Spring is officially here in southern Canada! 🌞 The old adage of "April showers bring May flowers" is finally coming to fruition 🙏 We have been very fortunate to be enjoying such lovely weather together as a family. Just yesterday we were able to take a walk through a beautiful conservation area.
The rain stopped once we arrived at the trail (thank goodness), and we made our journey down it. It was uncanny; the day before I was receiving signs from God (or so I would like to believe) that we were meant to go to this location. The water kept piercing my mind until I finally agreed to venture there the following morning.
Our girls have never been here before. For me, it holds a lot of bittersweet memories... For although it is a beautiful location, I used to frequent it when I was not in a good place myself... It is very hard to look back on such memories and not be moved by nature, but thankfully I am able to make new, happier memories with my family.
Believe it or not, this enchanting stream is the beginnings of what is known as Albion Falls. We did not visit the falls themselves, but the river is a treasure all on its own.
Lots of beautiful, natural landscapes. Entire walls of rock slate! The rock would create natural stone stairs. I tried capturing a photo here, but of course, the sun was too bright.
Our girls, checking out the river. Of course, anytime we reach a body of water, the first thing they have to do is chuck some stones into it 😂
We kept asking them if they were having a good time, and they always answered yes 😁 It was wonderful to feel the warm sun on our skin, the way the water sparkled underneath it...
Some of my favorite photos are of light hitting the surface of the water. Sunlight dances like a thousand glistening crystals. Moonlight is also beautiful and dreamy...
Getting some great family pictures 😁 Our youngest's face in this one cracks me up!
Another lovely shot of the water. I especially enjoy the way it ripples near the tree...
I love this shot as well. The tiny little trail that walks alongside the trees has been so trodden that the roots are exposed. The water ebbs away at what little shoreline remains.
Further along the trail, we came across this "ancient" tunnel. My husband researched it once we got home, and this was reportedly a tunnel that ran under the train tracks since 1895! Unfortunately, it eventually crumbled in the 1980s, and this is all that remains.
I saw this along the way and of course had to snap a picture 😂
We also came across a little memorial spot that someone had set up. The flowers were artificial, but I believe it may be dedicated to someone's dog who enjoyed walking the trail 🐶🪽...
I wanted to capture this shot of the overpass, as well as the pipeline further ahead. Again, the pipeline had to do with the train tracks that used to run through here.
Under the overpass, I saw this graffiti. The smoking demon? is cool on its own, but it is the writing that truly spoke to me:
"The beautiful world you grew up in is still this world."
Walking further along the trail, we came across an opening through the trees that gave us a great view of the city skyline.
Anything for the shot! 😅 My husband took these photos of me climbing back over the barrier, haha!
I found this cliff to be stunning! This part of the escarpment rock was a vibrant green color -- amazing!
These are the Uli Stairs! It is an incredible creation. There never used to be any proper stairs to climb down from the mountain to downtown, so a few people took it upon themselves to create their own stairs! Some locals carried rocks over to this spot and created manmade stairs out of them. Best of all, it is open for public use 😃
Blessed enough to have even captured this picture of a Redtailed Hawk! 😍 These birds frequent the area, especially because of our pigeon population -- hawks love hunting pigeons 😅 I didn't want to scare the bird, so I tried my best to zoom in...
I love this shot 💛 Further downtown sits a single house, all dressed in yellow paint. It's so vibrant that we were still able to spot it over 100 feet away! 😂 Can you see the yellow house in the picture??
This is probably my favorite photo of the entire trip. There is nothing quite like the love shared between a daughter and her father 💗
A great one that my husband took 😂 My hat is two sizes too small because it is actually our oldest daughter's! 🤣
Off to the side of the trail, I spotted these beautiful blue flowers already blooming out of the ground. Our girls picked a few of them; they actually had a subtle sweet smell to them.
A sad photo that I took... I also spotted this along the side of the trail. It was a framed photo that had been broken... As unfortunate as it is, there are a few homeless encampments on this trail; a lot of them turn to drug use. I wondered if perhaps this was a father who had lost his young son because of the choices he had made... Regardless, seeing such a happy photo crumbled off to the side like this was heartbreaking...
At the end of the trail, we were met with the words that we had been telling our girls the whole time: "You're doing a GREAT JOB! 👍" Oh yes, I am incredibly proud of our young daughters. They are only 4 and 3-years-old; we were outside for 6 hours and walked over 20,000 steps! All the while, they did it without a single complaint (they did get tired a few times, but we had their car stroller that they took turns in).
What a great outing! I truly had a wonderful time, and the rest of my family is in agreement. It was great to be out in the sunshine, smelling the fresh air and the damp earth, taking in the sights... I hope you enjoyed the post, and as always, happy (and safe) travels! 🛩