Forgetmenot, Glasgow Creek, Wildhorse November 30, 2021

Back on November 11th when I hiked out in the Elbow Valley area, I knew then I wanted to come back before the road closes tomorrow, December 1st at 8:00am until May 15 of 2022 when it opens again.   I expected there would be more snow at the end of November but seeing recent photos where there was more brown than white, I still wanted one last hike out that way.  I knew it would be a gorgeous place to "Remember to Breathe!" 

I parked at the Forgetmenot Pond lot and made that my start and finish location.  This way I could make a loop around The Pond before heading off along the trails.  The level of The Pond was low yet there was still loads of open water.  This was the first time ever that I could walk along the shoreline the entire way.

clouds reflecting in the water

I enjoyed playing with large chunks of ice!

mountains and trees reflecting in the open water

It crossed my mind with such a gorgeous day and there being so much open water, 

would kayakers show up for one last paddle of the season.

This was the view from the shore of the Elbow River.  I followed along the shore for a little while then did a bit of cross country to intersect the trail that follows Glasgow Creek.

It's been warm out this way and rainy.  What water remained on the trail was now ice.

This was a view from along side Glasgow Creek.  What caught my attention was how the water in the creek coming from different directions came to a meeting point as you can see in the bottom of the photo.

Ice!  Ice!  Ice!  I wore my spikes the entire time!

ice covered trail full of bubbles

a tree reflecting faintly in the ice on the trail

In some areas I went off trail and wandered through meadows.  

I purposely became one with the ground to capture this photo!

view off to Nihahi Ridge

I did an out and back, a meander and a wander in the Glasgow Creek area.  I took a few detours down trails to see what was there.  Once I arrived back at a main junction, I took the trail back down to the Elbow River and strolled around there for awhile.  When I turned around to return, this was the view of the sky.  The wind was picking up and a few snow flakes were falling.

It was time to cross back over that pink bridge...

...then hook up with the trail that would take me back to Forgetmenot Pond.  I settled at a picnic table for a while to finish off my hot chocolate/gingerbread tea drink and savoured the last of my treats.  In a way I did not want this day to end but it did come time to head on home so I did.    I wanted to end November on a high note in my mind considering what our world is facing.  To be out here today was so satisfying!  

2000 NEWS FLASH

 

Fish Creek Provincial Park November 28, 2021

With an absolutely gorgeous day forecasted locally, I headed south to Fish Creek where I knew I could avoid rain/sleet/snow/ice/wind.  While it is wildly winter out west, it is certainly not here, in fact it is unusually not.  I'm on a mission too,  I have only three days left to accomplish it. Being "out & about" today was a significant contribution to that mission!

The wide open sections of The Creek afforded beautiful early morning reflections.

I stuck to the dirt trails that followed the Bow River.

view as I took a detour through The Wetlands

The Bow River was populated with hundreds of Geese and Mallards.

No ice nor snow nor mud on the trail.  

The conditions were very dry.

The sky was full of those fluffy puffy white clouds that I love so much.

female Common Merganser foraging on her own

two male Downy Woodpeckers

With December just around the corner which means potential for the onset of winter, I was thankful today to be able to have a safe drive on the free-way to visit this beautiful Provincial Park.  

what 30 kms looks like locally

Making sure to maintain momentum on moving in the right direction both physically and mentally these days has been coming easily!  In the past few days I added 30 kms to the soles of my hiking shoes searching for beauty in nature that is just out my front door.    

On this frigid morning up on Nose Hill, the view of the beautiful sunrise was what warmed my soul.    

Once the sun was fully up over the horizon, I aimed for the trees for shelter from the wind chill 

and to where I could capture some shadow shots.  

It's early season in the city for frosty fringes!

It was not until I was home and downloaded my suite of shots that I noticed this sweet shot!  

I love when I find a surprise in my pictures! 

Do you see what I see?

At times it felt eerie up on The Hill!  The valley was full of fog and the ski jump at Canada Olympic Park disappeared into it.  The Rocky Mountains appeared so close, it felt like I could reach out and touch them.  Nose Hill itself seemed like it was suspended in the sky!      

********

Soon I shall skate!  That's my wish!  The people have been putting in plenty of hours preparing the Ice Trail and decorating the trees with lights. On this day, I covered kilometres visiting Bowness, Baker and Bowmont Parks.  You can see the beginning of ice forming on the trail.  My sense is with this weather lately, it is going to be weeks before I get to etch on a blank canvas of ice.  The Black-Capped Chickadees where hanging around in all three parks doing what they do such as playing peek-a-boo!  

 ********

Grey, brown, beige those are the colours trending lately at the Birth Forest and Nose Creek.  The views were not inspiring for capturing sweet seconds in time, that was until I was dive-bombed by a Great Horned Owl while my mind was elsewhere.  It was the wake up call I needed to remind me there is beauty in brown.  I spent a great amount of time following the Owl around the forest and eventually it was time to move on down, down to the Creek.  Once again the views were not inspiring so I went off trail to see what I could find.  The frozen falls added a bit of beauty to the brown backdrop.  

Hadrian's Wall Virtual Challenge Progress November 21, 2021

With the Road to Hana behind me, it's time once again to look forward.  Now I am headed to northern England where I will virtually hike 145 kilometres along Hadrian's Wall.  The route runs from Wallsend in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west.  Also known as the Roman Wall, Hadrian's Wall was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.  I picked a time frame of 49 days to reach the finish line and my start date was November 16th.  As I put this post together, I have to-date covered 34.6 kms.  

I used the Conqueror's link to create my own postcard on Nov. 16 when I began this trek.

the virtual start line

Here is a close up of the route showing my current location.

The route goes through this Nature Reserve!

This pub along the way would be a place I would enjoy a feast of fish & chips!

the first two post cards that popped into the mailbox 

a Nose Hill quickie post

On this morning I could not get out the door quick enough to get my 10 kms covered!  Yesterday was such an enjoyable day spent eating, drinking, sitting, socializing so this morning my legs were raring to go.  I aimed for Nose Hill knowing I could be there quickly then get moving on up hill.  When I reached the top, the moon startled me!  All of a sudden there it was!  It was shortly after I took this photo when it began to dip below the horizon.  It paid to get out the door quick this morning to witness this!

While I saw a buck and a coyote, I was not quick enough to capture photos.  

I was  trigger happy enough though, to secure this shot of the Common Redpoll.   

In the middle of the forest, a flock of Black-Capped Chickadees buzzed about.  

The way they behaved, I could tell they were used to being in the company of humans.  

The sky was gorgeous this morning.  

lessons learned illustrated through sketching

HEARTS

I already know hearts play a large part in more ways than one when I am "out & about".  What I knew but was reminded off a couple of weeks ago was that I need to spend time learning how to create perspective in my sketching.  When a friend and I recently tried our hands at "10 minute sketches" and we compared the outcome of our work, it became obvious I had lots to learn on rendering depth.  I found a couple of tutorials and some step-by-step instructions to help me with this.  Because I have this thing for hearts, I picked one to sketch as my first step towards improving how I render depth.  This is the outcome!

MUSIC 

This past year not only has learning all about sketching filled much of my time, but so has bird admiring!  I have learned where different species spend the winter, ask me what kind of bird is that and I may be able to tell you and if not then my app & bird book will help and also I can now sometimes distinguish the kind of bird by the song they sing.   A Steller's Jay does not sing the happiest tune but their colours sure brighten up the forest.  If you are fortunate, you could see that beautiful blue flying about in the winter white but they will not be donned in rich red.  Yet red does represent their aggressive nature.  

INSIDE

It's what is inside that matters!  Have you found what fills your heart with joy?  Do you know where to go to soothe your soul?  Do you know what experiences make you happy?  I have been able to answer those questions for quite some time now yet as each day, month and year passes those answers evolve.  For many years my happy place has been wherever I am when I am "out & about" in nature.  No matter what the season, what the sport, what the place, I find fulfilment.  This past year, fulfillment began coming from sketching on paper the things I have seen and the places I have been.  Recently I learned to do that rendering with india ink.  

What's inside matters!  It's the aroma of the crackling fire, it's the taste of hot chocolate as you sip it from your favourite mug,  it's the sight of snow sprinkling down outside the picture window, it's the cozy feeling of the blanket wrapped around you and it's the sound of silence or music filling the room.