Friday, June 26, 2009

SIDE TRIP UP THE “SILVER TRAIL”

This little bird (Horned Lark) didn't want to get out of our way; figured this was his road!

Baby moose.

Momma moose departing.







Fox. Guy at restaurant thinks it may be a cross breed of two fox species.

Five Mile Lake.

Looking south from Minto Bridge.

Looking north from Minto Bridge.

The road to Keno.

Foxtail Barley.

The eatery in Keno.

Old house in Keno.

Up on Keno Hill.

Mitzy loves snow.

Keno Hill signpost.

Old cabin on Keno Hill.

Interior of cabin.


View out the window.

Same cabin.

Alpine flower.
Another newer cabin.

View from this cabin.................................................................................................
Yesterday we decided to remain parked here in Stewart Crossing and take a side trip to a less traveled area called the Silver Trail. This is an area that delivered fabulous silver wealth over the past hundred years. Mayo is 52 kms up the road and has a population of about 400, probably over half native. The end of the main road is Keno which has a great museum and some neat old buildings. The population is between 12 and 30, depending on the source used. We had lunch in a funky old eatery (restaurant would be going too far!). After lunch, Aileen visited with a family from Chilliwack while I wandered around getting some images. We then took the road up 10.5 kms to Keno Hill which is alpine and above the treeline. There were some interesting flowers and I’m regretting not using my tripod and macro lens but at the time the wind and bugs were both bothersome. Years ago someone put up a signpost with distances to many foreign places. The whole mountain has seen extensive mining and exploration since the late 1800’s and is still ongoing.
On the way in first thing after leaving Stewart Crossing, I saw a wolf then a fox. With the wolf, I had peeked over a bank and left my camera in the truck. He was still visible when I got my camera but instantly vanished, so no picture. As we were leaving Keno in the late afternoon, we spotted a fox along the road. I drove down past her then turned around and came back slowly. After some preliminary shyness on her part, she posed beautifully for us. I suspect she may be a silver fox when in winter coat as you will notice silver markings in the photos, especially if you click on them and enlarge the image.
We had Chinese supper in Mayo after cruising the streets checking out the village. When we got back down to where I’d seen the wolf, we pulled over and looked down to the swamp. We could hear a moose noisily eating in a pond so I spent quite some time stalking her. I would time my movements to the few vehicles going by and her sloshing in the water so I spent lots of time standing still being devoured by mosquitoes! Finally when I got down where I could see a little, I spotted a baby moose across the water from me. He saw me and after letting me get a few shots laid down behind some willows where he could keep an eye on me. I finally got to where I could see the mother but before getting any pictures, the baby alerted the mother to my presence and they both departed in a hurry. I was impressed how such a young animal was able to do that; guess that is just in the genes.
In the morning, we’d talked to a chap named Ralph Mease who lives at Minto Bridge. Actually, he and his wife are the only ones who live there, miles from Mayo or Keno. He knew several people who lived in the area years ago and had retired to Salmon Arm including Bill Hare who was a prominent Yukon photographer who would later start the Salmon Arm photo club in the late 60’s. We were 10.5 hours doing the trip and we could have used more time.
We’ve had mixed sun and cloud the past few days but it rained last night and this morning and is now cloudy.























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