John Dean Park

Is this not a wonderful site. We went for a walk/hike to the summit at John Dean Provincial Park. The sun coming through the trees just made this such a lovely site. It was great inside the wooden areas, very cool and refreshing.....















Doesn't this just look like the best place on earth to forget your troubles. The sounds of nature were very soothing. There must be a busy family or two of crows or ravens because all the way along we could here them calling out to each other. It wasn't a bad sound, more of a conversational chatter. We saw a lovely big woodpecker and if he hadn't flown over to another tree and hidden behind it, I could have got a great picture. The distinct knocking on wood could be heard, so presumably that was more interesting than my camera...

I always love to see the forest mosses. The trees always make me think of magical creatures living in amongst them. I once took a small piece of this moss with me to take a better look and by the time I got home, it was no more. Just taking it from it's natural habitat caused it to become so dry and brittle, it just crumpled. The way they feel in the forest, is very soft....but of course, it's a living thing, living in it's own natural enviornment. How could I expect it to stay that way when I removed it. Thankfully I had the sense to only take a tiny piece of it.

There's a saying that this picture applies to. It's the jewel in the crown. After huffing and puffing (since I am not used to these hikes...that must change), this is the reward. After we found a shady place to have some lunch and rest up, this is what greeted us on the other side of the park. Paradise found. The islands are part of hundreds of all sizes of islands between here and the mainland of British Columbia and the San Juan islands that are on the US side of the invisible border . The whole thing is truly amazing to see from an airplane... So after a tiring but enjoyable walk/hike we came down the other side and made our way home...where we promptly took a siesta to rest our weary bones.