The month of June has been filled with several extreme weather-related events. Starting on June 3, a resident witnessed a mini tornado touch down on the surface of Little Lac des Roches and travel toward cabins on the north shore. During its short, 15-second life, it managed to dislodge and damage one wharf and toss the debris up on to the banks before it dissipated. One of the daily thunder and lightning storms throughout the last two weeks started a small fire in the hills east of Lac des Roches on June 11 but the subsequent downpour doused the fire the same afternoon. Finally, the mini hurricane that blew through on the afternoon of June 17 was extraordinary. The 10-minute windstorm uprooted and snapped off trees in its path and caused significant damage to several properties and downed power lines to several homes. Tree cleanup will be a summer project for several residents!
Boaters
Some boaters don’t respect the Universal Shoreline Speed Restriction of 10 km/hr within 30 meters of the shore, and are churning up the sensitive substrate as well as the moods of local residents. Speed restriction and wake reduction rules are in place to protect sensitive wildlife habitat, shoreline integrity and personal property. Although Lac des Roches is a relatively narrow lake, it can support boaters looking for water sport recreation requiring speed or large boat wakes, but only in the deepest waters, far from shorelines, in the middle of the lake. The big lake has an excellent public boat launch, Access #7, with parking for vehicles and boat trailers at the very west end of the lake. Enjoy the lake, but please be kind to it!
Rare tree blooms
Gordon Coyle was kind enough to invite me to take a look at his cherry blossom tree last week. The tree, which was planted about 15 years ago from a seedling brought from Saskatchewan, produces beautiful pink and crimson blooms every June. The miniature cherries that follow the blooms are purely decorative but probably an exotic delicacy for local birds. Although the tree is hidden from McCarthy Road by Gordon’s house, there is a small break in the shoreline trees, which provides a wonderful view of the tree from the water — if you are watching for it. The tree was filled with bumble bees, busy pollinating the sweet-smelling blossoms. While not unique to the Cariboo, Japanese cherry blossom trees are uncommon and, if there area any others at Lac des Roches, they are a well-kept secret, much like Gordon’s tree was!
Nature’s busy
Rhubarb plants are shooting up their seed stalks although there is still plenty of rhubarb to harvest. The hatch of mayflies commenced their acrobatic sky-jumping act mid June. The aspen leaf miner returned and its tell-tale sign of silver trails are on the tree leaves everywhere. The Saskatoon bushes displayed a healthy show of white blooms thanks to the warm temperatures in May and June and have now been replaced with, what looks like will be, a huge crop of berries this year, enough for both the hungry cedar waxwings and us – we hope. Two different families of bears with cubs have been spotted near the lake and an unmistakable bear sign has been found on Eagle Island Road, at the east end of the lake, along with the sighting of a lone cougar. Loons are still tending their nest on the south shore of the little lake but a pair lost its nest to waves on the big lake.