Finally — a beaver

Over the years I’ve spent hours exercising around Lake LaFarge where I’ve admired an occasional bald eagle, a profusion of ducks and Canada geese and even a few tortoise sunning themselves on logs, but I had yet to spot a beaver.

Kifune Jinji Oku-no-miya

Further up Kibune River was the last shrine, originally the site of Kifune Shrine before it was moved in 1055. This shrine was also dedicated to the diety of water and rain.

Mt Cootha Forest trails

There were seventy trails to explore within Brisbane’s Mt Cooth’s forest. The longest was less than three kilometres. We set out on our second trail — the Aboriginal Art circuit.

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

I hadn’t visited this site in over a decade, and the last time I’d been there was not long after the disastrous Calgary floods. This visit was all snowed over and the trails were precarious though the sounds of birds penetrated the entire site.

Kifune Shrine of tears

About two kilometres from Kibune-guchi train station I approached the first shrine where I climbed  stone steps lined with lanterns. Strangely, there was a statue of a black horse that appeared to be crying.

A JC Slaughter Falls hike

We were on our way to JC Slaughter Falls, but already unsure if we’d see any water tumbling over rocks because the East Ithaca Creek was only a puddle here and there. Still, we were hopeful of a hike through Brisbane’s Mt Cootha’s forest and we weren’t disappointed.

Riverwalk Trail

This hiking trail stretched from downtown Calgary to Inglewood before it changed into the Bow River Trail. By the trail, the Bow River was just a pencil line the day I returned to Calgary. But temperatures warmed and each day that pencil line stretched wider and wider with the surge of of melting ice bounding along.