A Year On The Grand

Snowshoe tracks

While walking up the Walter Bean Grand River Trail towards Bingemans Park I came across a side trail made by someone with snowshoes. The walker had decided to take a scenic route on the river's edge. I followed the path that was now frozen and easy to hike on. The path led me over layers of thick ice that have surrounded some of the hibernating vegetation over the winter. I came across a flock of waterfowl that immediately took flight, breaking the relative silence with their whistling call and speedy wing beats. Not being much of a birder I wasn't able to identify them, other then that they were ducks. After the ducks had made their exit, I just stood there for a while listening to the river. It is amazing how much noise comes from the ice. I took this picture of the frozen snowshoe tracks before leaving.

David Bebee

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Winter apples

I spent 45 minutes hiking near the convergence of the Speed and Grand Rivers. This stretch of the Grand is located directly behind Preston High School and offers a great view across the water of the pristine land that is part of the RARE property http://www.raretome.ca . The well worn trail follows the riverside south and winds through spruce and maple trees as well as smaller trees and shrubs. After passing a stand of spruce I came across an apple tree. To my surprise a lot of the apples were still hanging on the tree's branches.

  The rusty color of the frozen withered fruit really stood out against the snow covered landscape and the bright blue of the early evening sky made a nice contrast.

David Bebee

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Grand surroundings

Standing in the riverside ruins of a historic mill are left to right Chris Bertrand, Leanne Eichel, Tim Whitley, Norm Bertrand, Donna Bertrand and Penny Whitley, with their trusty canine friends Riley and Abbey. The Bertrand and Whitley families have recently started regular hikes together. Sharing a love for the outdoors and the Grand River they have been exploring the wonders of the Grand River Trails system any chance they get. 

  On a recent outing they started from a picturesque location at a trailer park where the trail winds its way towards the ruins of a mill built in 1867. This is the midway point of the hike and is usually a place to have a break and enjoy the sound of the nearby rapids. 

  Penny and Tim have been hiking this trail for 15 years and love the serenity and sounds they experience each time. " It is like a getaway that is so close to home.", says Tim. Norm and Donna like the fact that every time they go, it feels like a new experience for them. Sharing the hike with close friends brought a quote to mind Norm first heard as a 19 year old. " A friend is like a river, no matter how far you travel from it, it is always there when you come back."

  I was happy to have the chance to share today's hike with them, hear their river stories and witness the happiness a hike on its banks brings them. Time well spent.

David Bebee

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Shining Waters

I have to thank the Bertrand and Whitley families for allowing me to accompany them on a hike down the banks of the Grand between Cambridge and Glen Morris. Norm Bertrand had contacted me after seeing the Year on The Grand blog. He wanted to share his excitement about a recent hike he had taken with family friends, the Whitleys. He mentioned that they had looked at some ruins of an old mill south of Cambridge on that hike. I asked if I could come a long the next time they hiked and today was the day. 

  The sunbathed river looked stunning as we made our way down the trail. We noticed pieces of ice clinging like glass ornaments to the branches of some willow trees. The sun was sinking low and presented a nice opportunity for a backlit picture. I guess I should have anticipated taking lots of shots of ice during the winter months of this project.

David Bebee

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Beauty Beneath the Ice

I decided to take a short hike on the Grand between photo assignments and wound up at the end of Lexington Road in Waterloo. The car park is closed for the season, but there was enough room for one vehicle to park at the gate. The conditions seemed the same as yesterday, with a sullen grey sky providing flat light and the river engulfed in deep snow. At first glance, not exactly a photographer's dream. 

  As I trudged down the trail, I noticed large chunks of ice, heaved up on the rocks, and fallen tree limbs along the shore. I moved down to get a closer look under the mammoth ice slabs and found grasses dangling underneath. Some of the fine, spaghetti-like strands of beige grass were coated in a delicate frost, which gave them a crystal-like beauty. 

  

David Bebee

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River keepers - Woolwich Clean Waterways Group

Barb Taylor, left, and Janet Cox of the Woolwich Clean Waterways Group stood on the bank of the Canagagigue Creek in Elmira, Thursday, their faces pinched against a gusting wind that occasionally threw the falling snow horizontally. They probably wondered if the snow they were standing on covered a sound riverbank or a thin crust of ice canter levered over the water. 

I know that's what I was wondering. They were there at my request, of course, and I didn't fancy the thought of seeing them do a late polar bear plunge because a few steps closer to the silver maples on the other bank looked better in a picture. 

Barb and Janet are among 12 members of a group of people who have nurtured the Canagagigue Creek, a tributary of the Grand River, back to health in the area from Bolander Park to the edge of Woolwich Township. When they started in 1991 there was limited vegetation along its banks and a lack of fencing on the bordering farms that allowed cattle access to the creek. The manure they left raised the nutrient levels, which in turn caused algae blooms that depleted the oxygen level, making it poor fish habitat. 

Working with the farmers who worked the majority of the land around the creek, and backed by an army of volunteers from the community including area school kids, the group planted native trees and shrubs that shaded the water, allowing fish to survive. The greenery also added habitat for birds and and acted as a natural corridor for other animals. 

The group is a recipient of a 2008 GRCA Watershed Award. 

Mathew McCarthy

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Kolb Park in snow

This is another one from Kolb Park in Kitchener. The snowfall muted detail and gave it a bit of painterly look. 

Mathew McCarthy

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Downy woodpecker

I took a walk in Kolb Park along the Walter Bean Trail in Kitchener during a light snowfall to see what pictures I could make in the 20 minutes I had before my next assignment. The light snowfall flattened the contrast, softening the feel of the scene. 

I heard a downy woodpecker chirping near the water and had a bit of a challenge trying to get a clear shot of him in the tangle of branches. 

Mathew McCarthy

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Freeze up

I was passing over the Grand at Bridgeport and noticed a lot had changed since the day before.  It seemed that the river had transformed overnight.  Open water was now solid ice as the recent cold snap continues to bring with it snow and ice.  As the mercury plummets, the freeze up of the Grand has intensified. As I walked down to the banks, I pulled my scarf up on my exposed face to ward off the bitter winter wind which was whipping across the surface of the mostly frozen water.  As the sun was sinking below the horizon, the daylight was almost extinguished.  Using a slow shutter speed I took this picture of the advancing ice on an area of the river that was still open.  The waterfowl that has been present the previous day were missing and must have been taking cover in an area less open to the elements.  After getting hit with another blast of wind, I decided that was a smart move and followed suit.

David Bebee

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Belwood Lake ice fishing

With Thursday's windchill yanking the temperature down to around -23 C, I had to ask Blair Johnson and his friend, Brandon Young, above, if ice fishing on Belwood Lake meant they had a screw loose. "You get a little cold, but you can't ice fish in July," Johnson said. They didn't want to take cover in the handful of huts available because they limit fishers to one spot. Out in the open with the ability to move, a man with an auger is a man with possibilities.  

The pair spend winters plowing snow for a living. "When it doesn't snow, we come out here," Young said. They'd been on the lake for a little over an hour and caught a couple of pike that they threw back. They planned on being out for a couple hours more or until they caught enough fish.

Last year, ice fishing was limited to only the last bit of winter because water levels were so low. Belwood Lake exists because of the Shand Dam, a structure built in 1942 to control water flow on the Grand. Last year, drought conditions shrunk the area of fish habitat, concentrating the population and leaving them susceptible to over-fishing. 

Mathew McCarthy

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