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CANOES AWAIT
Columbia Lake
May 21, 2013

A BEAUTIFUL PADDLE
Columbia Lake
September 2012

MY LAKE AWAITS
Columbia Lake
September 2012

MORNING SPRINKLERS ON THE BENCH POINT
Looking East Over Columbia Lake to the Selkirk Range of the Rocky Mountains East of Columere
August 14, 2012

Who knew sprinklers could look so pretty!
 

ROUNDING THE POINT ON MY MORNING PADDLE ON COLUMBIA LAKE
August 14, 2012

MORNING SHADOWS ON THE SHORES OF COLUMBIA LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK - LOOKING SOUTH

MORNING SHADOWS ON THE SHORES OF COLUMBIA LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK -  LOOKING NORTH 
 The Columbia River exits Columbia Lake just around the bend at the upper right.

AS I PADDLE ALONG MAMA DOE TAKES HER TWO FAWNS FOR A WETLANDS WALK
August 2012

PADDLING BEAUTIFUL COLUMBIA LAKE
2012

COLUMBIA LAKE - A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO PADDLE....AND DREAM .. AND TAKE PHOTOS... AND BE !

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Digital Photography by Elaine Sell Prefontaine 
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LOOKING UP OR DOWN THERE IS BEAUTY ALL AROUND
..... and unfortunately rapidly spreading underwater weeds

COME RAIN OR SHINE
 

PADDLING BY "THE BENCH" IN THE FOG

BEAUTY IN CONTRASTS
Kayaking the Foggy Wetlands

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Digital Photography by Elaine Sell Prefontaine 
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THE FOG MAKES FOR SOME STRIKING BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY

KAYAKING THE NORTHERN SHORES OF COLUMBIA LAKE  IN A SOFT  FOG LIGHT

LOOKING NE OVER THE WETLANDS TO THE FAIRMONT RANGE AS THE FOG LIFTS

THE FOG LIFTS OVER THE FAIRMONT RANGE ...AND WOW !

DOUBLE WOW !

A STUDY IN PASTELS AS THE FOG LIFTS OVER COLUMBIA LAKE

MAN MADE WOES --- SADLY  BEAUTIFUL COLUMBIA LAKE IS BECOMING SHALLOWER, WARMER AND WEEDIER

Years ago  Dutch Creek, which emptied directly into Columbia Lake, was diverted via a man-made channel
 causing it to flow in an more easterly direction into the headwaters of the Columbia River at the northeast corner of Columbia Lake.
This huge loss of fresh cold mountain water caused an already shallow Columbia Lake to become shallower and warmer. 
T
 I have canoed and kayaked on the lake for over 20 years and have seen the devastating effects of it slowly losing its health.
There are some places near the northeastern shores of Columbia Lake where I am no longer able to canoe or kayak
in low water months because the weeds are so thick the paddle gets caught in them.
This increase of weeds is further accelerated by non-closed-in power boat propellers chopping and spreading them around the lake.

Columbia Lake is breathtakingly beautiful on the surface but sadly its slowly decreasing depth and increasing warmth and weeds are threatening its long term life.

Elaine                                                                      

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Digital Photography by Elaine Sell Prefontaine 
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Hello....                                                                                                                                                 

Sharing some of my favorite photos which include my own beloved "old faithful" canoe.

Almost animate by now, she has taken me far and taught me much.  

                                                                                                                                                    Elaine 

EARLY EVENING  -  COLUMBIA  LAKE
Canoe in bottom right foreground of these two early evening photos. 

2009

"BATEAUX ST-MAURICE BOATS INC.
 SHAWINIGAN, QUE

I bought my canoe second hand in 1973 for $200.00 from a Motor Boat Dealer in Calgary.   
Someone had traded her in as a partial deposit on a motor boat. 
I have kept her well maintained over the years the best I could, having painted and sanded her many times.
I have also fibre-glassed some outside spots and replaced the two inside wooden stabilizing cross bars twice. 

ON THE SHORES OF COLUMBIA LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK
Columbia Lake , British Columbia, Canada
July 22, 2006

CANOEING ACROSS COLUMBIA LAKE BACK HOME TO COLUMERE PARK
Columbia Lake , British Columbia, Canada
July 22, 2006

MY CANOE AWAITS
Columbia Lake, British Columbia, Canada
May 11, 2005

THE DAVID THOMPSON BRIGADE - JUNE 27, 2007

 THE DAVID THOMPSON BRIGADE 
Paddled from Columbia Lake just North of Canal Flats, at the start of the Columbia River System, to Edgewater on June 27, 2007.
 In this Photo they are Paddling North On Columbia Lake.

This Re-Enactment of a Fur Trading Brigade was in Celebration of the Bi-Centennial, 1807-2007, 
 of David Thompson's North American Exploration

THE DAVID THOMPSON BRIGADE LEAVES COLUMBIA LAKE AND ENTERS THE COLUMBIA RIVER
June 27, 2007

JOHN GRANT HOWSE -  "LITTLE BEAR"
 A Brigade Paddler who Lives in Canal Flats, poses on the Shores of the Columbia Lake Provincial Park  
June 27, 2007

Of  Historical  Interest: 

 John Grant Howse is a descendent of Joseph Howse, who was born in 1743 in Cirencester England. 
 Joseph Howse came to Canada and worked with the Hudson's Bay Company as a cartographer.
  Howse Pass, which he used to gain access to the Columbia River System, west of the Rocky Mountains, is named after him.
  He later left the Hudson's Bay Company to become a fur trader

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Digital Photography by Elaine Sell Prefontaine 
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