On a hot summer day a paddle and hike combination in Tunkwa Lake Park was the plan.    An early start helped as I paddled around the lake.    After securing the boat, I put on hiking shoes to hike the Leighton Lake trail.    Much of the route is through grasslands and open terrain, with a short section through open forest.     By this point of summer, the ground was very dry and most of the wildflowers had passed the blooming stages.     A few flowers still appeared – late summer asters, yarrow, sow thistle, tansy, pale Agoseris, hawkweed, and fireweed.     At the shoreline there was some wetland species – arumleaf arrowhead, smartweed, and water parsnip.    Butterflies and other pollinators were busy on the sow thistle, knapweed, and asters.

The hike was a hot one, but I stopped to take a few photos along the way, shared here in a gallery.    Click any image the Google Photos album, then click an image for more information.

Scientific names can found on this page.

There are months left of hiking before the snows cover the hills. Some cooler temperatures will be welcome in the upcoming weeks.