I met my friend Nigel for a walk at Claireville Conservation Area this afternoon. Mostly we were out for a walk, but I did capture a couple of photos that I liked.
The Path
When I processed this image above, I first worked on a colour version, but there was too much brown for my liking. I decided black and white was the way to go for the photos.
White Branches
The image above was one of the last photos I took from my walk today. There was beautiful light hitting these trees, and I couldn’t resist taking a couple of shots. I punched up the “glow” on the branches to make it more dramatic.
Overall, it was a lovely day for a walk, and I’m happy to come away with a couple, not so bad, photos.
Today on my walk I saw an ant. It must be the time for the hives to start getting active again. I’m not looking forward to the fight of keeping them outside the house. Since a very old willow came down a few years ago in the creek we have had the joy of entertaining these carpenter ants. Seems the willow had a huge nest of those ants and with the willow gone they are spreading into our backyard and beyond. Not fun.
Ant
So after giving the evil eye to the ant and getting his photograph I moved on to the other side of the street to continue my walk along the creek path.
Impaled
I went back to the teasels to see what else has been caught by its thorns and found this leaf as its recent victim. Or maybe not so recent? How the heck did this leaf get so fully speared by the thorns of the teasel? Was the wind that aggressive when they connected?
Sumac Flower Branches
This branch from the flowers of the sumac towards the end of my walk caught my eye. Are they called branches? They look like miniature trees whatever they are. I think I will be revisiting this one again.
There was another ice storm that rolled through the area last night so I went out today to explore this new crystalline world at Claireville Conservation Area.
Claireville Entrance
Walking down the main road there was a grey world looking back at me. On a sunny day it would have been a blinding, glittery Swarovski land but today it was a bleak, washed out one instead.
Lonely Road
Going off on the smaller trails I felt like I was walking through a brittle world ready to collapse at my touch. Crunching my way through it was a little eerie at times.
Icy Trail
I love when days like this happen. You get a better idea of how fragile the world can be and how beautiful it can be at the same time. It’s hard to do it justice in a photograph.
I am back at Hoggs Falls today sporting my snow shoes again but this time I’m heading in the opposite direction – upriver. The trails in this direction tend to be quieter than the ones leading to the falls but there is still so much to see. Small cascades and twisty turning river scenes are well worth getting away from the crowds.
Boyne River
In winter these “Quieter” sections of the trail can be harder as I was the one making the trail. It can be pretty exciting being the only one on the trail but with the light powdery snow it can be tough to get through even with the snow shoes.
Tree Lined Path
While on the trail I did encounter an unexpected visitor.
Unexpected Visitor
When this husky turned the corner I had a fleeting thought of “OMG! A Wolf!” Luckily it was a very friendly Husky belonging to a hiker just out of view of my shot. LOL sometimes things like this happen on the trail and I’m sure glad it wasn’t something more dangerous.
