What a beautiful outdoor day!  The wind gusted to 120kph yesterday and today it was calm.  The sun tried peeking through and the temperature was warm; melting more of the snowbank mountains.

Two gal-pals from work joined me on the Amisk Wuche snowshoe trail at Elk Island National Park.  It was great fun having company on the outing.  We witnessed the destruction that the gusty wind had caused.

Trees of all sizes were downed by the wind.  Branches and twigs littered the trail.  Bits of broken spruce boughs were strewn over the snow.  My favorite part of the trail meanders through an area where huge spruce trees tower overhead.  One of them was snapped off like a toothpick.  The trunk was more than 12 inches in diameter.  It crashed over the trail forcing us to duck going under it while trying to step over the smaller trees that were also broken off.  The smell of spruce sap was prevalent.  It was heavenly!

That area is usually sheltered from the wind.  It is often the spot that I stop for a water break for this reason.  The gusting that took place yesterday did not spare the area.  It was also the spot that had the most spruce bough bits covering the snow surface.

The highway through the park was ice covered in areas.  When the sun shone down on it, the road looked like a skating rink.  

As we sat down to lunch, I looked out the window and noticed that at least a foot of the wooden garden beds was now showing through the snow.  A lot of the backyard snow has melted over the last few days.  It has created a treacherous layer of ice on my driveway.  The task for tomorrow will involve dealing with all those slippery areas.  Hopefully that won't take too long and I'll be able to head out to the forest again.