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St George's afar

It's been months since I have put anything on the blog, but after a long walk to Guelph Lake and back, I figured I could share some of the shots from that trek.

Goldie Mill Chimney

It was warmer than the frigid temperatures we had been experiencing and with  CC off to O-town, I thought I'd take a long, slow walk to the Dam and back.

Abandoned bird house

There was still lots of snow on the ground, but it wasn't too icy, which made walking next to the Speed River more doable.

Fish and Chip

The path also goes alongside train tracks and a small industrial area. There is lots of flowering vegetation in the summer, but in the winter, we have to rely on graffiti. The fish had been painted on before the oh-so-clever tagger left his mark.

Riverside Park

At the upper part of Riverside Park, there is a wilder path, alongside the Speed River. It was at this point that the blue sky started to emerge, giving some colour to the monochromatic landscape.

Gothic sky

It clouded over again near the road-crossing of the next leg of the hike. If you look closely, you can make out a snow-covered bird's nest, low to the ground, and a larger, black squirrel's nest up in the trees. I liked the trinity of those nests with the hidden orb of the sun, top left.

Watercolour shadows

Once the sun came out more solidly, it darkened the snow with soft, grey shadows. The only green is from the washed-out cedars.

Spot the mink

The second sighting. The first time was further south near the weir by Goldie Mill Park. Not sure if it's a  mink or a ferret, but it's long and sleek and rodent-like. The first one dove into the river and caught a long, thin fish in it's sharp little teeth.

Fallen1

A dead, doubled-over tree, with the background trees looking like they're raising their branches upwards.

Icy-spine

Looks like something out of Greek mythology, or from Guillermo del Torro's imagination.

Fallen2

I liked the contrast of the ragged edges of the uprooted trunk with the soft, puffy looking snow and it's blue-grey shadows.

Orange Bark

No, not the edible kind.  At least, not for us. Not sure if it's lichen, algae or what, but it's a beautiful and shocking contrast with the snow-covered trail.

Spent

Spent see casing of the Wild Cucumber vine.  I remember seeing one of these as a kid, in the summertime, when the pods are green. I thought it was from outer space. The seeds are similar to watermelon seeds, and drop out of the hole at the base of the seed casing.

Sunlamp

There were lots of cool (no pun intended) snow formations amongst the tree branches, and the sun managed to leak into some of the more overgrown, dark areas.

Snowlamp

Spot the Red Squirrel

There was a lot of wildlife about that day - saw Blue Jays, Cardinals, Woodpeckers and lots of Nuthatches and Chickadees. Also saw a few Red Squirrels, who I think of as the Chickadees of the rodents. They are full of a frenetic energy that always makes me laugh.

Are you ready for your close-up?

Trunk maze

I took a different way back on the trail, through the forested part, so it was cooler and darker.  The sun also went behind the clouds, but I was thankful for the cooling off as I was getting warm.