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 I went for a roughly 12km walk this morning and decided to take some photographs along the way.

I am grateful that along Donegani there is this long path, it is intended for both cyclists and for walkers. Extremely rarely is it so busy that having both cyclists and walkers on this same path poses a problem.

 

From about the same position I took this photo just to show how the sky was such a clear, vivid blue. In all directions there wasn't a single cloud to see.

Past Cedar Park train station the path goes through a golf course and so there is thick foliage on either side of the path. Just past that this two-sided-foliage part, there are these two massive trees, the next two photos focus in on one of them.

I reached Beaconsfield Train Station and took these steps down to boul St-Charles

Though I didn't stop there, this McDo has been in this location since likely before I was born; I remember having gone there when I was pre-teen.

At the bottom of St-Charles I reached the water - Lac St. Louis.

There happened to be some Canada Geese not far from shore at this spot (click the image to get the big version so you can see them).

Then I passed in to Pointe-Claire village and the subsequent photo is of The Pioneer, which is destined for demolition to be replaced with a condos. Back when it was open as The Pioneer, a pub that also had music performances, I had never gone. Prior to being The Pioneer, it was a hotel when this building was first built. There was a movement (unsuccessful) to save this building and put it to a new use.

A little further along, after The Pioneer, was Stewart Hall, a cultural center.It is a little difficult to make out, behind all of the trees. By clicking on the image to get the bigger version you can make out the main front door of it.

A little after The Pioneer I ended up walking behind a lady who kept a pace that was ever so slightly less than mine. By stopping to take a photo, here and there, I managed to always stay behind her. Though she likely only had the barest peripheral knowledge of my existence, I enjoyed the communal feeling I felt of us walking together for the 45-60 minutes that we did.

With only one sailboat left, there are perhaps 25 mooring balls at this particular spot, called the Pointe-Claire Sailing Club. I occasionally think about someday having my own sailboat moored here for a season or two. That I don't currently own one, nor have a place to store it during the off season poses rather of a hindrance.

 

Near the Valois train station exit from the Lakeshore road a handful of Inukshuk like statues have been placed.

At the train station end of the tunnel, an artist was hired to paint the inside and outside of the tunnel entrance. I like living at 45 north, it is half way between the equator and the pole. Being 73 west is about average, I'd say.

Walking out of the station there is a path that goes by, among other things, the Valois pool, where my three kids have taken swim lessons. It has been closed for the winter, explaining the condition it is in in the photo.

Walking past the pool, past the junior school my kids went to (grade k-3) we get to a football/soccer field used by the nearby highschool and others. In the background is the church I go to.

The next three photos are from Sunnyside park, the first is the upper part of it, the second is of a massive tree that is at the top of the hill that is the third photo.

At the end of that path there is only about 200m more and then I'm back at my apartment. It took about two hours 20 minutes to walk this trek, I really enjoyed it and may do it again later this fall.

another long walk

So like I mentioned in my last one, I was planning to do the same one in reverse, and this is what I did.

I had calculated that the first 211 bus to take me home would leave at 6h05 and so I reverse calculated the time I was to leave and left at just before 1h15. This ended up being a mistake as the sun is rising later now and still some of those mansions in Senneville were in the dark when I got to them.

Even before my walk left Pointe-Claire I encountered my first nocturnal animal (a skunk) and my first other night walkers (a couple walking east on Donegani as I was walking west).
Instead of walking Donegani to Elm to boul St-Charles, I walked Donegani to Elm to Beacon Hill to Creswell to boul St-Charles.

In that Beaconhill Creswell section I saw four more nocturnal animals (a rabbit, a skunk and a parent and child raccoon together) and two more night walkers (another couple).

I do not think in past walks on boul St-Charles I ever captured the crossing of Kirkland:

And then soon enough later I crossed hwy 40 which was very low on traffic.

On my last walk I got a great sun rise photo of the REM elevated track support; here it is at night:

The walk north on boul St-Charles to Gouin was bereft of nocturnal animals, but I did see three other night walkers (a single, and a couple, all walking on the south direction side of boul St-Charles while I walked on the north direction side).

Once I turned west on Gouin I noticed three rather prominent stars. Using my Skymap app I found they were Vega, Deneb and Altair. I did not know this, but even though each of these stars are each part of different constellations, the three of them together are known as the Summer Triangle.

That night I also, using the Skymap app, happened to see Jupiter at the beginning part of the walk; it descended below the horizon by the end. I also saw both Mars and Venus, and here is a shot of Venus as the light from our sun is just barely starting to show itself.

Venus was behind me as I was walking at that part of the walk.

Then I passed the Cap St-Jacques Park, and the l'Anse à l'Orme street and finally my first evidence of being on Senneville street.

A little bit before I took the next photo I came across my next nocturnal animal, it was a skunk that was in the middle of the street that didn't really notice me coming until rather late, and then it didn't really react, so I skooted by it very carefully.

Combining a curve in the road plus the movement of Venus through the sky, it became visible to my left through the trees.

Many of the houses in the early stretch of Senneville road walking in the direction have gates. The first photo shows two lit lions guarding this gate. The following two are photos of some houses that were behind some walls that separate them from the street. You can see that I arrived in the neighbourhood too early; it is too dark.

Venus was still with me on the left, here you can see the sky is starting to lighten.

Then I crossed hyw 40 again and a little bit later now that it was lighter, I was able to capture one of the houses.

And then it was turn right on Rue St-Anne which took me all the way to the bus stop on the grounds of John Abbott College.

Google Maps said it would take 4h45 to walk that distance, I walked it in 4h15, so I ended up having to wait for the bus. That wasn't a big deal, there was a place for me to sit at the bus stop to give my knees and ankles a break.

I may come back and do this one again, paying closer attention to when the sun rises; but I think I'll do a different one before I do this one again.

yep yep yet yes

Awoke at 1h55, got to the bus stop at 2h12, bus arrived to pick me up at 2h24, got to Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue at around 2h40 (I didn't check the time).

I was not able to get a clear photo, but it says 2h28.

Where the bus let me off I was just a few streets away from entering Senneville.

I saw my first nocturnal at around this point: a skunk that paid no attention to me as it nosed through the front lawn of a house I passed. A little further along there was an opening that let me see the Ottawa river and the moon looked really good. This is the best my mobile phone could do with it:

It was soon after this, or just before, that it occurred to me I should have done this walk in the opposite direction. The houses along this road in Senneville are mostly mansions with vast well kept designer grounds. Some of the houses had lights throughout their garden lighting up the trees and other vegetation. Perhaps I'll do this same route again next, or in the near future, where I walk to Ste-Anne-De-Bellevue along the same route, and take the bus home.

The road called Senneville passes under hwy 40:

After the highway, more houses, and then it was just forest, and then there was a short section where there were not even street lights. It was a little creepy at first as the forest was thick to each side, but at about the half mark of this section of unlit the forest cleared and it was wide open. I could see a vast amount of sky. It was here I saw my next nocturnals - I saw a few fireflies. Then finally the road was Senneville no longer and this is the first instance of Gouin that I saw:

Just a bit later I came across Cap St-Jacques, first, a sign leading to the beach, and then second, the main entrance road. You can see the sky is starting to lighten.

After Cap St-Jacques, Gouin mostly had houses on the water side of the street, but in a few spots it opened up allowing for the following photos to be taken.

It just around here I saw my next nocturnal - another skunk, this one I got fairly close to and was angling to photograph him, but just as I got ready he noticed me and jumped through a hedge, no longer visible.

The sun was rising:

And then Gouin meets St-Charles:

The sun shown through between the buildings as I walked this section of boul St-Charles as it was still low in the sky. Here I meet up with hwy 40:

I am fascinated by the construction of the REM and some day I hope to see Anne in action. The following photos are all at hwy 40; this new transit line runs parallel.

Then it was Elm, to Donegani, to a path that joins one part of Donegani with the next.

I got home just before 7h.