happily a few kms away and did another 6km hike through the grasslands taking pictures as I went.

20160924_143758

You see when I need prayer time with the Lord I like to take my camera and walk…long walks!  And I don’t talk all that much but just listen and of course thoroughly enjoy seeing my Father’s handiwork.

White Lake Basin Biodiversity Ranch borders the Grasslands conservatory and offers some nice gentle hikes sure to inspire.

In case you missed it on that first sign, “Livestock and BULLS at large”.  Here is a reminder that this is a ranch.

img_8727-2

The colours of the grass are truly spectacular this time of year.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

There are paths throughout the Grasslands but some are clearly for the herds of elk and deer in the area.  There was lots of evidence but sorry no pictures.  Plenty of bear scat here too.  On my way out I talked with a couple who’s bear bells rang loudly as the hiked.  Seems they had also ran across a black bear earlier in the day on the path that leads from this ranch back to Mahoney Lake.   They were taking no chances so the bell rang on.

The Dominion Radio Observatory is also in this valley and the ranch has several great views of it.   The main dish is huge though hard to tell from these pictures.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Watch your step!  Just about took out this praying fellow!

img_8741-2 img_8739-2

But you wouldn’t want to step here either:

img_8731-2 img_8729-2

All in all a very enjoyable day for a hike.  Thank you Lord!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.