Skate Bowness January 2, 2021

Being out & about well before sunrise is what it takes these days to safely enjoy some of the sweet spots in the city.  This is not a challenge for me to accomplish as I am a morning person, and thankfully so.  When I arrived at Bowness Park to skate this morning, my stars had already aligned.  The groomer was just finishing clearing the ice, there were five others who I would be etching designs with and the moon shone bright above.   

I did take my headlamp thinking I might need it while I geared up but instead I sat by the brightest tree and laced up under the light it shed on the location.  I held on to the railing and descended the ramp down to the ice surface then edged off into the dark of the morning. 

the day is not quite ready to dawn

After placing many etches on the Lagoon, I then took another short ramp up that at the top becomes the "Ice Trail."  It winds its way through the park to the path along the Bow River.  This year the parks people flooded the path to make the Ice Trail which stretches for just short of two kilometres.  

along the Ice Trail

This trail is a one way trail with signs that say so making it obvious of the direction to skate.  It was such a  pleasure to skate by the river with the sun beginning to rise and seeing the lights reflect in the ice.  There are a few spots along the way that need some work but I could easily edge around them.

After skating along the entire Ice Trail, I followed it back to the Lagoon and bladed my way around it many more times.  The sun was up now and while the lights were no longer on, the tops of the trees did glow.  

Each time I reached this section, I said OK this is it, time to head on home!  But, as I reached the end, I said oh just one more time, then another time and once more and then heck go around again.  Eventually I did head on home!  

This was my track for today showing how the Ice Trail leads from the Lagoon over to the Bow River.