Author Archives: Donna

Whitemud Creek Gone Green

February 19, 2021

While my internet and TV are out, and before I go fully feral, here are some photos from my walk this morning with Sharon and Stella in Whitemud Creek Ravine (north).

It’s a wonderful trail, mostly flat, with great views of the curvy creek which has now turned a kind of sludgy green, although it’s still very much frozen. Mill Creek does that too. Not sure where that colour comes from. It’s actually a little more day-glo than my photos suggest.

I’m no fan of grey skies, but the temperature was pleasant with no wind, so I will take it. I need to walk with Sharon and Stella when it’s sunny! We always seem to pick days that are overcast.

*Random tiny birdhouses (with googly eyeballs)!*

-5C, 12,450 steps.

No Filter

February 17, 2021

The warm up begins…slowly. It was unbelievably cold for a couple of weeks so no real walks from the 5th to the 15th.

There is no filter on this photo along Ravine Drive. The sky was that blue!

I often stop here to listen to the birds while Tom carries on for another 20 minutes or so. When I come with him on his walks, I clock in around 13,000 steps but he likes a few more, so I stop here and he walks over the nearby Mackenzie Bridge. Because I wear micro-spikes, my feet can get really sore walking on cement and this walk from Glenora to the end of Ravine Drive involves a lot of cement thanks to responsible homeowners who clear their sidewalks and a lot of melting. He just wears hiking boots and seems fine. I guess I’m the unstable one in the relationship! Who woulda thought?

Sometimes he walks on the sidewalk and I walk next to him on the street, where there is still snow and ice close to the curb. That’s one of the tradeoffs of spikes. I stay upright (always a good thing), but the impact on my feet (if I’m on cement) is substantial.

Anyway, beautiful day for a walk after two weeks of sloth.

-9C and climbing.

Happy Birthday Joanne

February 4, 2021

Long walk in the snow to Rossdale to wish Joanne a happy birthday!

Sharon and Kate joined us. Not the celebration we would wish for Joanne, but nice to see the faces of my sisters and my niece! Or at least, part of their faces.

This will be the mildest day for the foreseeble future as we enter the first true cold snap of the winter (or as Shawna Gawreluck on Twitter says, “It’s not a snap, it’s a cruel, frost laden million pound anvil of death potential”). In spite of the wind and the snow, with all my gear and the walking, I was often too hot, but Sharon and Joanne were cold, so a short visit.

*Tiny cross country skiers on the Victoria golf course*

*Almost home (trail below Victoria Park Road)*

About -11C and snowing HARD. 15,412 steps, a little over two hours there and back.

Blue Sky (again)

January 30, 2021

*At the end of Ravine Drive, looking at the city*

A broken record, but another beautiful walk with Tom. Frosty but gorgeous blue skies. 14,222 steps but at least 1,500 of that was a brief trip to the grocery store after our walk.

-8C.

Around the ‘hood

January 29, 2021

Well, it was a beautiful day, sun-wise. The temperature is starting to drop after a pretty warm January overall.

Too late to coordinate with Tom, but we met coming around the corner along Ravine Drive!

*Looking over the 102 bridge at Groat Road*

About -13C to -11C over a couple of hours. 10,170 steps

A Walk with Sharon and Stella

January 19, 2021

Nice walk with Sharon and Stella today in the newly reopened Whitemud Ravine north, east of the Snow Valley ski hill.

Sharon brought some seed for the chickadees, who happily obliged. Met Wayne, the resident birdwatcher in full camouflage taking photos of a pine grosbeak. Should have brought my binoculars.

Overcast but warm(ish).

Donna's River Valley

A Walker's Observations