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| Nose Creek winding across the valley floor. |
- Washrooms: beside parking lot
- Paved and Gravel Path
- Parking: Lot on Site
Hidden Valley
Today I returned to finish my exploration of the west end of Confluence Park. Excited by promises of streams and beaver activity, I was initially disappointed by the flat, dry land at the trail head and the two freeways bordering the park on the south and west. Things began to get more interesting a few minutes later, though, when I found the 2002 Birthplace Forest (explained here), although it seemed a bit out of place sticking up out of the surrounding grasslands.
After wandering through the trees for a while, I returned to the main path - which suddenly seemed to drop off over the edge of the world. Sure enough, the land feel away before me, and there was the promised creek winding along the bottom of a wide valley. As I descended, I left the sights and sounds of the freeways behind and enjoyed the birdsong and gurgling water below. Much better!
The valley floor is wide and flat at this end of the park, and the creek twists and turns through fields of silver wolf willow, the deepening red of rose hips, and swaths of yellow flowers.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of the promised beavers, although it seemed like a pretty ideal location to me. The sun was warm on the bottom of this sheltered valley, and the creek burbled and sparkled with abandon. A perfect place to settle down with that special beaver friend and raise a bunch of kits!
Today I returned to finish my exploration of the west end of Confluence Park. Excited by promises of streams and beaver activity, I was initially disappointed by the flat, dry land at the trail head and the two freeways bordering the park on the south and west. Things began to get more interesting a few minutes later, though, when I found the 2002 Birthplace Forest (explained here), although it seemed a bit out of place sticking up out of the surrounding grasslands.
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| Approaching the edge . . . |
After wandering through the trees for a while, I returned to the main path - which suddenly seemed to drop off over the edge of the world. Sure enough, the land feel away before me, and there was the promised creek winding along the bottom of a wide valley. As I descended, I left the sights and sounds of the freeways behind and enjoyed the birdsong and gurgling water below. Much better!
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| . . . of the golden valley below. |
The valley floor is wide and flat at this end of the park, and the creek twists and turns through fields of silver wolf willow, the deepening red of rose hips, and swaths of yellow flowers.
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| Dark red rose hips hint at the coming fall. |
Unfortunately, there was no sign of the promised beavers, although it seemed like a pretty ideal location to me. The sun was warm on the bottom of this sheltered valley, and the creek burbled and sparkled with abandon. A perfect place to settle down with that special beaver friend and raise a bunch of kits!
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