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In early January, one might expect to be hiking through a snowy landscape. However, that was far from the case when we hiked a slow circuit of the trails along Black Ance Road at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park yesterday. We found the shorter grass in the meadows and forests looking quite green. Open water was seen just about everywhere except in some of the shallow, rocky pools shaded by forest.

Shortly after noon, we set off walking west along Black Ance Road, stopping occasionally to look for signs of frog or turtle activity in the streams, ditches and pools alongside the roadway (we did not see any frog activity). At the largest pond, a thin layer of patterned ice reflected the cool sunlight in an interesting way. Arriving at the point where Black Creek passes beneath Black Ance Road, we found the water level quite high. It seemed almost like a springtime scene, but with the tall grasses along the shoreline looking dry and brown.

Don spotted a mature Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) ermerging from the tall White Pines to fly upstream above the creek. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough with my camera, so no photo.

We left the roadway, turning north to follow one of the hiking trails that leads between stony ridges and hardwood forest. Along the way, I happened to notice what I have come to refer to as exploding trees. About 9 meters (30 feet) above the ground, the tree, an aspen, erupted into a pair of wild looking “explosive” rings of growth. Above, the tree continued on with perhaps another 8+ meters (25 feet) of fairly normal looking top growth as can be seen in this photo. We’re still not entirely certain of the cause of this malformation, but have heard several theories. If anyone reading this happens to know the cause, please do leave a comment. Wild-assed guesses are also quite welcome. (-:

After examining and photographing the misshapen tree, we decided to wander up onto the high ridge that overlooks the marshy south end of Loon Lake to see if there was much beaver activity, and indeed, we found that there was plenty afoot.

Looking north from our vantage point atop the ridge, we could see a low dam blocking off the southern tip of the lake. Further up the lake, we could see signs of recent tree cutting activities. We continued along the ridge for a better view of the dam and what turned out to be some very ambitious tree felling on a small island near the south end of the lake (see above). Several large trees were at various stages of being brought down.

While standing atop the ridge, Don noticed a weathered deer skull and a few leg bones lying nearby. I took several photos including some macro shots of the upper molars. Leaving the ridge, we returned to the ski trail and then made our way along the main trail towards the MacParlan House cabin. When we reached the inlet at the end of Hogg’s Bay, we found a good-sized White Pine (Pinus strobus) tipped over and fallen into the water. Quite a large circle of earth had been turned up when the tree was uprooted.

Just before we reached the footbridge over Black Creek, we stopped so that I could take a few photos of the moss and lichen-covered rocks that were looking very alive and well saturated on this day (see top photo in this post). I particularly liked the pattern of moss growing on this rock as it almost looked like it could have been shaped by Andy Goldsworthy.

As on our last hike along this trail, we found the water level in the creek to be quite high and flowing with great force as it passed beneath the footbridge. We completed the last leg of our walk and returned to our parked vehicle about two hours after setting out on our walk. The temperature was about 4C (39F), and with no snow on the ground, we both felt that it seemed more like an early November walk. On our return home, we noticed that our neighbour’s cattle and the lone llama were out grazing in the pasture — definitely a very rare and unusual sight in January in eastern Ontario. We did get a bit of snow last night, but it melted away this morning and we’re back to bare grass once more.

Note: I’ve tried something new this time and am hoping it works okay. I’ve posted the large versions of the photos and additional photos in my online photo gallery and have linked to it from my blog. I don’t think there should be a great difference in the speed at which the photos will load when called up from the above links. The small photos used in this blog entry are stored on my regular server account the same as usual. For anyone who might be interested, there are a few additional photos from yesterday’s hike posted in this gallery.

Tags: Black Ance Road, Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Castor canadensis, Beaver, beaver dam, Odocoileus virginianus, White-tailed deer, White Pine, Pinus strobus, Murphys Point Provincial Park