I ventured to Elk Island National Park today and hiked the Amisk Wuche Trail.  It's a nice little hike with lots of hills and pond views.  It also is home to my favorite spot in the entire park.  

There was nobody in the parking lot when I arrived which meant that I was going to be the sole soul on the trail.  I put on the hiking cleats to help me get up and down the hills without sliding as if I was on skis.  It was a good thing that I put them on as many sections of the trail were iced over.

I stopped at the first boardwalk to view the pond.  The warm temperatures of late have melted the surface snow.  The morning sun glistened off the ice.  I could hear a squirrel in the treetops and a blue jay in the distance.  The light breeze rustled the long grasses and made the cat tails sway back and forth.

It didn't take long to get to my favorite spruce tree-lined section of the trail.  The trees tower over the trail on both sides.  Their branches are so thick overhead that they prevent snow from falling onto the path.  The little bit that did manage to fall through has melted and creating a treacherous patch to walk over.  I was thankful for the cleats on my boots.

The boreal chickadees were flitting from branch to branch.  Their songs caught my attention and I listened for a few minutes.  I felt like I was being watched.  I looked around and spied a hare beneath one

of the large trees.  It was tucked between the roots and was watching intently.  I didn't want to stress or scare it but I did want a photo.  It stayed in place as I took a couple of shots.  What a find!  It was in the same area as the pileated woodpecker that I had the close encounter with on my last visit.

As I continued around the loop I could hear the wind rustling through the tree branches.  The sections of the trail that had snow were soft and filled with a variety of animal tracks and scat.  I made it to a bench on the trail where I stopped for water and a snack.  As I sat I heard the wind whistling.  Loose sections of birch bark fluttered in the breeze.  Grasses rustled around me.  Chickadees sang from the evergreen branches.  It was the sweet sound of a forest orchestra.


I'm always on the look out for nature's art as I walk the trails in the winter.  It might be patterns in the snow formed by the wind blowing grasses around.  It might be snow formations on the tops of tree stumps or on tree branches.  I found one today that made me smile.  A tree had fallen and the way it dropped it looked like it was leaning back with arms crossed enjoying the sights and sounds of the forest just as I did today.