A Nature Walk With A Surprise

Family Day was yesterday. Yes, a day dedicated to spending time with your family, how cool is that? It is a fairly new holiday here in Ontario, about five years old to be exact. And although I don't think we really need a reminder to enjoy time together, I will admit it is a nice little long weekend in mid February that feels really special and kinda gives you that last little burst of energy you need to get through these last few weeks of winter.

We chose to spend it together and hit the trails for a hike. Not really much different from most of our days, it is just how we roll around here. This trail, the Samual Wilmont Nature Area, is a place we visit often, but had not been to since the big ice storms in December. There is a lot of damage, but still so much beauty. We started our hike away from the lake and didn't have plans to venture to the lake until we stood on one of the look out decks and could see huge mounds of snow and ice at the lake. We knew we had to go check them out.

What we found amazed us...ice volcanoes. We had seen them on the news a few weeks ago, but had no idea we would find them here. The ice volcanoes are built up by waves crashing at the edge of the ice, or sometimes driving under the ice and then breaking through a crack to the air above. They need the right combination of temperature, wind and wave direction to form. I guess this year has been perfect conditions because they were phenomenal.

Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me.