Category Archives: Buntzen Lake Blog

Old Signs

April 22, 2014Buntzen Lake Blogbuntzen lake, hike, nature, signsadmin

During your visit to Buntzen Lake, you’ll notice several old signs around the area. The signs are wood, with yellow lettering (Except for the first example below, which has more colours). Below is the sign at the entrance to the park…

By the way, follow this link to see what the entrance sign looked like in 1995.

Some of the signs are in low traffic areas and many people never seen them, such as these two signs near the Swan Falls trailhead…

Here are two signs, you’ll see by the parking lot…

At south beach, you’ll see this sign…

Even the Warden’s office has a little sign…

There are a few ‘Viewpoint’ signs around on the trails. Here is one that is located on the east side of the Buntzen Lake trail…

Here are two old Lakeview Trail signs…

The next two photos are on the west side of the Buntzen Lake Trail. I’m not sure what help these signs are. There are no really alternate ways to go !!

Here is a tiny equestrian sign on pumphouse road…

And below is a sign that has seen better days !!

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

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…