Six people came out on a beautiful sunny day. There was a bitter wind, but we were mostly in the trees and the ravine so it passed overhead most of the time.
We had about 5 cm of snow the previous day, so we were concerned about walking through that. As you know, the more fresh snow, the more energy it takes to walk.
But we were fortunate. There must be a lot of early-rising dog walkers that use the ravine, because a good part of the trail had already been compacted to form a single track. This was particularly true along the creek west of 50th Street. We had to break trail in only a few places, none too long.
This was our second hike in a row where we spotted pileated woodpeckers.
Our hike started at the corner of 34th Avenue and 34th Street. The 9 km hike took just under an hour and a half each way. We had a nice warm lunch in the Jackie Parker shelter. No one else was at the shelter. And on the trail, it was mostly just us and the dog walkers.
Thanks to everyone who came out. You can see all the photos on Flickr.
An intrepid crew. As the Aussies like to say, “Good on ya!”