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Be Bear Aware

April 15, 2014Buntzen Lake Blogbear, buntzen lake, Diez Vistas, hike, nature, scenicadmin

I took this photo of a Salmonberry Flower at Buntzen Lake. Salmonberries are seen throughout the Buntzen Lake area, more so in sunny locations where the sun can reach the ground surface. In May, these flowers will turn into fruit and bears will be looking for a nice meal ! Bears will also get great meals from blackberries, blueberries and huckleberries to name a few.

I’ve hiked the Buntzen Lake area for a number of years, completing hundreds of hikes and have seen a bear only once, which was on the Old Buntzen Lake Trail right HERE in July 2013. The bear was not concerned with me and was content with the salmonberries or blackberries.

The thing with bears, is that you don’t want to startle them – usually if they know you’re coming, they’ll stay away. Usually they can hear the sound of your walking, but not always. If I’m alone and in a low traffic area, I will make noise by banging two rocks together or anything that I can find.

I also met two different bears on a walk on the Deboville Slough in Northeast Coquitlam in the Summer of 2013. They were so happy with the blueberries and the blackberries, they could care less about me. They also didn’t have cubs !

Here’s are photos of the bears at Deboville Slough in August 2013…

Here is a great resource if you want more info on bears… www.bearsmart.com

Swan Falls

April 13, 2014Buntzen Lake HikesApril 2014, buntzen lake, hike, scenic, snow, Swan Fallsadmin

Today, I ventured up on Eagle Mountain for the first time. Specifically, I went up the Swan Falls trail. I knew the possibility of snow at high elevations was likely, so the plan was to go up as far as I can and turn around when the snow makes trekking difficult. Unfortunately, the cell phone could not get a GPS signal, so I couldn’t determine the elevation at the turn-around point, but I’d guess it to be 800 or 900 m. Below is my route for today…

Today was an amazing April day. It was sunny with a high close to 20C. However, on the ascent, it was cool (still shaded) and there was breeze, but it was all good. I would say the highlight was the view from the Falls, which are at about 300-350m elevation. Below is a view from the falls looking west, towards Buntzen Lake…

Just before reaching the falls, there is a 45 degree incline, where there is a rope to assist you; see below…

Here is a view on the falls…

And here is another scenic view…

Below is a random trail picture…

Next is our traverse through the Lower Gully…

And here is our traverse through the Upper Gully 30 mins after the Lower Gully…

Next is a photo near where we turned around. The snow was getting quite deep…

At the trailhead, on the service road, you can see the falls and the creek, which drains into McCombe Lake…

Below is a view of Swan Falls from across McCombe Lake and the next one is when the falls were frozen in early February 2014…

Here is the sign at the trailhead, with a warning…

Interesting Nature

April 11, 2014Buntzen Lake Blogbuntzen lake, Diez Vistas, hike, nature, scenicadmin

Over the years, while hiking the trails around Buntzen Lake, I have seen some interesting things out there. For example, in the photo below, this tree is seriously leaking ! The sap is leaking from high up and it is about an inch thick on the ground and spreads downhill for about 2 m. This tree is on the west side of the Buntzen Lake Trail.

The next photo is on the east side of Buntzen Lake; it is a burned out tree with a spiral shape. Pretty cool huh ?

As I wrote in another post, there are numerous old tree stumps around Buntzen Lake – remnants of logging in the early 1900s. The large stumps below are on the south beach of Buntzen Lake. Obviously new trees grew on the old stumps. The new trees were later cut down and the roots can be seen around the original stump ! I wonder how many people have climbed up these stumps on stumps !

One time during a walk on the Lakeview Trail, I noticed damage about 10 feet up on a tree – it looked like someone took a hacksaw to it ! On my next visit, I was surprised to see a woodpecker doing a number on the tree. Since the first time, the woodpecker had started on second section.

One day, I hiked the Buntzen Lake Trail after a heavy rainfall, and I found this neat little ‘droplet waterfall on a mossy rock’. Check out the video and turn up the volume…

Here’s a branch on a tree that decided to do a loopy loop…

The next photo below shows a tree with an interesting formation – possibly the result of some kind of trauma as a young tree ?? This tree is on the Diez Vistas Trail…

Below is a stubborn tree that decided it will grow in this place regardless of the big rock !!

On the shortcut from the Diez Vistas Trail to the Lakeview Trail, I noticed this interesting pattern on tree roots…

Filming at Buntzen Lake

April 5, 2014Buntzen Lake Blogadmin

Due to its remote location (but not far from civilization), along with the lake, beaches, forests, mountains and wharf, the Buntzen Lake Recreation Area provides the perfect backdrop for a wide genre of movies and TV shows.

Below is a list of the movies/TV shows I know have filmed at Buntzen Lake:

Supernatural (TV series, 2005-Present)
Unknown Pilot (TV series, April 2014)
The Killing (Netflix, 2011-2014)
Psych (TV series, 2006-2014)
Eureka (TV series, 2006-2012)
Smallville (TV series, 2001-2011)
Stargate SG-1 (TV series, 1997-2007)
The 4400 (TV series, 2004-2007)
Hot Rod (Movie, 2007)
Pathfinder (Movie, 2007)
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (Movie, 2007)
Devour (Movie, 2005)
Three O‘Clock (Movie, 2005)
Freddie vs. Jason (Movie, 2003)
The X-Files (TV series, 1993-2002)
Dark Angel (TV series, 2000-2002)
Lake Placid (Movie, 1999)
It (Movie, 1999)
Highlander (TV series, 1992-1998)
The People Across The Lake (Movie, 1988)
21 Jump Street (TV Series, 1980s)

Below is a photo of the filming of ‘The Killing’ in April 2014…

They needed artificial fog, so they used this…

Here’s the cabin used in the show…

Here’s construction of the cabin…

Here’s all the trucks…

Shortly after filming for “The Killing” ended, a new production company set up and were filming a pilot for TV. I didnt get the name of the show, but below are a couple of photos I took in early April 2014…

Tree Stumps

April 5, 2014Buntzen Lake Blogadmin

The area around Buntzen Lake is second growth forest. The area was forested in the early 1900s and evidence remains today in the form of giant tree stumps. The massive stump below is seen near the start of the Buntzen Lake Trail…

Here are three more large tree stumps on the Buntzen Lake Trail…

Back when logging was done by hand, axes were used to cut large notches in the base of the tree. The loggers would then insert a springboard (wooden plank) into the notch, stand on the springboard, and use crosscut saws to saw down the massive old growth trees that blanketed the area. Check out the photos below. You can see the springboard notches…