Capturing the Art of Nature
Day 3 - October 14
40 mile Creek and the Niagara Escarpment meet at Grimsby, Ontario to give us Beamer Falls and it's all easily accessible thanks to the Bruce Trail.
Category
Ontario Adventures
2006
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Though my third day now in Ontario this was my first on the road for photography. It seems we arrived in the midst of an early snow storm which caused major havoc all around us. Fortunately the Grimsby area was spared the worst and though we had high winds and rain there was little snow. So I was laid up indoors dreaming of what adventures may yet come.
So on day three when the weather finally cleared enough to get out, I met up with my wife’s cousin Michael – a local Pastor – and his son Lucas. We set out to find some interesting sights to capture. It was a fun time being out in the sun though still quite cool. I discovered that Luke has a budding interest in photography, so this was a great chance for him to try out his new digital camera.
Michael suggested the local conservation area which is only a mile or so from his home as a place to start. It sounded good to me and since I had only see it from the top side, approaching the ravine from the bottom would be a new experience. We quickly drove the short distance, but just as we arrived it was my scheduled time to call my Ham radio buddy back in Vancouver. So I called Ralph with my hand-held radio and had a quick chat, afterwards Michael and I had a fun discussion about amateur radio during our hike.
The ravine access was very easy as we were able to get on to the Bruce trail almost from the parking spot. It allowed us to wander alongside the creek for some distance before scaling the ravine wall and leading us to a few lookout points. The creek was definitely running fast and angry thanks to the recent rain storms. The one feature I was somewhat apprehensive about were the large quantities of suds found around the falls. They seemed a little unnatural to me, likely thanks to all the pollutants the creek runs through.
Views from the lookout points were well enjoyed by all. I particularly enjoyed the fall colours one could discover from up there. On other days I could have stayed for quite some time, but the cold wind was not about to let us get comfortable and settle in for a long visit. The edge of the ravine had some very pretty fissures which added to the beauty of the setting.
On our way down we once again stopped by the creek for a few more photos of the rapids and foam. Once out of the woods we decided we were too cold to find another area so we found a local restaurant and settled in for a pleasant meal with hot drinks for all. Although we didn’t actually make it to the main portion of Beamer Falls, we all enjoyed our excursion and opportunity to spend a few hours with nature. Perhaps next year I can explore a few more parts of the conservation area.