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After hiking
for several minutes over high, rocky, sparsely treed ridges, we arrived at
Clearwater Lake. From our vantage point atop the smooth, domed rocks on
the western side of the lake, we had a wonderful view of the eastern side
with its sheer cliffs of jagged rock dropping to the waters below. Crossing
the great sloping rocks we were suddenly serenaded by a raucous medley of
shrieks, croaks and rattles echoing from a source near the top of a section
of the cliff. A moment later, a Raven (Corvus corax), flew out across
the lake to alight on the upper branches of one of the nearby White Pines.
From its perch, it carried on for quite some time, croaking, cawing and
making other rude noises. Meanwhile, other shrieks and croaks continued
to echo from the nest on the cliff (see small dark area at top right of above
photo).
As we moved to a rocky ledge overlooking
the lake, we were astonished to find massive schools consisting of hundreds
(or perhaps even thousands) of huge tadpoles, all drifting lazily in the
sunlit waters above pale, submerged boulders. Although we didn't descend
to the water's edge, by their great size, I believe that these were schools
of Bullfrog tadpoles. It really was a rather impressive sight.
As we began to circle the edge of the
lake, the Raven continued to peer down at us, croaking loudly whenever we
moved into an open area beyond the shadows of the White Pines. This left
us with no doubts concerning whose territory we were tresspassing upon.
Occasionally, large, salmon pink-bodied dragonflies darted around us before
alighting on Corydalis and other plants growing in the sparse soil amid the
boulders. After several fruitless attempts, I managed to capture a somewhat
poorly-focused image of one of these very restless insects.
