Down in The Bowl

What a glorious morning for a walk. We rarely have a day off together when we can choose what part of the day we would like to walk in. The early morning walks are our favourites. After a very large cup of freshly brewed coffee and a few slabs of Paska, we chose to walk around Down's Bowl, a change from our usual Discovery Trail walk. When we arrived at the bowl's edge, we noticed that there had been some up-grading done to the trail and so, instead of walking around the bowl, we decided to go down into it.  

Our city is blessed with a series of ravines and gullies, the result of ancient heavy runoff from the escarpment we are on, that is many hundreds of feet above the level of the river. Here, the trail starts its downward slope. This bowl is very deep, and the sides are quite steep and have to be taken at an angle.

Ever downward, as we enter old growth rain forest, right in the city! The Douglas Firs, Maples, and Cottonwood trees are massive and very old.

Nearing the bottom, the trail crosses many streams and boggy areas with the help of these bridges. The trails down here are wonderful and well maintained.

Winding ever downward, the bridges become more numerous and the terrain begins to change.

Finally at the bottom, we enter a swamp that would be dangerous to walk through without the aid of these boardwalks. It is a landscape of Skunk Cabbage, sprouting Bulrushes, Fiddle heads, Horsetail and old stumps, all in a mucky, murky bed of primordial ooze. It even has its own unique odour.  

 And then the trail winds its way upward once again, and we find out it is warmer than when we were going downhill.

A muddy spot in the trail that is helped out with some old lumber.

Near the top once again, where the trees are much larger. Here are conjoined Maple quadruplets.

As we are once again on the top edge of the bowl, the trail crosses one last creek and exits onto a main road. Spend an hour or two in the bowl and it feels like you have been in a different world with only the sounds of gently gurgling streams, a cacophony of bird calls, and woodpecker rat-a-tat-tatting.

Next post will show some of the things one finds in the bowl in early Spring.