rolley lake provincial park

Fall Reflections at Rolley Lake Provincial Park

Fall foliage reflecting on Rolley Lake at Rolley Lake Provincial Park, Mission, British Columbia, Canada.

fall foliage reflected in rolley lake

Fall foliage at Rolley Lake Provincial Park (Purchase)

-click to enlarge-

   I enjoy walking around Rolley Lake in Rolley Lake Provincial Park at any time of year. Fall is my favourite time though, and this is one of my favourite lake views from the loop trail around the lake. I have photographed this view before, but this year the fall foliage was a big nicer and the reflection on the lake was a bit clearer. The light from the sky was a bit dimmer as well, as this was not long before the sunset. Some of you will recognize this first photograph from my 2018 Calendar but you’ll have to wait to see if it appears in my “top 10” of 2017.

red vine maple in forest at rolley lake

Lone Red Vine Maple (Purchase)

-click to enlarge-

   I also liked this view of a lone, red, Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) in the forest along the lake. I watched for good Vine Maple colours during my walk around the loop and noticed this tree, but it was surrounded by shrubs and trees and off the trail. The lake also wouldn’t have provided a decent background to photograph it anyway. From this perspective though (from the beach), the red leaves show up nicely against the darker colours of the surrounding forest. A bit of a reflection is always nice too.

Visit my Rolley Lake Provincial Park gallery in my Image Library for more photos from this park.

Rolley Falls in Rolley Lake Provincial Park

Rolley Creek Falls in Rolley Lake Provincial Park near Mission, British Columbia, Canada

rolley creek falls

Rolley Falls on Rolley Creek

-click to enlarge-

   Last Fall I visited Rolley Lake Provincial Park. I parked in the day use area and hiked around part of the lake to photograph Rolley Creek and Rolley Falls. This was an easy (mostly flat) hike that was only about 2 kilometers. A few weeks ago I hiked there again from a different starting point – Burma Street near Stave Lake. On the map, if you ignore one obvious aspect, this seems like it should be a 500-600 meter hike. As all I was interested in was a spring photograph of the waterfall, this looked like a good idea, and I would also be able to check out the lower falls which is right next to the road. It was, but I wasn’t able to get close enough to it without wading across the creek, which I wasn’t prepared to do. My “shortcut” was indeed short. I believe the distance actually wound up being as expected – about 600 meters. This did involve about 200m (650 feet) in elevation gain, however. Seems I overlooked my usual step of checking a topographical map before I decide which way is the “easy” way. I completed the climb anyway, and made the above photograph – this time with lush spring foliage surrounding the falls.

For more images from the Fraser Valley please visit my Fraser Valley Gallery.

Rolley Creek Fall Colours

Vine Maple Fall colour foliage along Rolley Creek at Rolley Lake Provincial Park in Mission, British Columbia, Canada

rolley creek in mission bc

Fall foliage along Rolley Creek (Purchase)

-click to enlarge-

   Some years are great for Fall colours, and some not as much. This appears to be a year in the Southwest corner of British Columbia that is not so great. Our dry Summer seems to have allowed powdery mildew (a fungus) to grow on the leaves of the Bigleaf Maples (Acer macrophyllum) and as a consequence has impacted the Fall colour display. So instead of great yellows and some orange, many trees are turning from green to a orange tinged brown. Not nearly as photogenic!

   While the Fraser Valley does not have a wide variety of plants that make great Fall colours, there is always the Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) to the rescue. This tree, while not as nearly large as the Bigleaf Maple, seems to always come through with at least decent Fall foliage colours in some locations. Just like looking for wildflowers, sometimes all you need is one! While hunting for what turned out to be the elusive Rolley Falls (more on that in my next blog post) I was able to find this Vine Maple along Rolley Creek on the way to the falls.