Hiking in Edmonton’s Whitemud Ravine

Yesterday we went for a lovely little hike with our pooch Kaldi, in the Whitemud Ravine. We’ve walked and biked Edmonton’s ravines for many years, but somehow we’ve gotten into a rut in the past couple of years, and just walk in our neighbourhood ravine, or along the streets.

We’ve decided to try a different approach in 2021, and expand our walking adventures. To start with we just drove ten minutes from our house to the Rainbow Valley Bridge and hiked south on the Whitemud Ravine trail. It is part of the Whitemud Ravine Nature Reserve. It never ceases to astound me how little I know of the city I have live in for more than forty years! Well, actually daily I am astounded by how little I know, period.

In any event, it is a very beautiful trail. I love the trees, and some of them huge with beautiful furrowed bark. Bright red berries still hang from the high bush cranberries. There are a lot of birds, we recognized some of them, and their calls, but I certainly have a lot more to learn there too. There were a few birders with big lensed cameras, moms and dads getting small children out and about in nature, and a handful of people just enjoying their stroll.

The Older Set

It is clear to me that I have joined the set of people who have wrinkly and saggy skin, get up several times in the night to go to the bathroom, repeat themselves occasionally, and lean a bit one way or the other when they walk. But that’s OK with me. There are other things that come with this set for me – like accepting others as they are, taking the time to admire beautiful babies and small creatures, and in general taking time – not rushing.

I’m sitting on our deck in Maui, enjoying a coffee and the view. I’m looking forward to laying in the sun, dipping in the ocean and reading on the beach. How fortunate I am in this life