My cabin in the woods retreat! Goldeye Lake May 3, 2023

The photos I saw of Goldeye Lake looked enticing enough that I picked it as my next place to hike.  Goldeye Lake Provincial Recreation Area is similar to Fish Lake in that it has a beautiful campground, a day use area and a private place called Goldeye Centre up on a hill.  After parking at the day use area, I began the hike by checking out the dock first.  

By now it was very warm and I could hear the ice thawing around the dock.

My thinking is the pattern on the ice is made from tire tracks during mid winter days when the lake is totally frozen.

As I was making my way through the forest section, this squirrel came right up to me and was relentless in  giving me an earful.  I never had an experience like this with a squirrel before,  I was made fully aware I better move on quickly.

by the end of today, lots of this ice will be gone 

the water was so clear 

These belong to the Goldeye Centre which is up a long wooden stair case to the right.  The dock is private, yet there is a short right of way to pass to get to the trail on the other side.

While hiking along this marshy section, I heard a sound I never heard before.  It sounded like a dozen or so of something squawking at each other.  I looked everywhere but could see nothing.  It carried on.  I walked a bit into the marshy area to see if I could see anything from that vantage point, but nothing.  It was quite loud and very strange.  I wondered could it be the ice on the lake thawing and breaking up.  While I had heard thawing before many times, this sounded different.  It was a little freakish and put me on guard.  

I carried on along the board walk.  While walking here, I thought I heard a child’s voice.  Odd!  I stopped and listened and looked all around but saw no one.  By now all my senses were all on high alert! I continued hiking along the boardwalk and then it became a dirt trail again.

There were a few puddles here and then from melting snow.  Then in one puddle I saw this. This was so weird to see!  I have no idea what the heck was going on!  It was almost mesmerizing.  I watched for quite some time before taking a video.  It did the sane thing over and over.  After the bubble broke, the process started again. Just another strange unusual thing to add to my day!  

the trail followed around Goldeye Lake

Then this happened when I followed the trail into a bushy section!  A black cat was sitting on the edge of the trail leering at me as I came closer.  Once I noticed it, I stopped in my tracks while it darted across the path into the bush on the other side.  I had enough!  I was done!  I did an abrupt turn and returned the way I came.  I did not think I was superstitious, but maybe I am!  In hind sight, maybe what I thought was the sound of a child, was really that black cat!  I wanted no more experiences with usual sights or sounds!  

I was thankful to get back to my car without any other odd experiences.  I looked forward to retreating to my cabin in the woods, sitting in the shade on my veranda and savouring a cold adult beverage!