Kopp Lake a New Way

Several people came out on a fabulous day to hike Kopp Lake. This included walking the new re-routed section which crosses some beautiful open country. As you can see, the new leg of the path is wide and green.

To get there, we climbed the new unique stile. It’s designed so that we can cross precisely at an intersection of two fences—from one corner of a property to the property at its kitty-corner opposite.

Flowers seen today include Blue Columbine, Blue-eyed Grass, Twining Honeysuckle vine, Bishop’s Cap/Mitrewort, Tall Lungwort/Bluebell, Starwort/Mouse-eared Chickweed, and Canada Anemone.

What luck to have a bee fly in just as this photo was taken of the highbush cranberry. Other creatures seen today include one of the crab spiders, of which there are several. This one looks like a Goldenrod Crab Spider. The butterfly looks like an Arctic Skipper.

Lunch was enjoyed in a shady spot.

Thanks to Trail Maintenance for the clearing the trail and putting in the new stile, and thanks to John S. for leading the hike. You can see more photos on Flickr.

Kennedale Ravine Hike

Twelve hikers came out to hike the Kennedale Ravine and the North Saskatchewan River Valley parks in northeast Edmonton. The day started with a cool breeze, but as soon as we descended into the ravine it was lovely. The weather continued to warm up with bright sunshine throughout the day.

We watched families and bicyclists passing by as we walked through the ravine and Hermitage Park. Everyone was enjoying the colourful fall day.

Lunch was at Rundle Park, in front of a row of large spruce trees. We could see busy tennis courts off to the side. 

The high bush cranberries and wild chokecherries along the river were plump and tasty. 

On the return, we extended our hike to the north pond. One of our group confirmed with binoculars that the bird we saw standing proud was the heron we had hoped to see.  

Total distance hiked was 14 km.

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the hike, and thanks to Michele and Sherry for the photos (which you can see more of on Flickr).

—Sandra