These beautiful photos were taken early in the morning on Friday, July 10 after a very stormy night. Whitemud Creek Ravine looks absolutely magical. Thanks bro-in-law!
Not my photos but had to share!
Tag Archives: yeg
Rainy July
Sunday: We’re having another fantastically rainy July, preceded by a rainy June, but today, around noon, it was gorgeous. Walked with Tom in and around Glenora/Ravine Drive/Valleyview. We had to wait all morning for the skies to clear, but somehow we found a pocket of sun and avoided the ever present rainstorms. It was still very, very humid. About 15,000 steps.
Can’t remember the temperature, but it was about 20C
The Old Museum in Old Glenora
[Addendum: I’ve uploaded better photos from a June 29 walk.]
Very often, after my work day is over, I walk over to Glenora to ‘pick up’ Tom and then we walk back to my place. It’s a relatively short walk, about 25 minutes, but I can make it longer by walking via Mackinnon Ravine, or finding different ways to get to where I’m going.
Today, I wandered around the old provincial museum grounds, which I haven’t been to in many years, and I’m not sure I ever walked around the perimeter, at least not unless I had aged relatives with me.
It’s such a beautiful piece of land, right above the river valley. I really like the new museum downtown but this location is unbeatable, and full of childhood memories. It’s possible the old museum will be torn down, and the grounds will no longer be accessible to the public. Who knows?
Walk while you can, and if you have a moment, sign the petition to save this beautiful piece of Edmonton’s history.
From the petition site, a little more about the museum (by June Acorn):
Built in 1965, the Alberta Provincial Museum Building on 102 Avenue and 129th Street in Edmonton stands as a true gem of modernist yet historic Alberta architecture. This beautiful structure is adorned by fossil-rich Tyndall Limestone from the Red River Formation, extensive marble interiors and exquisite brass fittings. The South face of the build has reproductions of the First Nations hieroglyphs of Writing-On-Stone Provincial park carved into the walls. The building is a cherished place for generations of Albertans and the site of many wonderful memories of learning and discovery. The grounds of the building are already a beautiful green space and the new building stands in elegant relation to the also historic Government House.
A Paroxysm of Pink
Good god I’ve done it again! I am writing this post about some peak spring walks on June 29, more than a month after the fact. I have got to stop doing this! Thankfully, I can back date it to the actual date of the walk.
This post combines two walks, May 24 and May 28. One was in Glenora with Tom, the other was a walk around the neighbourhood.
Thursday, May 28 (a lunch time walk): I’m not particularly girly-girl, but I do loves me some pink! Also yellow and green and purple. With bonus poplar fuzz!
May 24: Wow, what a beautiful day! Glenora ➡️ Laurier Heights. Two hours, thirty-four minutes, and 16,954 steps with Tom. It was hot! 17C to start, 22C to end. Sadly, the Glenora fountain (in Alexander Circle) is not on, probably due to the massive City of Edmonton debt, like every other municipality in Canada.
And…I’m back
It took me awhile to write that last post about my injury, and throughout the writing and beyond, I’ve been walking. A lot. Yesterday (Sunday) was my longest walk since Scottsdale. Two and a half hours, 16, 887 steps. I would say that six weeks after my slip on the ice, I am fully recovered. I suppose if I were to trip again, always a possibility, I could re-injure my hamstring, but so far so good.
It’s proper Spring, and yesterday was warm (23C) so Tom and I left early, around 10 am. The route I chose was down into the river valley, across the LRT bridge, and then a loop from the Kinsmen to the Walterdale Bridge, Rossdale, and then back again. Once we crossed River Road on the way back, however, we walked up the trail below Victoria Park Road.
Most of my walks have either involved walking to work (semi-weekly, for an hour or two, up Emily Murphy Hill and back home over the High Level Bridge), or various routes to ‘pick up’ Tom on his way over to my place. Since he spends most evenings with me, I often walk over to his place and then we walk back to mine. (He hardly drives anymore, preferring to walk). Lately, I’ve been walking to his place via MacKinnon Ravine and the steep hill up to Glenora. One thing I haven’t done yet is walk on an unpaved trail. The fear of tripping over a tree root is still there, but dissipating.
Walking is not what it used to be. People are still friendly but the social distancing can be awkward, and still feels super rude. However, it’s what we gotta do…
Because I haven’t written in the blog since early May, here are a bunch of photos from my walks, in somewhat chronological order.
April 27: “A sunny lunchtime walk in the river valley today, my longest walk yet (since the injury). Walked down Victoria Park Road, under the Groat Bridge, up through MacKinnon Ravine, up the steep hill to the bridge, and then back home through Glenora/Oliver. The ice has mostly melted from the river, but the shore still has bergs. Highlight – spotted my first snake in years, a little garter snake, sunning himself on a log. He slithered away before I could take a photo. I also ran into a friend, Teresa, and caught up on our remote working lives. Her sister also had a hamstring injury, requiring surgery. I am SO lucky I have almost fully recovered, without any medical intervention. About 18C.”
A Blue Sky Start to 2020
The week between Christmas and New Years is typically cold as balls, but this year, it was mild. Today, the sky was blue and the temperature reached plus 4! However, as I write this (Jan 2), Facebook has reminded me that last year it was 8C, a record breaking day for Edmonton. Nevertheless, it was beautiful and sunny.
Tom and I walked to Hawrelak Park from my place. Round trip it ended up at 13,633 steps. My feet were very tired/sore and I blame my newish boots. I’ve certainly had better over the years.
There were many, many people at Hawrelak. It was teeming with winter enjoyists skating at the newly created oval near the lake (which has not completely frozen over), trekking the trails, and even barbecuing. We wandered by the ice castle, and though it was spectacular it is not yet finished. There was an ice carver on the top, working in a t-shirt against the blue sky. Not something you see everyday.
It seemed a little quiet in the woods. I have read that there are far fewer songbirds now, and that may account for the quiet canopy. On the other hand, it may also have something to do with the time of day (we left around 1 pm). Still, there were chirping chickadees and the odd woodpecker. I tipped one of the many bird feeders over (slightly) to get some seed, and eventually a chickadee landed on my outstretched hand. I always feel so honoured when a bird eats out of my hand, even if I had to borrow the seed. Must remember to pack some for my next walk in the woods.
It’s easy to get lulled into a state of comfortable amnesia by the relatively mild December and early January we are having, but the weather wasn’t dissimilar from last year and we still got nailed in February. Fingers crossed. I am back at work as of today, and this morning it was 2C but now it’s -1C and rather blowy. Blue sky though!
Sunrise: 8:50 am/Sunset: 4:26 pm