I highly recommend a walk in the woods the morning after an evening of rain. It’s so deliciously smelly (in a good way), and all the leaves sparkle with droplets of water. Also, it’s cool. I started at nine-ish this morning but I think the temperature was already about 18 or 19. Visually, it’s much nicer on the trails when the sun isn’t directly overhead. The colours get washed out, and it’s just too hot to really enjoy the walk. This morning, it was perfect.

I took the same route as yesterday because there were spots along the trail that were completely dolloped with poplar fuzz, and I didn’t have my camera with me. Today, I did have my camera but the rain dampened the puff. Too bad, it was quite spectacular. Hopefully the fuzz will stop flying soon. It’s pretty, but the air is so thick with the stuff it obscures any worms that might be hanging from the trees.

On the way back, took the lower north Mill Creek trail for a change. The creek ends here, oozing into some sort of cement reservoir thing (tastefully decorated with graffiti.) There is also a giant beaver dam, or maybe it’s just a whole bunch of logs, but it looks arranged. I’m betting on the beavers. I like to think some thought went into the construction of the log pile, and the only other life I’ve seen around that area is a couple of ducks. They seem to lack the initiative. And the teeth.

11:10 AM/25C

Sunrise~5:06 AM/Sunset~10:06 PM

…with sweat and sunburn.  Or maybe just suntoasted…it sounds less carcinogenic. It’s an extremely nice day out there, but I should have left a bit sooner, or a bit later. Walking at 1:00 PM on a sunny Saturday afternoon is just asking for it. Still, lots of shady spots on the paths taken, which include the upper paved trail to south Mill Creek. Goes right through the parking lot to the pool, but at least I don’t have to walk above ground anymore. As everyone knows, all the action is subterranean.

This particular path is a loop, with bonus extensions should you be so inclined. I was not inclined today, so it only took about 45 minutes starting at 89th Ave (or the equivalent in trees and trails), up to 76th (or the equivalent in trees and trails) and back. And then I just walked for another 45 minutes through Mill Creek north. As one would expect on such a summery day, lots of people, bikes, dogs and squirrels out enjoying the sunshine. The creek is down a quart or two…and the speed has been dialed down to sluggish, more typical of this time of year. It was unusual to get that much rain in spring. I think. Hard to say what’s normal anymore.

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Short walks this week…only about 35 minutes per, from the LRT bridge area straight through to ‘skunk hollow’. Better than not walking at all, but mostly function, not a lot of form.

The LRT bridge is also a study in function over form. It’s OK, but not spectacular, not like the Cloverdale Pedestrian Bridge. Everytime I walk across this bridge, I think of what might be erected at Louise McKinney in the near future. The city flunkies have assured us that the new Southeast LRT bridge will be a ‘vast improvement’ over this current LRT bridge. “It was a different council who built that bridge, and we have more money.”  Oh. OK. I feel better now.

5:10 PM/19C

Rolled out of bed and into the river valley this morning. It’s the best way, really. No worries about hair, and there’s the smug factor; I got up early and I DID something! As opposed to, I got up late and stared into a bowl of Nut ‘n Honey for an hour.

Even though it was only 14C when I left, I managed to work up a sweat on the various hills and staircases along the trails. Took the monkey path behind Skunk Hollow, and then Low Level Bridge, etc., Saw a few more worms hanging from the trees near the bridge, so Rossdale is definitely out until July. Took a picture of a worm but a photo just doesn’t capture the tiny horror of the thing.

Passed by a woman who was walking her basset hound. She had earphones on and the music was so loud I could hear it clearly from a distance. I don’t get it. The woods, especially in the morning, are a symphony. The creeks are babbling, the leaves are rustling, the robins and warblers are singing their hearts out, and she’s choosing oblivion? I even felt sorry for her dog, who probably would have appreciated a more engaged walking companion. (Unlike cats, dogs enjoy that ‘shared experience’ thing.) I blast my iPod too when I’m walking, but only when I’m next to traffic, and never in the woods. It’s unsafe, and there’s no music that can compete with water burbling over rocks.

In my opinion.

9:55 AM/14C (supposed to be 26C today)

Just kidding. It’s perfect.

Woke up to the sound of two baby magpies testing their voices in a tree outside my window. I gave them the number of a vocal coach. Then, usual stroll up to the market. Then, brunch. Then, gossip. Then Mill Creek South via 76th Ave. Nothing much to report, just a lovely day, and a lovely walk. It did get hot after hour one, especially when I ran up the stairs at the end of the ravine (near Connor’s Hill), but nothing unexpected on a late-spring day. Lots of wet dogs ambling about.

Now that the rain has subsided, the poplars have resumed their fuzzification of the woods. It does give the air an ethereal quality, but ethereal only goes so far when a seed gets caught between your eyeball and a contact lens.

2:21 PM/22C

A sunny walk home for a change. Not complaining, really, but the sun is so cheering after four days of gloom. Not sure who’s perkier, me or my petunias.

The river was even higher today. There is a long dugout near the Cloverdale Pedestrian Bridge that only fills with water when the river is at it’s highest. It’s several feet above the river bank so this doesn’t happen very often. It was clear yesterday, but today it’s half-full. The river has picked up all sorts of debris from the banks, like logs and branches. Judging by the number of people leaning against the rails, there are a lot of folks with nothing better to do but watch logs move from one side of the bridge to the other. I’m one of them. It’s very Zen.

Took the LRT over to Churchill Station, up the stairs and through a crowd of sparkling grad students, and then into the river valley. Not really a long walk, only about an hour. More on the weekend.

5:58 PM/19C