July 23, 2010

Paddling Sparks & Hosmer- Day 2 of Vacation

Day 2 started out early. We arrived at Sparks Lake by 7am and had the place to ourselves. If you are a canoer or kayaker...you must check out this quiet motor-less lake. No fisherman or motors. So great! The water was shallow and extremely calm on that morning.



This is South Sister (of the Three Sisters - see yesterday's post to see all three). We visited this lake a couple of years ago and the water level was lower and we could paddle further into the grassy area. The mountains didn't even have snow when we visited in '07.




Lots of interesting rock formations are around the lake....old volcanic activity. About 10,000 years ago this lake was formed from Mt. Bachelor lava flows. The lake covers 400 acres and has a maximum depth of 10 feet. Supposedly there are Brook Trout in the lake, although we never saw any.





Columbine blooms on the rock outcroppings and we saw hummingbirds enjoying them.








South Sister through the rock formations.




Want to see what it's like on the water? South Sister, Broken Top and Mt. Bachelor can be seen from the lake. You can hear a frog in the beginning.

It was still early in the day so we headed up the road a few miles to Hosmer Lake. This lake is more popular with the fisherman, but only electric motor are allowed and it is still relatively quiet.



More great mountain views.




The water is a bit deeper than Sparks and crystal clear. We saw a lot of fish in this lake and they were big!


Ring-necked ducks were prevalent and as I recall we saw them a few years ago too.





TONS of bluets were flying around and even landing on us. I'll take these over mosquitoes any day!






A few butterflies and dragonflies were flying around the wet areas around the boat ramp.





On the way out we stopped at Todd Lake (where we saw no lake)---but what a view!

5 comments:

  1. What beautiful scenery and photos. Ok now I know I need to plan a trip with our canoe. I forgot how beautiful it can be beyond my little haven. I really am enjoying your trip as well. Thank you for sharing.

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  2. Gorgeous! Makes me want to go camping in that area. Thanks for sharing your photos!

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  3. Man that is pretty!!! Thanks for the heads up on the Audubon Society's facebook page- I made sure to "like" it earlier.

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  4. Looks like you are enjoying a fantastic vacation!

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