Holy pee-mail. There must have been a whole lot of full-bladdered dogs in Whitemud Creek last night, because this morning, Maggie had to stop every few feet to read the latest news from dogville. However, it’s as much her walk as it is mine, so I’ll choose the route, but she is allowed, within reason, to choose the stops.
Another remarkably cool day. This time, no sun at all. Walked through the ravine for awhile, and then instead of taking the road most travelled, the one leading to the Ski Valley, we took the path headed to Westbrook. There’s a stretch of the trail where the birch and aspen take a sudden shift toward black spruce, or at least I think it’s spruce. The tree that dies from the bottom up, but still appears to be healthy at the top? There’s a lot of them in Edmonton at the moment, and in this small area of Whitemud, the majority of trees at eye-level appear dead, which makes the view grey and soft.
The trail is shored up by wooden barriers or old tree trunks, because the drop is significant. The less-travelled trail is well-worth the trip, and although it’s short, the only way out is through Westbrook. I prefer ravine routes if possible, but in this case, it was my only choice.
I’ve only walked along this trail a few times, and the Westbrook part got very confusing very quickly. Took a wrong turn, so I ended up going north, when I should have gone south. Of course, Maggie decided to take her third and last crap on the edge of a very nicely manicured lawn, and I quickly discovered that what the fine neighbourhood of Westbrook lacks in garbage bins, they more than make up for in fire hydrants. So, lost and tired, with my little bag of Maggie poo swinging in my hand, we walked around and around the maze of cul de sacs, stopping every ten feet to sniff the fire hydrants, until I finally found a school I recognized.
In the end, Maggie got another off leash run through the school yard, chasing the seagulls, and I found a garbage. Our walk today was about a half hour longer than I intended, but it’s a Sunday, so who cares, and the company was most excellent.
12:30 PM/7C