Today, on a hot late July day, I saw two little ducklings with their mom near the old floating bridge…
Saw these Wednesday, July 30th. Pretty late in the season for ducklings I think.
In the past, I’ve seen ducklings in Coquitlam (Lafarge Lake) in late May and early June.
Its near the same place I saw a Great Blue Heron last year – Haven’t seen one in Buntzen Lake since – Don’t know why, its such a great habitat with loads of fish. Maybe they’re just hiding from me, like the bears.
For a description of the Diez Vistas hike please see:
BuntzenLake.ca/Diez-Vistas/ and
Buntzenlake.ca/hiking/
I have mentioned how the vista numbering on the Diez Vistas trail is all wonky and some of the original vistas no longer have views. Many people blog about their hikes and one common thing I read is: “Diez Vistas was a great hike, but I only found 3 or 4 of the vistas”. As the trail dates back to the 1980s (I presume), five of the original vistas have become obstructed by trees (yes, how dare they grow and ruin our views !!!).
Strangely enough, four great views at the south end of Buntzen Ridge were never included as official vistas – these being the very first viewpoint of Burrard Inlet/Indian Arm and the three viewpoints on the East point loop (Yes, there is an east point loop !). Also, the signage is poor here (there is no sign) and most people miss out on the three east point loop vistas. There is also a nice viewpoint just after Original Vista #4, that was never included as an original vista.
So I have suggested to BC Hydro to consider renaming the vistas as seen in the two photos below…
I would still keep the Spanish names where present (eg. Punta Apecio and Punta Del Este), but have markers noting the vista numbers. Also, a sign should be put near the first vista, noting where to go to the East Loop and the East Loop By-Pass route.
When putting together the maps of the new vista numbering, a thought occurred to me to name the trail ‘Nuevo Diez Vistas’ or at least have that as an unofficial name.
Click on the images for the larger size.
It is my hope that BC Hydro will consider my alternate numbering. In the meantime, I hope this will help future hikers on the trail.
If you’re ever in the Buntzen Lake area after a storm, you’ll likely have seen some blow downs (downed trees) on the trails. This past February 2014 was bad – especially the night of February 15th, where about 5 large trees came down on the Buntzen Lake Trail.
First, here are some large blow downs on Eagle Mountain, just east of the White Rock Viewpoint…
Here are some trees that came down on the Swan Falls Trail…
Here is a tree that came down on Powerhouse Road, near North Beach…
And here’s one that came down on Diez Vistas Trail…
Here are two trees that came down on the Buntzen Lake Trail on February 15, 2014…
BC Hydro does a good job at clearing the trees after they have fallen – They’re usually cleared within a week at the most.
As a result of the many blow downs at Buntzen Lake, BC Hydro has completed an assessment of the trees that have the potential to fall on the trails and they are cutting them down to be proactive. Many of the trees are/were leaning towards the trail or are/were dead. If you see a tree with a spray-painted number in blue paint, it is an assessment tree and will be cut down.
Here are some trees that have been cut down near the old floating bridge area…
Over the past few weeks in May 2014, BC Hydro accelerated their tree cutting. Below are a few more pictures of the cut trees…
And here was a big blow down on the west side of the lake…
Here’s a photo of the tree one month earlier…
Industrial activities have been occurring at Buntzen Lake since the early 1900s. The activities include: building of the tunnel, dam, penstocks, pumphouses, and electrical transmission lines. During my many hikes in the area, I have seen several examples of what I call industrial decay.
Below is a discarded and broken ceramic insulator I saw on Pumphouse Road…
Near the pumphouse, you can see the old pipeline exiting this 25 m metal cylindrical tube
I think its some sort of back flow prevention…
Next is a detail view of something on the top of the above shown cylinder…
The area around north beach was recently (May 2014) scanned for artifacts by someone and the artifacts were on display on the memorial. I think this is very cool. Below is a photo of the artifacts…
There is a shortcut from Diez Vistas Trail to Lakeview Trail, following a creek.
To my surprise, I saw this discarded industrial metal drum…
Close to the dam, I found these chunks of metal, which may have been sections of the original penstocks…
And here is a detail view of the manufacturer’s plate;
It reads… ‘BC Iron Works Vancouver, BC’…
Below is a section of the old water pipeline that was built in the early 1960s…
And here’s an interesting apparatus on a section of the pipeline…
Below are some old concrete hydro pole stands…
And next is a detail shot of rusty bolts on a hydro pole stand…
Here’s another photo of redundant hydro pole stands…
I saw this old wooden hydro pole on the Old Buntzen lake Trail…
Today on the Buntzen Lake Trail, I saw a little Rough-skinned Newt. It was on Pump House Road, just steps from the bridge. When I posted this on Flickr, someone thought it was a Western Redback Salamander, but Ivan Phillipsen, of Wild Pacific Northwest, informed me that it was a Rough-skinned Newt.
It blended in with the road so well, I almost walked right past it.
Luckily, I took my good camera today so I could get a good shot.
After I finishing taking my photos, I used a stick to take him to the side of the trail. He was stiff as a board. I hope that is a defence mechanism !
This amphibian is much more commonly seen than the Western Red-backed Salamander, because the newt walks around in the open, whereas the salamander is much more secretive.
Toxin-resistant garter snakes are the only known animals today that can eat a rough-skinned newt and survive.
In evolutionary theory, the relationship between the rough-skinned newt and the common garter snake is considered an example of co-evolution. The mutations in the snake’s genes that conferred resistance to the toxin have resulted in a selective pressure that flavors newts which produce more potent levels of toxin. Increases in newt toxicity then apply a selective pressure favouring snakes with mutations conferring even greater resistance. This cycle of a predator and prey evolving to one another is sometimes termed an evolutionary arms race and has resulted in the newts producing levels of toxin far in excess of what is needed to kill any other conceivable predator.