Today's Walk - Creatures Great and Small in Champion Lakes Park

June 5, 2025

It was a perfect day for my annual hike along the Champion Lakes trails. This park was established in 1955, when I was six, and I spent many happy hours swimming and camping here in my youth. There's a string of three lakes, but most of the park development, like the public beach and campground, is at the "third" lake (which, just to confuse things, is the first lake one arrives at when driving in to the park). I bypassed the developed area and hiked the trails around the first and second lakes.

The First Lake, looking northward

It was my lucky day! There is a wetland area between the lakes where I've always hoped to see some moose, and this time - lo and behold - there they were: a cow with two yearling calves, grazing peacefully in the lush greenery.

Luckily I'd been walking slowly and quietly, and the wind was in my favour, so they didn't notice me. There's a trick I learned as a kid when hunting with my dad: ungulates like deer and moose have poor eyesight and can't identify you as a threat when you're standing still. This way, even though I was in the open, I was able to get closer by freezing when any of the trio looked up. Both the mama and one of her offspring gave me a long once-over, but then when back to their placid browsing.

The cow was moaning, or calling, and I learned, later, that: "Cow moose communicate with their young through a variety of sounds, including moans, wails, and coos, as well as the rhythmic movement of their bodies. These calls are often used to signal safety, urgency, or to direct their calves to specific locations." I think she was saying: "Come on kids, time to move along."

After about fifteen minutes, the little family finally wandered off into the forest.

The Champion trails traverse a variety of ecosystem types, from shady forests to sunny wetland meadows and riparian areas along the lakeshore, each with a range of flora suited to those conditions.

Star-flowered lily-of-the-valley

Calypso orchid (aka fairy slipper) and a budding queen's cup

Kidney-leaved violet (Viola renifolia) (I think)

Yellow waterlily

The trail I followed begins at the second lake and winds through the woods to the first lake, where it skirts along the east shore to the very northern end of the lake. I've seen beavers, muskrats, loons and other waterfowl here, but no such luck this time. Also no frogs, or even tadpoles that I could see, which is a bit disconcerting.

However, there was no shortage of dragonflies (and mosquitos, plus a few ticks), and it seems that I can never resist adding a few more dragonfly photos to my collection of hundreds.

Four-spotted skimmer

One of the many species of bluet, or damselfly

My Merlin birdsong app correctly identified the Swainson's thrush that was clucking in a tree beside the trail.

This young western terrestrial garter snake was catching some rays on the trail and didn't seem bothered as I stepped over it.

As I was heading back homeward along the shore of the first lake, I scared up a spotted sandpiper that graciously posed for me on a waterlily leaf.

It's always a pleasure to walk these trails in the spring or early summer. This type of lower elevation aquatic ecosystem is not that common in our West Kootenay area, and the rich biodiversity of this park is something to treasure.

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