Hosli Lake, British Columbia

Okay, so back to some early photos while I was still a "fly fisherman." One of my favorite lakes was Hosli Lake in British Columbia. This was a lake that was nearly impossible to get to. A winch was a requirement. I learned that the hard way: the first time I had my Jeep I got into the lake just fine. I was having a wonderful time fishing when I heard the alarm go off in my Jeep. So I paddled back to the shore and found three guys hanging around the Jeep. They noticed I had a "portable" phone installed in the Jeep (long before cellphones obviously). They had gotten stuck and wanted to use my phone to call for help. Of course, there was no reception where we were so the phone was of no use. I decided to drive them back to town so they could call a tow truck. Problem? When driving in to the lake it was just me and my 175 pound body in the Jeep. But driving out there was an extra 600 pounds. Guess what? Yep, we bottomed out. So, we all ended up walking 10 miles to a campsite where we were able to arrange a for tow truck. The tow truck snapped a cable trying to get me out, but fortunately the mechanic had another cable. Once out of the mud, I was able to go the rest of the way by myself -- well, after the $220 towing bill was paid. 

The next time I went to Hosli was a winch on the front of my Jeep. I was fishing along the shore when a young moose came down to the shoreline about ten feet from me. Almost immediately the mother jumped out of the woods and into the water between her calf and me; scared the wits out of all of us. After regaining my wits, I thought, "I should buy a camera." Another time while I was driving into the lake a pair of spotted owls were in a tree along the road about six feet off the ground. The road -- really there should be a more descriptive name for this passageway, because it was so narrow brush and tree limbs would hit both sides of the Jeep as I passed. At any rate, I stopped to look at the owls. They were so close I could have reached out my window and touched them.  What an ideal photo op!! I thought, "I really need to buy a camera."

The next time I went to Hosli I had bought a camera. And, I did see a Spotted Owl (It could have been a Barred Owl, don't know for sure). But the owl never looked at me. As I approached he flew away. As he did, I thought, "taking wildlife photos isn't very easy." Nonetheless, for sentimental reasons, I kept this photo:

Spotted Owl