Happy September!

I was really tardy posting about my walks, so I wrote a whole bunch and backdated them, and even that was a week-long process. Today, I am actually writing on the day of my walk! It’s only September 1 and things are already looking up!

With ever-present threat of rain, I left around 10:45 am, entering the river valley via the Victoria Park golf course, and then over to river road. Tom had mentioned that the trail up to Glenora (near Groat Road/MacKinnon Ravine) was fenced off, so I wanted to check for myself. There had been a lot of erosion, and the red plastic fence they put where the trail had sloughed off late last year had also sunk into the ravine. As I walked up the hill, I could see that the entire trail is now blocked off by a frost fence. They’re not fucking around. No way to get around it. So I came back down and continued west along the trail, exiting on the MacKinnon Ravine bridge (142 Street). It was cool outside but humid, so I had my coat off and tied around my waist about 15 minutes in. There’s definitely some yellow leaves but still mostly green. The sky, however, was gun metal grey.

View from MacKinnon Ravine bridge

Once I was across the bridge, I continued to wind around the road, the river valley to my right, and then into Glenora. I wanted to check to see if the trail head was also fenced off, and it was. The City of Edmonton trail closures site says that it’s temporary, but I know these things often take years to resolve, if they ever are. Last week, Tom and I walked around Mill Creek Ravine, and part of the north trail is cut off because of erosion, which makes the second closure in that ravine (between the mill and the ‘first’ bridge). That initial one has been closed off for years. Some trail infrastructure funds would be great. This city spends so much on the LRT expansion, and meanwhile, our beautiful trails are falling apart.

Photo: City of Edmonton

After Glenora, I just walked down 102 Avenue to home. It’s now four hours later and it still hasn’t rained. Environment and Climate Change Canada confirmed there were 54 days of rain between June and August in the Edmonton area. This is the second rainiest summer since 1996, where there were 59 days of rain. We might look back on this summer longingly, but for now, I need some sun!!

13-15C/10:45-12:30

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