Autumn Days ~ MacArthur Island Park ~ Kamloops, BC

Autumn or ‘Fall’ as we often call it usually conjures up visions of colored leaves in reds, oranges and yellows.  We see the leaves are falling from the trees, the days are shorter and the sun shines less frequently.  We are having shorter days of daylight and this is the transition season that takes us into winter, or did I miss a whole season?

October snow on Mt. Paul in Kamloops, BC

We had some early snowfall and with the cold snap we were experiencing, it began to feel we were going to miss the fall season.  We woke up one morning in mid October to see snow on Mt. Paul and in many neighborhoods in the higher levels.  Brrrrrrr….. it is too soon for this and thankfully does not last for long.

Thompson River and Rabbit Island, Kamloops, BC

I stopped on the Summit Extension corner to see the colors of the trees on Rabbit Island, which sits across from McArthur Park on the Thompson River, and the North Shore from this vantage point.  The clouds were low but breaking up to give us some blue sky and a possible break in the weather.  Those autumn colors always show better when the sun shines and we are going to have a fall season.

The Slough reflects colors of McArthur Island

I’d been hoping for another chance to see how pretty autumn is in our city of Kamloops and that happened just Sunday afternoon when the sun came through the clouds and warmed up the day so off to McArthur Island Park we went.

More colors on McArthur Island in Kamloops, BC

The days that the leaves are still on the trees and the sun shines is a great time to get out there and enjoy what may be the last days of autumn so it was a perfect day for a walk through McArthur Island Park.  I passed several others who were out there doing the same.

Assorted views of McArthur Island on a Fall day

We do live in a semi-arid part of the province and are not going to get all the colors of autumn that other climates get but with parks and plantings we get to see some of them, we just need to look in the right places. 

The view from the footbridge over the Thompson River Slough

The slough is the canal that wraps around McArthur Island Park, creating the island that has been developed into this beautiful park over the years. There is a path that follows around the outer edges of the island following the river and the slough and there is a bridge over the slough that leads to the park from a residential area on the North Shore.

This mallard swims away from the large flock of ducks

The slough is the home of several kinds of water fowl and the occasional beaver, so I’m told and there are usually some ducks nearby to catch any food scraps that passersby may throw into the water for them.  

The geese swim on the Thompson River

The river level is very low by this time of year with only enough water for the gulls, ducks and Canada Geese also lining the shores, to enjoy.  The river is quiet and calm when the levels are this low during the fall season much unlike the summertime with all the boats that like to cruise our great rivers.

Canada Geese wander the soccer fields of McArthur Park

The Canada Geese are here for awhile yet before they begin their travels south for the winter.  I’ve seen them here during the winter months in recent years and was surprised they didn’t migrate but perhaps that is dependent on how cold the winter gets, they may have some ‘inside’ information that we humans are not privy to! (:   Note the snowfree Mt. Paul in the distance.

Views of Kamloops and the Thompson River from McArthur Island Park

As my walk around the park comes to an end I enjoy the view of the city and the sandy beaches of tree covered Rabbit Island, I am pretty happy with the way the weather has turned out today.  This was a beautiful bonus day after hearing the weather forecast and a day we can be so thankful for especially after learning weather conditions in other parts of the country……   there is just no place like home!