Silver Lake

By noon, i had had enough of my stupid Miranda issue and, since the weatherman had lied again, i decided to get an oil change and drive out into the country (which begins about 1 mile from here).

With dog and gear in tow i drove east into the Cascade foothills to Maple Falls where i turned north and headed to Silver Lake. 

The drive was about 40 minutes or more, given stops here and there and Nicki was in au suffrance mode. But once we got to the lake, life was worth it again, and he ran around free and crazy along shores edge and through the forest.

The park is lovely and combines elements of a manicured urban park with canoeing lodges, campsites, walking trails and a huge fire-gazebo on hillock next to the lake. No one was there and as Nicki scampered about I felt the soft, newly-matted forest floor sponging beneath my feet. I am convinced i heard the trees and moss bemoaning the fact that in a few months they would be besieged by a horde of humans with all their noise and toys trampling the ferns and turning the ground into hard dust. But for now, all was fresh with the silent stirrings of early Spring.

 

From there -- me being curious -- we headed further north on a curving road through a narrow valley of forests growth, cleared fields and five to 20 acre horse farms. It is a curious thing about this entire area that where one stretch of road is bordered by very wealthy mountain lodge estates, the very next stretch, just after the curve, will be littered with the Total Detritus of Double-Wide trash. It's beyond comprehension.

Mountain Ridges Bordering Chilliwack, B.C

When the solitary winding road made an abrupt U-turn in a southerly direction, i figured we had reached the border. Sure enough, I began to spot the mounted infra red spy cameras which Homeland Security uses to protect us from illegal Canadians and other terrorists.