Photo of the Week 2020-08-24

Another weekend, another weekend hike with Jordan. This time, we hiked in Forks of the Credit Provincial Park and headed for the mill ruins at Cataract Falls.

Unfortunately, the trail past the ruins and viewing platform have been closed and well fenced-off while replacement of the platform is under consideration. Not to be thwarted in our attempts to get a view of the ruins and falls, we followed the trail to the north side of the river and turned onto the Elora-Cataract Trailway and found a path down the upper slope of the gorge to the rail line and crossed to a fenced location where we could overlook the ruins and river with a view upstream.

 

Credit River Upstream at Cataract Falls

 

 

 

Canon EOS M - Kolari Dual Spectrum (IR & vis) Conversion

Canon EF-M 11-22 f/4-5.6 IS STM @ f/8

Kolari 590nm Filter

1/100 s, ISO 100

 

It was 5 years since I had last visited and 10 or 15 since I first visited. Sadly, the increased foot traffic and use of the park over that time has changed it's character ... not for the better. Like many parks and trails that see overuse, footpaths are well worn but the infuriating signs of disrespectful visitors, ignorant of their impact, were far too numerous. Discarded used diapers, food containers, dozens of empty water bottles, tissue and toilet paper were to be found in the trailside bushes ... without having to look very hard :-(

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-12-14

... actually a photo series this week

Having surrendered the cottage to one of our sons, I was looking closer to home for a trail to explore this past weekend and had noticed a comment from fellow blogger, the Furry Gnome on one of my recent posts. He mentioned the Hanlon Creek trails he used to roam and that gave me an idea to revisit the area, but those plans were short lived.

During the week I reached out to friend and regular photo companion Alan, thinking we would be able to get out for a photo walkabout while I was in town, but he had other plans. Then late in the week I started thinking of how to fit in a facility visit for work during an already packed schedule next week ... and came up with the idea of taking care of it on Saturday knowing I could find some trails near Celadon to explore instead of the Hanlon area. I pocked Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. It had been years since I had been out there and it was time for some hiking and photography.

kettle lake shore

With another tip of the hat to the Furry Gnome, when selecting this location, I had envisioned making a series of photographs along the trail much as he does periodically for his blog, Seasons in the Valley . 

Shortly in to my hike, I came across this kettle lake less than a kilometer from the car. Drawn to the lines of the trees across the lake, reflecting on the water in the still hazy air of the morning, I stopped and started to assess the scene before me.There was a section of shoreline that my eye kept returning to, from a clump of birch trunks to an old broken snag by the shore. I got lost in the process, formulating my approach, moving a few steps right, forward, over there and then back. Almost in a trance, oblivious to anything else around me, I worked the scene, framing it up in trial compositions, exploring several of the details. Then I was done, having made several images I was back and aware of other things, I could hear the voice of a child coming closer as he rode on his father's back enjoying the trails. The came down the trail and as they approached ... "see anything interesting", the mother asked.

... "always, there's always something interesting to see", I replied.

More ...

kettle lake shore II

kettle lake shore III

kettle lake shore IV

I hiked the area for aout 2 hours making additional images along the way, but it was the first scene and those first images that stuck out when I returned home and uploaded to by image library.
 
DJE