The Weaselhead January 16, 2022

Our sunrises have been gorgeous lately so off I went out the door early with hopes of there being another pretty one this morning!  Just before I began the descent down into The Weaselhead, the dawn of a new day began!  The cheerful colour brings hope!

When I was here in November, the reservoir was wide open water, now it's snow covered ice.

After crossing the bridge, I veered right and did a large loop sticking to the trails that follow the creek and wind through the forest.  At every opportunity, I took detours to get closer to the creek or snow covered ice. There were a few sections of open water beyond the ice, which I stayed away from.  

One of the detours led to a section where someone had cleared the snow off the ice to reveal methane bubbles.  They were in an awkward location which meant I had to become one with the ice to get this shot.  

Can you figure out what is going on in this photo?  I'll tell you!  This is the side of a large piece of ice.  The front is flat and smooth and everything you see if frozen within the ice.  You see bubbles, weeds, plants, a couple of rocks.  If you were to rub your hand across the ice that is all you would feel, a smooth piece of ice.  

After completing a great big loop, I crossed back over the bridge to where I would climb up out of The Weaselhead.  I saw this coyote crossing over the snow covered frozen reservoir.

It crossed over to this coyote curled up in the snow.  

They had a few words!

The one laying down got up and they both walked over to these two coyotes sitting at the edge of the bush.  The one that was previously laying down went over and had a few words and a kiss with one of the two.  All the while...

... a fifth coyote watched over them all!  I wonder who is who in this pack!

The coyotes were the last photos I captured, it was all business now to get up out of The Weaselhead and hike a couple more kilometres back to my car.  

Beaverdam Flats & Carburn Park January 15, 2022

A perfect package is what today was!  The weather was wonderful for taking time to enjoy everything while being "out & about".  The topping on the cake was seeing a "lifer" as I hiked through the Flats which you will see later in this post.   This is one of my favourite views when I get to this spot while the sun is coming up. After savouring the sight, I'm then ready to get moving along the trails.

view from the trail closest to the Bow River

a view looking up while meandering along the forested trail

The trail was well packed from prior days.  

If I hit it early, I can own it!

The Downy Woodpeckers were in abundance both in Carburn Park and at Beaverdam Flats.  

The plan for today was to make sure to make it to The Flats.  I planned that before but would get caught up in the sights of Carburn Park and not get that far.  On my way to Beaverdam Flats, a long stretch follows right beside the Bow River.  The duck population here is humungous.  For some reason these three  male Harlequin Ducks followed the male Common Goldeneye for quite some time.

a male Bufflehead with a water drop on its bill

female Common Goldeneye

Soon after I arrived at Beaverdam Flats and began hiking the loop, I spotted a bird I had not seen before.  It was the size of a Robin, the colouring of a Snow Bunting, looked like a cute little ball of beige fuzz,  yet it had a hooked bill.  I was able to capture a great photo which makes for an easier identification process once I arrive home.  So, this is a Northern Shrike, a "lifer" for me!  I won't go into detail about this bird, I would just like to believe it still is a cute little ball of beige fuzz!

crows playing in the wind currents

Early in the day I saw a Juvenile Bald Eagle perched in the tree too far away to get a good photo.  At that time I also saw an Adult Bald Eagle flying about but did not get a good photo.  On the return hike portion from Beaverdam back to Carburn, there were four Bald Eagles, three adults and one juvenile, soaring above.  I was able to get one of the adults as it flew over head.  

It flew to this tree to join up with the other.

After three hours, I was quite content 

with the distance I covered

the nice scenery  I saw

and the bird count I made!  

Sketching Bliss

It feels like there has been plenty of bliss in my life lately!  I have been seeking out ways to experience that.  The hours I spend with pens, pencils, markers and brushes in my hand play a big part in obtaining that feeling.  Here are four of my recent projects.  For each, I followed a tutorial that gave step by step instructions with the option to press pause while I tried to replicate what I just watched.   

I like how the projects begin with  sketching measured boxes and then filling in sections of the boxes.  Starting out it looks nothing like what it is supposed to be, then it begins to all come together.  The boxed lines are then erased and voila!  I used a 2H pencil, a 2B pencil, a watercolour brush pen and a blending stump to make this cat face come to life.   

I am still not ready to attempt a front on face but ready for a full body.  Once again I used 2H and 2B pencils and two different sizes of blending stumps along with a piece of tissue.  The tutorial used one pencil but I purchased a set of six sizes and I wanted to begin experimenting with them.   This sketch was my second attempt, the first was, well I won't even go there!    

In searching for a lesson on making a beach scene with watercolour brush pens, I came upon this picture.  It was not really what I was hoping to find but it jumped out at me and I had to give it a go.  It was a lesson in blending the paints then laying india ink on top.  I will search again for a beach scene!    

Awww that's the life!  I saved three additional lessons on how to sketch people after completing the little girl with the butterfly sketch.  This one had my name written all over it, I could see me sitting on that window ledge.  I look at this and think it would look pretty in colour from either brush pens or pencils.  Hhmmm!  

 

Marathon to Athens Virtual Challenge Progress January 13, 2022

After today's skate, I just passed the 50% marker of the Marathon to Athens Virtual Challenge.  While it was a twelve kilometre distance that I covered, I use the conversion factor provided and only allot a portion of that distance to the challenge.  My prediction is just three more skating sessions on The Ice Trail should bring me across the finish line. 

my pacer (red marker) is trying to catch up to me

Last year I opted to plant trees, this year I am stopping plastic bottles from entering our oceans.

a post card I received after my second outing on the ice

When I enter the distance I covered, my marker moves along the way.  I like to see what the virtual views are like in the areas that I pass through.  I picked out four of my favourites to share.  

Whenever I accomplish enough skating sessions 

to reach the checkered flag, 

I will then do a final post!

  

Skating Bliss The Ice Trail January 13, 2022

Yes those are my etchings on ice and oh what a delightfully blissful ninety minutes of etching it was!  There was no one but me, the sweeper and then the flooder.  After two passes on one section of The Ice Trail, I noticed the designs my blades made in the ice.  I see the beginnings of hearts, of many hearts!  

It took work to get out the door this morning.  I was still feeling fulfilled from yesterday's hike.  As soon as I got my skates on, I was thankful I did not give in to the temptation to stay home.  The ice was nice, the sun came out, the birds were chirping and a coyote even darted past me then crossed the ice in front of me.         

When I got back home, I once again left my skates by the front door!  

Bow Valley Provincial Park January 12, 2022

Just an hour west of the city is the entrance to Bow Valley Provincial Park.  This park has a variety of trails that can be linked together to create a good distance to cover with a variety of scenery.  It's always a quiet place as it was today.  The wind was wild again and it felt colder than a chinook wind so lots of layers were needed.  

From the very small snow packed parking lot, I broke trail down to Middle Lake.  In some sections the snow was wind whipped and in other sections....

.....it was sheer ice! The sun was up but created this look as it shone out through the cloud.

No one had been in quite awhile so there was no trail broken in the snow for long stretches.  There is now!   Snowshoes would have come in handy.  I worked my way through the forest finding the way of least resistance and eventually arrived near an outlet to the river.  

Instead of finding the trail through the forest around Many Springs Lake, I stuck to the shore as far as it was safe to do so but I did have to resort back to the forest and break trail. There's not much snow around the lake and the lake is mostly wide open with very little ice.

the sun peeking through the trees and casting a shadow

at the viewing platform

My creation stands about ten inches tall!

As I neared breaking trail through the snow on the far end of the lake, this sight captured my attention.  

It's little things in nature that draw me in these days when I am "out & about". 

My hope was to have bird sightings and I did.  The top right photo is a "lifer" for me, it's a Boreal Chickadee!  This was the best I could do with capturing a photo of one of them.  The bird on the left is a Mountain Chickadee which was on the ground foraging through this fallen branch. When I was at the viewing platform, two male Common Goldeneyes were swimming about in Many Springs Lake.

With more trail breaking to do, I headed down to the edge of the Bow River.  I was surprised to see how much open water there still was considering how cold it has been for such a long time.  There was no getting down to the edge to capture ice formations.

I found a somewhat sheltered spot from the wild wind where I could enjoy lunch and have a nice view.

There were lots of these on the ground everywhere. 

There were also lots of trees down that will eventually need to be cut and cleared away.  

It was time to aim back to where I started the hike.   A couple of kilometres later, I arrived at the back side of Middle Lake where it was sheer ice.  My skates were in the car and I debated whether to head back and get them.  I opted to play it safe and just slide on the edge a bit.  

The tracks in the ice show signs of freeze thaw freeze. 

After following the icy edge of the lake to the little hill, it was then time to plod through the snow back up to my car.  Once back at my car I thought about going for a skate but second thoughts told me it would not be a smart thing to do today.  Before heading home, I finished off my sandwich, apple and chai tea that had some Rolo hot chocolate powder mixed in with it.