Golden Ears Park Pics

We went for a hike in Golden Ears Park today, and got a few nice photos from the trip (click any of them for a closer view). The first three photos are from the Spirea Nature Trail, which led us through (over) a bog, where we could see tadpoles with small legs developing, some beautiful blue dragonflies, lily pads (the leaves sticking awkwardly into the air, as the water level is quite low this time of year), and bog beans. Then through a forest where the forest floor was completely lined in moss. Quite magical:

One of the neat products of our wet rainforest weather in the Vancouver area, is the trees with moss draped over the branches (sometimes with ferns growing on them, too) found in many of the parks. I like to call them "spooky trees" because they would look quite frightening at night:

I was delighted to see many Cornus canadensis or Bunchberry (a type of low-growing rhizomous perennial dogwood). Too bad there were none with flowers or fruits. But they are still delightful.

We also hiked to the North Beach area, where a number of people were camping or enjoying the beach for the day. I tried my hand at building a small rock man or inukshuk:

Near the beach, my husband noticed a small snake, most likely a garter snake, black with yellow stripes. As I stopped to see it (the photo didn't turn out well), I spotted this beautiful little lizard. I still question if it could be a native species, it looks like something more suited to the Utah desert than a Pacific Northwest lakeshore. I'm glad I had nothing to carry him home in, or I would have been too tempted. What a little beauty:

When I got too close, he darted into the rocks, but then peeked back at us from between the rocks. I was sad to go, I would have liked to watch him longer. Can anyone identify the species? I would be very curious to know more about him: