Cater Lake was formed about 7,700 years ago, give or take. The Mountain collapsed in on it's self then over time filled with rain water and snow melt. It is the deepest lake in the U.S. at 1,943 ft. There are no rivers or creeks filling this lake it is all just from snow and rain. There is also no rivers or creeks running out of the lake. There are only Two Islands on the lake, One is called Wizard Island.
This is Wizard Iland, shot through the smoke of near by wildfires. It also has a cone at its top, kind of like a crater in a crater thing. If you know what I mean.
The other I land is called Phantom Ship Island. I really don't see the ship in its structure, but hey the name is cool none the less.
This is a log that is floating in the lake, standing straight up and down, not laying flat like most other logs do. They call it "The Old Man" I make it a point to find it evey time I go. It only stick up a little so it can be trying to locate it. They found it like this in 1896. It has been doing its thing for who knows how long though.
There are many trails in the park for you to try. They range from easy to OH MY GOD WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO. Okay that might be overstating it a bit but hey I'm old and in the heat and the steep grade, well you get it.
Anyway I hike a lot of the trails and I always try a new one when I can, sometimes I don't do the whole trail and I'll go back to it and do the rest at a different time. But I'm there for the wildlife, and boy do they have it if you go looking for it. There is some you just can't avoid if you are there after the snow melt. Like these cute little guys.
Those little guys are Chipmunks, notice the stripe that goes down to the nose on the face. They are pretty small and skittish, but with time they will aprouch you for food... Don't do it, you should never feed wild animals. But we are humans and I see people feed them all the time. I keep my mouth shut and don't tell them about how bad they are being in front of their kids. Now this next guy looks a lot like the Chipmounk and is confused with them all the time. It is known as the Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel. (Also the are used as the "Chip & Dale" characters in the cartoons)
There are tons of birds but One stands out to me as the coolest. It lives in high elevations and is in the same family as Crows, Ravens and the Jays. Its called the Clarks Nut Craker. (Another cool name)
Now I know what you're thinking, he said its bad to feed the wildlife... Its is but the bird was not being fed that apple. the guy sat it down to take a picture of a Squirrel and the bird just swooped in and took over. It was hilarious. It fed a bit on it and then the guy shoe'd the bird off and tossed the apple in the trash.
Another bird that is found in high elevations is the Rock Wren. I had just heard of this bird a couple of weeks before I actually found it up here.
Now for something a little bigger. There are Bears here. Black Bears infact. I was able to catch one in action a couple weeks ago. He was busy hunting Grubs and couldn't be bothered to look at the camera.
Then the next week I went back up to the park and was hiking a trail when I just about walked right into him. It was a chance incounter. I have never been this close to a Bear, we met at the top of a slight incline and bend in the trail. He was about Sixty feet from me looking right at me. I learned just how fast I could pull my Bear spray and have the safty off. I took a couple of quick shots of him while yelling "Hey Bear" Really loud. I started stepping back while keeping my eye on him for any sign of aggression. But pretty much as soon as he figured out that I was just a human he totally lost all intrest in me and went about his Bear things. I managed to back my lens up to around 230mm and took a full body shot. Now let me make this clear. I was shooting with a 200_800mm lens. If I had to back it up that much I was way to close to that Bear. I do noy recommend anyone get that close to a wild Bear. My heart was pumping and I was keeping a close eye on him as I backed away. Even after we lost sight of each other I kept watching for him. You can't be to careful. Anyway all ended well and here are the photos.
I had one more strange encounter while up there last week. In the middle of the day right at the lodge with people walking all around I saw this guy.
This is a Pine Matin, mostly a nocturnal animal. It was 11:30am when I came across it. This photo was taken from about 10 to 15 feet away. It didn't care that I was there and never even looked at me. It then moved deeper into the stand of trees and the end of the lodge and I didn't go looking for it. I was just happy that I was able to get a shot of it. It was the first time that I was able to photograph one in the wild. They are not normally out in the sun like this.
I will leave you with one last critter. This was a surprise for me. I took these right from my campsite. I had heard of them but didn't know we had them here. (mainly because I didn't check) This is the Black-backed Woodpecker. Merlin the bird app I use to I.D. birds says its a common bird for the area, but not this time of year.... I guess it wasn't told that because I seen it there two weeks in a row.
Well thats all for now, thanks for stopping by and please share this post with your friends as it helps more people see my work. I don't get paid for it but I do like people to see my work. Thanks again.
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