Ah, Bass Lake!

I went back to Bass Lake today to re-acquaint myself with one of my favorite hiking locations.  The lake was beautiful, with none of the invading lily pads yet visible.  The day was beautiful and the view serene; I wanted to take it in quietly and completely.  For the most part I was able to do that, enjoying scenes like these floating leaves, left over from what was a brilliant fall leaf season here when I last visited.

One of the highlights of this visit was this wood duck and his family.  I tried to stalk these beauties to get a better shot, but they are very skittish and kept flying away as I approached.  I thought I had solved this dilemma by going away and waiting for them to return to the cove where they seemed most comfortable, then approaching carefully from outside their view.  I was foiled, however, by a tourist who approached me, asking what I was photographing.  I told him I was stalking the wood ducks on the other side of the cove, and what did he and his wife do?  They walked noisily along the shoreline, talking and looking for the ducks, right in front of me!  Needless to say the ducks flew and once again I failed to get the shot, this time because of  my choice to visit at midday when humans are prowling the landscape!