ABC Wednesday--L is for...

Some places to visit:

ABC Wednesday site to find other interesting Ls.

Denise Nesbitt, who originated ABC Wednesday.

L is for Lake.

In the course of my hikes and travels I have visited quite a few lakes.

From the tiniest:

It took three hours and seven switchbacks along the trail to hike to the tiny Owyhigh Lakes in Mt. Rainier National Park. A quiet rest in the meadow was worth it.

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to the largest:

Lake Baikal in central Siberia contains one fifth of the world's fresh water. It is the deepest lake in the world--more than a mile, and has more water than the five Great Lakes of North America combined. However, Lake Superior has a larger surface area.

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Wading in Lake Baikal:

Local custom has it that swimming in Lake Baikal will add 20 years to your life. Wading in the lake will add five years.

Reservoirs are man made lakes:

It was on this cruise of Lake Periyar on the border of Kerala and TamilNadu in India that I saw the elephants from E is for.... We cruised to the dam which formed the lake--now part of the Periyar Tiger Preserve and National Park. (We didn't see any tigers.)

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low water level

Here at Lake Shasta in Northern California, and below at Lake Powell on the Arizona Utah border, you can see the line marking where the water level of these lakes once was. Water in the American West sparks heated debates among irrigators, electrical users, recreational users, and other interests. In the many years that I have driven past Lake Shasta, I don't think I have ever it full to the high water mark.

hiking on the lake bed:

Rimrock Lake is an irrigation reservoir, and the end of the growing season leaves the boaters and fishermen out of luck, but gives an interesting opportunity to take a hike on the lake bed. This was the first time I ever walked to an island over dry land.

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reflections:

Shadow Lake gives a mirror glimpse of Mt. Rainier...

as Lake Manzanita reflects Mt. Lassen in Northern California...

and my Dad captured Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park eighty years ago.
A few more weeks from thie November shot and Tipsoo Lake would have been iced over, the reflection gone until June.

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a lake can be a great place for a summer cabin

Deer Lake, north of Spokane, Washington is lined with cabins. There are very few year round residents.

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a lake can be green:

This unnamed lake in the White River Valley at Mt. Rainier reflects green because of the "glacial flour", particles of rock ground down by the Emmons Glacier.

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or can be called Green:

A single kayaker on Green Lake in Seattle. Urban lakes provide a respite from the rat race.

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more urban lakes:

A plane lands on Lake Union--another of Seattle's lakes.
And the Lake Washington Floating Bridge stretches across another of Seattle's lakes, carrying I-90 traffic to and from the city.

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What variety there is in the world's lakes!