Cabot Trail Virtual Challenge Progress January 31, 2021

After being "out & about" today I have now completed just over 50% of the Cabot Trail Virtual Challenge.  It's all down hill from here!  Virtually maybe, in reality it is not!  I am sensing being a part of this mission is giving me the motivation these days to get out the door and be in motion. Yes in some people's minds I am Number 1 and wearing the yellow jersey!

Find the way to my heart, just give me water views!

Just a small fish in a big sea!  That's me in my red pants and orange jacket sandwiched between a group of nine and a group of eleven at the middle bottom of the map. We are working our way towards the west coast which should have grand water vistas.

being a small fish in a big sea, at times feeling I'm on my own

A few days ago I reached another milestone which was having completed 40% of the mission.  

That meant another tree somewhere in the world was planted.

My eye is on this prize!   

 More importantly though, 

the true prize is 

with each "out & about" 

I am gaining a healthier body, mind and soul! 

nurturing a coyote

While "out & about" I don't expect to see a coyote so when I do it is a nice surprise.  Here you will see a small sampling of some of my sightings. The coyote is native to North America and their habitat can be in the city or out in the wild.  They intrigue me, I watch them, they watch me.  To my collection of coyote photographs, it's time to add a colored pencil sketched rendition.  For now I opted to follow a tutorial rather than attempt to sketch from my photos.   

 

To build the coyote, I picked a simple easy lesson to follow beginning with two circles for the body and a circle for the head.  Growing the coyote to full size, shape and color was not an easy task.  It took a lot of patience!  I made many mistakes, felt discouraged at times, walked away from the project, then came back with a clear head and tried to turn the wrongs into rights.  After many hours nurturing this coyote, I finally reached a stage where I accepted what it had turned into.  It was not perfect but that's what makes each one unique.  

Investing loads of time and patience paid off!

Skate Bowness January 29, 2021

When I arrived at the Bowness Lagoon at sunrise this morning to skate, I was disappointed and confused to see a sign stating the ice surface is open from 10:00 to 22:00!  I checked the website before I left home to confirm it was open for skating and in that notice it said from 05:00.  One person was skating so I joined her.  The ice had already been swept yet skating the Lagoon was like working my way over row upon row upon row of rumble strips. One loop of the Lagoon and I ditched it in favour of heading up the stairs which lead to the Ice Trail.   I found pure joy!  The Ice Trail was like skating on a gigantic pane of glass! 13.7 kms later I was chalk full of bliss!  Thank you to the groomers who work their wonders on this Ice Trail, each time I go the conditions are better!  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I will let my photos tell you how pretty of a morning it was!

Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park January 28, 2021

With rime ice and hoarfrost still hanging around, I headed back out with hopes of seeing more amazing sights.  This time I motored west to Glenbow Ranch knowing for sure I would have success there.  While it was a beautiful drive to there, the views down in the valley were grey.  I immediately felt disappointed but came to my senses and began to be present, living in the moment, being thankful that I could even be out here today!

I decided to head in a direction I had not ventured to before, down along The Narrows.  

On my way to The Narrows, I took the Yodel Trail to get an overall view for as far as the eye can usually see.  This was going to be a day where focusing up close would be where I might see something.  I did admire this tree and while focusing on a photo of it, something caught my eye. Do you see what I see?

At the middle left of the tree you will see a porcupine.  When I zoomed in on it, I saw that it's head is at the bottom peaking out from the quills. I should have taken this as a sign that the cold weather with high windchill is not user-friendly for man nor beast.  

Carrying on to keep warm, I looked for signs of life!  There were no other humans in sight, nor anything else except that porcupine and lots of deer.  No one home here!

No signs of life here either!

Yet, I continued on looking for all the pretty.  

I would say the pretty today was in the peacefulness. 

My plan was to cover approximately ten klicks so at five I did an about face.  When doing so, three bald eagles flew by.  I was not quick enough on the draw.  Two did return and settle on tree tops.  I admired them for quite some time hoping they would fly off as I was now ready to be quick on the draw.  They were going no where so then I went somewhere, I continued on hiking back.

It remained grey and did so the entire stretch back to where I started!  

The drive up out of the valley was good but once I reached the main road, the weather did a turn about, yet not for the good.  Now flurrying those icy specks with them building up on the road, it was a slow careful white-knuckled ride!  With rosy cheeks and a bright pink nose, I arrived home realizing I had that feeling of fulfillment, even on such a grey day!

 

chasing rime ice

The term "rime ice" is new to me and I am so enthralled with it!  What I thought was snow, ice, hoarfrost and just plain frost on my walk on Sunday was in fact the phenomenon called rime ice.  Sunday's sightings were not enough so now I am chasing rime ice!  The forecasters state it will not last, yet should be around for the next couple of days.  This phenomenon comes paired with cold temperatures and high windchills which means it is necessary to bundle up in multiple layers and protect your skin.  

Confluence Park  

My preference is less time in the car, more time on my feet so across the street was my destination on this day to witness more rime ice.  While there are no flurries forecasted, it does flurry while this weather phenomenon is occurring.  I captured what I could with my little camera all the while wishing I went with the bigger unit.     

Nose Hill Environmental Park

With a destination in mind where I could continue chasing rime ice, on this day I had to perform a "save the day" act!  While on my way, I drove into a wall of cloud, snow, fog, ice where in a matter of a minute driving conditions became treacherous.  I safely made it to the first turn off and wound my way around back roads to where I did not have to hang on for dear life.  I landed at Nose Hill, my "save the day" location!  The feeling of disappointment not making it to my original destination soon disapated when I began to see the sights.  How sweet they were!

The window of opportunity to see the sights of the rime ice phenomenon will soon close.

While the getting is good, I will get going!

Stay Tuned!

Cabot Trail Virtual Challenge Progress January 24, 2021

From January 4th, 2021 when I began this challenge until end of day January 24th, I have completed 111.7 kilometres.  On reaching this distance I am now virtually fully into beautiful Ingonish.  A mailbox opened and there was another postcard that I get to share.  (The story that comes with this postcard is posted at the bottom of this post.)   

MacKinnons Cove is one of the many stops with a beautiful view along the Cabot Trail.

I am virtually sharing this challenge with many others from around the world as you can see here.  

I am on the bottom right in the red pants and orange jacket just above MM.   

some sights & statistics

story that goes with the above postcard

I am curious to see what is around the next bend along The Cabot Trail!

Stay tuned!

 

Bottomlands to St George's Island January 24, 2021

Mother Nature presented us with a new seasonal collection, it is called "brilliantly bright winter white"! She began the collection last night and put the finishing touches on it this morning.  Her design was created to give the feel that you were walking into a story book.  That's what it felt like this morning when I left Bottomlands Park and headed for St. George's Island.  

Once upon a time . . .

Right out of the starting block, I knew it was going to be one of those days!  With the amount of snow that came down at an angle paired with the cold and the windchill, any object of any kind was laden with a thick layer of hoar frost.  As in this case there was not a section of fence to be seen.

along the Bow River at St. St George's Island

As the morning went on the grey sky took on shades of blue which made for a higher degree of brilliantly bright.  There was lots of socializing in the storm pond.  If you click on the collage to make it larger you will see thirteen geese, two ducks and one muskrat.   

adding my own bit of color to the palette

every tree, every bush, every twig, every shrub, everything was crystally bright

I crossed over to the Fort Calgary side and still had that feeling like I was in the middle of a story book.  

The story line continues across the bridge!

How cold was it?  

It's time to check my temperature gauge!

It was THIS cold!

Part of the path follows along side the Calgary Zoo.  It's good there are many fences from here to there where the animals are.  I am not sure what they were, they were humungous with loads of long dark brown/black hair and curled horns.  Even as the hours went on, the hoar frost remained in place.

I completed the loop and arrived back along the Nose Creek Trail that would lead me back to where I began this urban walk.  I admired these trees earlier but now with the blue behind them I had to snap a shot.  I believe with a few light gusts of wind the trees will be green again. 

What a great story to take part in!  It was captivating from beginning to end.  It was intriguing and there were moment where I questioned how did the author come up with what she was presenting us with.  I give this story book a thumbs up! 

👍 

. . . The End

getting there one way or another this week

Variety is the spice that I work at to include in making these weeks enjoyable and fulfilling!   It's a good mix of mountain, urban & home time that is the ideal recipe for me.  For now I have been reaching the level of spiciness via etching, sketching, hiking and walking with friends, some sister time or on my own.  Along with my mountain Monday moments this week at Boom Lake, I have a few photos to share here showing what it took to make the perfect recipe.    

It was time already to return to Beaverdam Flats and Carburn Park after just being there the week prior.  We hoped for beaver sightings, a nice wander along the riverside, hear some birds singing and to see a few deer.  We had success with everything except eyeing a beaver.  As we neared the end of our walk, we were gifted this amazing sight, two bald eagles in their nest!  Talking about spice and recipe, this was the icing on the cake!

Ice! Ice! Beautiful Ice!  When I arrived at Bowness Park with my skates in tow, the groomer was in the process of creating a blank canvas in preparation for designs to be etched upon.  The Lagoon was not in ideal condition due to an issue in recent days, yet the Ice Trail looked very inviting so that was where I choose to make the most etchings.  An hour and thirty eight minutes later I was ready to hang up the blades for the day and move on to another ingredient to add to the mix.  

 

My sketching thoughts remain beachy!  I felt ready to render one of my beach photos.  After sifting through many, one stood out and it was one I took at sunrise on Sugar Beach in Maui back in April of 2015.  On this morning I went for a stroll before heading off for a snorkelling event I paid for to go with a guide and a group.  I was caught up in the beauty and lost in my thoughts, loosing all track of time, I arrived back at my condo well past the snorkel start time!  As I began this sketch, I got lost in my thoughts and the beautiful color pencil colors.  I lost track of time and by the time hours passed this is what I have to show for being lost!   Completing this sketch project on January 20, 2021 I call it a "fresh start" with hope and optimism for all that is good!