Two kayakers at Jade Bay on Cultus Lake in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. Photographed from the Jade Bay Boat Launch at Cultus Lake Provincial Park.
Jade Bay is one of a number of boat launches on Cultus Lake in Chilliwack, British Columbia’s Cultus Lake Provincial Park. I’ve often stopped here in the fall as it is one of the areas you can get a good view of the lake from the east side. There is no visitor parking here, however, as the parking lot is strictly for vehicles with boat trailers. Nevertheless I made a brief stop in the spring to take a look at the lake as I was passing through Chilliwack, and made this photograph of Jade Bay and two people in kayaks paddling nearby. The mist around the mountains (which I believe are Teapot Hill, Black Mountain and Tsar Mountain) in the background looked like they might yield some interesting photos, though I was hoping they wouldn’t intrude on my plans to photograph other mountains later in the day.
I am sure at this time of year the parking lot is chock full of boat trailers, but on this afternoon there were none – literally zero cars/trucks/trailers in the lot. So I parked (at the opposite end) to make a quick walk down to the water. When I was making this photograph someone (not a park employee) pulled into the lot and drove over to where I was in order to chastise me for not having a boat trailer. I found this a bit amusing considering how empty the place was, though I presume that this is a big problem when the parking lot is packed. The spot feels like a perfect day use area, and I’m sure people try to use it as such during the summer when the park can be rather full. Pointing this out when the area is deserted and there are no other vehicles or boats in the area seems a bit strange, even if there are problems in the summer. If I had this encounter to do over again I might point out that the person scolding me didn’t have a boat trailer either, but my usual idea at the time is to get uncomfortable conversations over as quickly as possible. This one was over in 30 seconds. Photographers who come over and want to talk about gear honestly tend to make me more uncomfortable than the self deputized boat trailer sheriff did.
For more photographs of BC’s Provincial Parks visit my British Columbia Provincial Parks Collection of galleries.
Ahh I was hoping Sandra would be one of the kayakers 😀 Still a lovely a photo though!
She has a lot of paddling to do before she gets to this lake! 🙂