Photo of the Week 2014-04-14

This weekend's photo outing took us to Robert Edmondson (formerly Burns) Conservation Area in Halton Region. We arrived to a chained gate and signs that the area was closed .... pfffffttt. I parked outside the entrance and we decided to go in and see what the "closed" thing was all about.

As Patrick and I walked through the parking area we noticed that the trees and branches broken and downed, during the ice storm a while back, had yet to be cleared and cut up. We also noticed a new "User Fee Station". Our response ... "WHAT ?!?! They're going to charge to come here? How much ? $7.50 per adult ? You've got to be bloody joking !!! "

It seems the costs to change the signs from "Burns" to "Robert Edmondson" were too much for the region to bear. Oh I get that establishing and maintaining conservation areas comes at a cost and the "user pay" model is a fair way to recoup them but ...  by their own admission, Halton describes the area this way; "The park includes a reservoir and picnic area, and features a 2 km trail through wetlands and woods". Charging $7.50 per adult for a single day use of a picnic bench and 2 km trail is absurd. ThIs may be the last time I'll visit Burns errrr Robert Edmondson.

Halton's fees and restricted access early morning and evenings when light is best for photography have already severely limited my visits to their other locations like Hilton Falls, Mountsberg, Rattlesnake Point and Mount Nemo. Pity, it's getting more and more difficult to find accessible natural areas. Municipalities like Halton and Hamilton lock their gates and set fees that are becoming more and more of a deterrent ... for me anyway.

I did manage to make this image during the outing.

golden willows

 DJE