Sue Higgins Park

Heavy skies and mist lend a magical quality to the morning.

• Washrooms: Port-a-Potties in the Lot
• Paved and Dirt Path
• Parking: Lot on site
• Magically Misty Morning    
  Heavy clouds covered the sun today, and I wasn't terribly excited about my daily walk this chilly morning.  It didn't help that there wasn't a clear path from the parking lot, just a fenced off-leash area, patches of gravel and a couple of port-a-potties.  Not my most inspiring trailhead!

Even the nearby island is hard to see clearly.

Trying to keep an open mind, I cut across the off-leash area towards the river.  Suddenly I realised how subdued everything was - even the few dogs seemed to be content just nosing at the fence posts.  As I walked, I began to warm up and started to enjoy the mist washing my face.  The dark closeness of the morning became cozy and peaceful, wrapping around me like a quilt.

A splash of colour in the darkness.

There turned out to be a path after all, running alongside the river and bordered by patches of yellow flowers.  Areas on both sides are cordoned off to protect the new growth, nourished by the the rich deposits left behind by the flood waters a few years ago.  Between the few old surviving Balsam poplars there is a thriving crop of new seedlings, grasses and bushes.  Very green!

A footprint in the stairs.

Pelicans!

I could see the river through the trees, but the fencing restricted access to just a few structured points.  In one area, wide concrete steps, stamped with the prints of local wildlife, lead right into the river. A great place to just sit and watch the water flow by!  I also had a great view of the river from the footbridge, where I was lucky to see four pelicans fly over my head and land between me and the nearby island.  

The footbridge disappears into the trees.

So today's trek was a success after all!  In the end, I was completely overwhelmed by the calming effects of this misty morning.  And I wasn't the only one - the dog walkers, joggers and even the fisherman on the bank seemed to be in the same peaceful, almost dozy state that I was in.  What a great way to start the day!