A Lake of a Different Color: Another of Mother Nature's Wonders

                You’ve seen blue lakes, green lakes, brown lakes and eve the occasional pink lake (See Lake Hillier). You’ve been around lakes so small that they were little more than overgrown ponds and other ones so big you’d need a telescope and a three day boat ride to see the other shore. You’ve gazed at lakes so clear you could see everything going on at the bottom, and other ones so murky you weren’t sure there even was as bottom.

                In case you hadn’t noticed, one of Mother Nature’s hobbies is seeing how many different kinds of lakes she can think up. And she’s really good at it.

                Now here’s something really unusual.

                Have you ever seen a polka-dotted lake?

                From a distance, it almost looks like a chunk of the moon’s cratered surface lying there in the middle of the forest. Of course it only looks like that for part of the year, but when it does, everybody’s looking - - even if it is from behind a fence.

                The Okanagan First Nation people call it “Ktlil’x Lake“, but it’s also known as “Spotted Lake”. It’s a highly mineral rich lake with some very unusual habits.
                In the summer months, the lake evaporates in just such a way as to have little mineral pools like giant dots scattered across the lakebed. The pools come in a variety of colors depending on the mineral content of each. There’s blue, green and yellow, too. If you happened to be around to watch all summer long, you’d even get to watch the pools change color as mineral contents are altered by evaporation.

                It’s been said, for a long time, that the lake has certain healing powers. Some even say that the different pools will heal different ailments, depending on their colors. So strongly has this belief been held, that some have tried to create a spa on the lake.

                But not all, in the lake’s history, have been interested in its legendary curative properties. Some were looking for something else entirely.

                A hundred years ago, as World War I rattled the globe, the lake was mined for its mineral deposits in order to make ammunition for the battle. Some histories claim as much as a ton of salt was extracted from Spotted Lake each day! That kind of work couldn’t help but have an impact on the lake. It’s been said that before the extraction, those spots were even more colorful and magnificent. I wonder what colors there were back then? Reds? Pinks?

                Well, even without past glories, the lake is still something to see. So if you’re ever in that part of the world, I wouldn’t blame you for making a point of going around and seeing it.

                But be warned, it’s presently privately owned by the First Nation people who want to preserve it as it is for all generations, and they’ve decided the best way to do that is to protect it from becoming a public tourist area. So you’ll only be able to see it over a fence from some distance away.

                That may be enough to protect the lake from a certain amount of pollution and overdevelopment, but a watchful eye must still be kept.

                The lake was affected by wildfires last season.

                But Mother Nature is resilient, and she’ll be back.

               File:Spotted Lake.jpg
Photo by AndrewEnns

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