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!      

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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!  

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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.