I went out on a hike with my friend Linda and her dog, Summer. We decided on hiking at Forks of the Credit Conservation Area. When I drove in, I noticed some very strange-looking clouds.
Cloudy Kettle Lake
They started fading as we hiked, so I stopped at Kettle Lake to get some shots.
Undulatus asperatus clouds
Other than the weird cloud formations, I spent my time focusing on my hike as this wasn’t a photo outing.
I went out with my friend Nigel to explore the trails at Heart Lake Conservation Area. With the melting snow and the ice formations, it was a difficult trek along the slippery trails.
Bird Feeder
It was a challenging hike and I did not come away with many photos. These little birdhouses were the most interesting things on the trail, in my opinion.
Reeds
I did try to find other things to photograph, but inspiration was not my friend this time around. I hope my next outing will be more productive.
With the long cold month of February behind us, I finally came out of hibernation to go for a hike. March started as a cold and crazy windy day but it was a little calmer and slightly warmer for a walk with my friend Linda today.
A curvy line
We met at Island Lake Conservation Area and decided to start our hike along the boardwalk portion. As we passed the first boardwalk section and entered the second one I noticed these small open areas in the ice.
Holes in the Ice
We were stumped as to why these holes might be here. We also noticed by one of the holes that there were some tracks. It’s possible that some small critters were using these to get in and out of the frozen lake.
Ice Hole
It was a beautiful sunny day out but the winds were still pretty strong. There were a few spots that were quite open and we were glad to make it back into the shelter of the trees. Winter is a beautiful time of year but it’s the cold winds that get me running back indoors as quickly as possible.
I met my friend Nigel today for a socially distanced walk down part of the Humber Recreational Trail. The first few minutes of our walk we ended up slipping and sliding along the path, so we decided to go back to our respective cars for our ice trackers. It ended up being a good decision since the path turned out to be quite icy for most of our walk.
The Old Tree
You’ll notice from the photo above that this spot might look a little familiar. The last time I was on this trail I did the same section stopping to get a photo of this exact tree. This time, however, the lake was frozen over and I was able to get a much better angle. I wanted the tree to stand out from the background, so when I post processed it I lightened up the tree and the reeds while darkening the tree trunks in the background. This makes the tree pop.
The rest of the walk was uneventful and I didn’t end up taking any more photos. I think I will have to find another place for inspiration because there are only so many photos I can take of this tree.
In the summer, when I get out on my bike, I usually head for the Humber Recreational Trail. I’ve biked many hours here, and today I decided to head over to one of the sections to get my butt out of my regular neighbourhood.
Interlude
I headed to a section of the trail where there is a large pond. In the summer, you can usually find great blue herons and white egrets here, but with the cold weather, these birds head south. I did not find any other birds here, which in a way was lucky since I had only brought my macro lens with me. From one of the viewpoints on the pond, I saw a person by the water’s edge under a beautiful tree. I can’t say I was disappointed with this nice surprise as I quickly snapped a few photos.
The Trail
For the middle of winter, there is a lot of brown around us. We haven’t had snow since Christmas Day. This image above was quite bland when I started editing it. I wanted to give it a little spice, so I added some fog to the background and darkened up the foreground, giving it a little more atmosphere.
Incoming
As I crossed over the river on my way back to my car, a couple of ducks picked that same moment to came in for a landing. I was able to get a few shots as they came toward me. Only one photo was sharp, but that was all I needed. A very different walk than usual, but it was worth the short drive to see something different from my own backyard.