McArthur Island - Marmots

The little clan of
marmots came out to greet me -
always wanting food!

~ carliewired

I was slow out of the starting gate this morning. It was 6:30 and 18 C with 2 as our air quality. (low risk)

I was on McArthur Island to visit the marmot colony. The breeze off the river felt wonderful. Smoke is minimal with good visibility.  I can see by looking over the banks that the river has gone down considerably now. I can actually see sandbars again. 

I was surprised to see a number of large recreation vehicles in the parking lot behind the arena. I suspect they are here to overnight as we are an evacuation centre once again. I've heard that our hotels/motels are already filled to capacity because of it. 

Our resident marmots are looking very fat and sassy these days. Against the warning signs, people continue to feed them peanuts in abundance. The evidence surrounds some benches. I left my quilted heart on such a bench. One particular marmot had himself stretched out on a rock as though posed for a centre-fold. It did bring Burt Reynolds to mind, but I'm dating myself here. 

As I was getting back in my car I looked up to see a water bomber just overhead. I'd heard its droning as it took off from the airport nearby. We have a fire centre here. 

As an aside, one fire fighter was burned badly last week in the Sparks Lake fire to the northwest of us. Dylan was flown to the burn unit in Vancouver. He is a 10 year veteran fire fighter from a town nearby us. He can expect a long recovery. It is tragic to hear that news. 

I picked up my drive-thru breakfast and headed home. 

We might expect a high of 30 C today with some chance of showers. That would be nice!