OK, I said I would blog about it, so I am. Now don't get all excited--there's nothing too exotic here. :-) As I mentioned before, I was inspired to read about Christina's trek up Mt. Snowdon in Wales. I do miss living near anything even resembling a hill! But I decided that hills or not, there is plenty of lovely wildlife near me, and I should get out and enjoy it.
Mind you, this was last Friday, the last day before the insane heat wave hit. I like nature a lot, but when the humidex is over 40 degrees, I'm content to enjoy it through the window. However, last week was still tolerable, and I took way too many pictures along my way, so here it goes.
About 2 minutes from my back door is a network of trails that hooks up with the town conservation area (that PDF map only shows the official conservation trail, not the part that runs near my house!). The trails run through wetlands, and feature more forks than you can imagine:
There is an old creek/river bed in the area, and this presents the only chance to experience a hill at all. However, if you take advantage of the many forks, you can go up and down the sides of this old creekbed many times, making it feel like a hilly walk:
Other interesting features of the trail include lots of quaint little bridges:
A few wildflowers:
This mysterious structure:
Wild berries--lots of kinds! Many I'm not sure about. This one was a very yummy big juicy raspberry. There were tons (most not quite ripe), so I'm hoping to take a basket out and pick some this week!
These....well, I think they could be some type of serviceberry. But they don't seem to have the "crown" that serviceberries do, so they could be something else. Anyone know? (just in case, I haven't tasted them!):
Initially I assumed these were just an unripe version of that red berry, but the leaves are clearly different, so I guess not:
And finally, these very interesting looking ones. Another mystery to me!
Of course, there were also many fabulous trees (some huge old ones), tons of butterflies (I have a few pictures, but none very good--they wouldn't hold still!, and then the trail emerges by the Sydenham River:
So that's my walk. A much more pleasant way to get my daily exercise than yesterday's method--changing a flat tire! :-)
Mind you, this was last Friday, the last day before the insane heat wave hit. I like nature a lot, but when the humidex is over 40 degrees, I'm content to enjoy it through the window. However, last week was still tolerable, and I took way too many pictures along my way, so here it goes.
About 2 minutes from my back door is a network of trails that hooks up with the town conservation area (that PDF map only shows the official conservation trail, not the part that runs near my house!). The trails run through wetlands, and feature more forks than you can imagine:
There is an old creek/river bed in the area, and this presents the only chance to experience a hill at all. However, if you take advantage of the many forks, you can go up and down the sides of this old creekbed many times, making it feel like a hilly walk:
Other interesting features of the trail include lots of quaint little bridges:
A few wildflowers:
This mysterious structure:
Wild berries--lots of kinds! Many I'm not sure about. This one was a very yummy big juicy raspberry. There were tons (most not quite ripe), so I'm hoping to take a basket out and pick some this week!
These....well, I think they could be some type of serviceberry. But they don't seem to have the "crown" that serviceberries do, so they could be something else. Anyone know? (just in case, I haven't tasted them!):
Initially I assumed these were just an unripe version of that red berry, but the leaves are clearly different, so I guess not:
And finally, these very interesting looking ones. Another mystery to me!
Of course, there were also many fabulous trees (some huge old ones), tons of butterflies (I have a few pictures, but none very good--they wouldn't hold still!, and then the trail emerges by the Sydenham River:
So that's my walk. A much more pleasant way to get my daily exercise than yesterday's method--changing a flat tire! :-)
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