My prints this week were a couple of photos from our recent trip to Waskesiu. I think the butterfly is a Northern Crescent (on a dandelion) and the big beetle is a Flower Longhorn Beetle (on a wild rose). I'm not sure what the smaller black beetle is.
These were taken on the Waskesiu river trail with the Olympus EM-1 and 12-200mm lens.
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| ready to go |
I've been thinking about running Grey Owl Trail for a few years. I'd paddled into Grey Owl's cabin but I'd never done it on foot. I felt like I was in decent shape for it so I started watching the weather forecast. It seemed like it was always either raining or too hot. Finally there was a forecast for a reasonable day - no rain and cool temperatures. There was a bear warning, but that wasn't surprising since this is bear country. I carried bear spray but thankfully didn't see any bears.
It rained most of the night - so much for conditions being relatively dry. Breakfast was instant oatmeal with raisins and a banana, washed down with coffee. I had the drive from Waskesiu to Kingsmere to let it settle. I got a little extra time since the road was slow - muddy and slippery.
It was cool at first, maybe 8c, I started out wearing my jacket, knowing it would probably be too warm before long. It stayed mostly cloudy but thankfully no rain other than a brief drizzle early on. Later, when it warmed up and the sun actually came out a bit it felt quite warm although it probably didn't reach 20c.
I carried a litter of water. That wasn’t enough but there was plenty of water around and I had purification tablets. The only flaw in that plan was that the water I picked up had quite a taste so I stopped drinking as much and only ended up drinking about 1.5 liters. But with the cool conditions and the moderate pace I didn't feel dehydrated at the end. In hindsight I could have just have carried 1.5 liters.
For fuel I used Tailwinds in my water and a gel once an hour - about 200 calories per hour. I had a couple of caffeinated gels for the second half of the run.
The trail was mostly pretty good. Wide and smooth at first, but that soon became single track. The main obstacles were the tree roots. You definitely had to watch where you put your feet. You really didn't want to sprain an ankle 20 km from the nearest road. There were also some wet sections which meant wet feet. I wondered whether that might lead to blisters but I didn't have any problems. Although described as having "steep sections", this is Saskatchewan and there were no major hills. In total there was less than 600m (2000ft) of ascent and descent - not a lot over this distance.
There were quite a few mosquitos around but they were fine as long as I was moving. I had put on sunscreen and insect repellent before starting but by the time I arrived at Grey Owl's cabin the repellent had all been wiped off my legs by wet vegetation and the bugs started to attack. It was good motivation not to stop too long.
The first half went quite smoothly. My pace was a bit faster than expected and I wondered whether I could keep it up for 40 km. I ended up only about 10 minutes slower on the return leg but it was definitely more of a struggle. I didn’t have any particular problems but my legs did not want to run. I found myself wishing for the uphills since I was walking them.
Parks Canada lists the trail as 19.9 km each way. My GPS watch said just over 38 km when I finished.
All in all, I was happy with how it went. My total time was 4 hrs 50 min and my actual running time (excluding stops) was 4 hrs 20 min. Not bad for an old fart.
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| mission accomplished |
Thanks to Shelley for the photographs.
With a macro lens there's wildlife everywhere :-)
Beautiful weather and my day off from running combined to get me out in my kayak on the river. It's always nice to see the pelicans a little closer up.
The sun was shining, so I decided to go for a walk by the river. (It was my day off running.) I took my camera but I didn't have any particular goals or expectations. Of course, once I got started I took a ton of photos.
When I first reached the river there were two pelicans cruising by. (with their breeding season "horns") They soon decided to move on. It looks like a quite an effort for these big birds to get into the air although they are certainly graceful enough in flight.
One pair of Canada Geese had a single lone gosling. I managed to approach reasonably close and then I sat patiently and they eventually came a bit closer. There is such a contrast between the big strong adults and the awkward little goslings.
A crow was also hanging around. I happened to catch it cawing and if you look close you can see the water drops coming out of his mouth. (The contrast between the bright sun and the black crow makes photos difficult.)
While I was sitting on the sand watching the birds, I saw an insect going zipping by on the sand. It looked interesting but I didn't get a good look. Luckily I saw several more and got some photos. I think they were Bronzed Tiger Beetles (also known as Common Shore Tiger Beetles, but Bronzed sounds better) True to their description they would alternate high speed sprints with pauses. The theory is that they move too fast for their visual system to keep up, so they have to pause to spot their prey. Whatever the reason, the pauses were what let me get some photographs. Surprisingly, I got these photos (and all the rest) with my telephoto (200 - 800mm equivalent). It focuses reasonably close, and the ability to keep some distance often helps with skittish insects.
I also spotted this spider running by, but it did not cooperate with any pauses in the open and I only managed this one shot. It was well camouflaged. I think it's some kind of wolf spider.
There were a few butterflies around, but this was the only one that stayed still long enough to photograph. I think it's a Silver-spotted Skipper.
I followed this Willet (a large sandpiper) as it foraged its way along the shore. It didn't let me get too close, but it didn't fly away either.
This mallard male, on the other hand, had found himself a nice spot to soak up some rays and was ignoring humans wandering by.
I'm usually not as much of a plant person but I'm a sucker for flowers. I think these are Common Silverweed (related to roses)
and Choke Cherry
I couldn't figure out what this shiny insect was. Seek is usually pretty good at id's but the closest it got was some kind of crane fly. I'm curious what the "clubs" on either side of its body are. Possibly the fruiting bodies of some fungus? The insect did seem quite lethargic.
Back home, this Blue Jay was showing off his coloring.
Nature never ceases to fascinate and delight me. It might seem that my focus is the photography, but that's really secondary to my love of nature. The photography just helps me focus my attention and see things I wouldn't otherwise. And to capture a record so I can savor it.
