Little Oaks and Winter Camping
Welcome back!
I was wandering through a local park, following a random deer trail, hoping to find something new, and maybe get a little lost and test my sense of direction, when I stumbled on a small grove of stunted and twisted oak trees. The shapes are tortured, a testament to the harsh environment of frigid winter winds, dry summers, and random deer nibbles. After snapping a few shots I had this idea of making it a project, and ended up returning to that and other groves…
…with varying results. Well, nothing pans out like one first intends, and I can’t say I feel I’ve done justice, and sometimes it was frustrating to return to a location only to have the light disappear. But as they say, if at first you don’t succeed…etc. That said, I’ll keep the oak tree studies to a minimum. This month also includes a couple of deer (Little Bob and Big Bob), a winter camping trip, and a few other odds and ends.
But let’s dive in. I chose black and white for these because it’s really about the shapes, texture, and contrast:
None of these trees are more than 3 metres high, and each one seems pruned and shaped by the severity of the climate. A few more:
Finally, while following another deer trail, to a place where mankind has never set foot 😁 , I found this:
The can has been there so long, the rust has eaten pinholes in the can.
Finally, an overview. I’d returned to see if different light would create different opportunities, but the clouds rolled in again. Still, the sky took a dramatic turn, promising the kind of environment that makes these oaks so twisty in the first place:
I’m sure most of the above was interesting to very few people, so here’s a bit of colour to shock you awake:
Oaks again, last of the fall colour, with a few red dogwoods to complement the yellow. The backlighting is really intense, but mostly I liked the almost delicate tracery of the branches.
On a different early morning, before dawn, I began my hike, and immediately scared away several does from an open field…damn! I thought, but then noticed another deer staring at me. A quick glance through the telephoto revealed a young buck with a tiny, almost adorable, rack. Little Bob appeared to be trying to figure out if Doreen was watching and would applaud his bravery. I leveraged this indecision and crept closer:
At this point I was too close, and discretion became the better part of valour. But Little Bob took his time, and slowly made is his way left. It was only then I noticed Big Bob:
When I think of whitetail bucks, Big Bob is what I think of, that’s quite an impressive rack. But he was less brave, or more prudent, than Little Bob, and strolled off into the forest before I got closer.
I retreated to studying the growing morning light on the grasses, some of the seed heads really pick up the sky, and I liked how these were framed by the darker plants around them:
Clouds rolled in again, obscuring the sunrise, but the morning colours leaked through the clouds above in odd places, which made for quite a dramatic panorama:
A couple weeks later, the weather took a severe turn, just in time for our annual camping trip to Spruce Woods. The day we left it was already snowing and sleeting hard. It promised to be a cold, wet weekend. Just getting out of the city was a comedic trial which I hope to do justice.
A few details here sound mundane, but are important, so bear with me 😉 First, we decided against taking my Corolla, especially since with the unseasonable nice weather I’d neglected to get the snow tires on, and I had no intention of driving a hockey puck down the highway. So Blair steps up and offers his 4Runner, with his van in reserve in case the 4Runner isn’t working properly. All seems well, but it’s Remembrance Day, nothing is open, and we need gas and coffee.
“Surely the gas station at the Perimeter is open, that’s a truck stop.” So off we go, and sure enough, it’s open. I climb out to take pictures.
Meanwhile, David goes in to find coffee, but no luck. “We can’t serve beverages on Remembrance Day,” says the clerk. But no worries, off we go…and get about 300 metres down the road when the 4Runner starts having a coughing fit. Now it won’t go faster than 40km/h and it smells terrible, like something is wrong with the fuel pump/carburetor. We hem and haw, and eventually with great reluctance we turn around and head back down the highway at 40km/h, hazard lights on, hoping it doesn’t die completely. Eventually we go over some railroad tracks, and immediately the bump seems to “fix” whatever problem it had, but … at this point it seems prudent to leave it behind. Of course, it ran great the rest of the way back… 😫
So we transfer all the gear to the van, wipe off all the newly accumulated snow, and head out again, an hour later. But we need gas…
“Surely the gas station at the Perimeter is open, that’s a truck stop…” We chuckle at the deja vu, and as we pull into the same spot we realize there’s a clear view of us from the clerk’s desk, never mind all the people in the diner who probably haven’t moved. We spill out as before, wondering if any of the diners have noticed this clown show.
I turn to David and say “I will pay you to go in there and ask the clerk for coffee…” Which he does. David says the clerk’s eyes almost went cross-eyed. “We…uh…can’t serve beverages on Remembrance Day…until 11am!” Maybe the oddness of the situation triggered something, and he offered up new information. I have a feeling he’ll always remember that Remembrance Day 😆
In any case, we made it to Spruce Woods. The hike in was beautiful and the paths were not too challenging yet. In keeping with my theme, these be some little oaks, etched in snow:
Funny enough, that’s my favourite oak shot, even though it was taken hastily with the iPhone.
For the rest, it was a wet weekend, not as cold as some years, but the constant snow and wind made things more challenging. Piling snow around the tent bases kept out most of the drifting and blowing snow:
Once we finally got the fire going it burned well, and the cabin served as a nice warming shelter (which no one else showed up to use):
The hike out, however, was one of the most gruelling hikes I’ve ever done, up and down, with snow alternately just over our boots, to a few drifts almost up to our hips:
Hopefully that was somewhat entertaining. Until next time, stay warm and cozy!
Cheers!
