Planking Harbour Seal - Holyrood

To me, these cushy rocks looked a lot more inviting, and evidently to these seals too:

Harbour Seals on land - Holyrood

In Quidi Vidi I spotted two Bald Eagles on the ice, but they flew off before I got my camera out of the bag. The same tune was playing in Petty Harbour, one Bald Eagle, no other wildlife. Plenty of fog though:

Foggy winter scenery - Petty Harbour

In Bay Bulls I saw a small Dovekie swimming and diving in the harbour. It was Holyrood where I finally found my seal, it was resting on the harbour ice:

Harbour Seal on ice - Holyrood

This was the exact same location where there were dozens of seals last year, but that was a little later in the season.

On the way home I passed Topsail beach, where I took a picture of the ferry and the fog coming off the cliffs:

Ferry returning from Bell Island - Topsail

A little closer to home still I stopped in St. Philip’s, where a Kingfisher was too quick for me, so I took a shot of the frozen wharf side instead:

Idle Speed Only - St. Philip's

All in all, not a bad day.

Before getting those groceries I noticed the weather was too good to waste, so I took in some fresh air and a lap around Quid Vidi Lake:

One quarter frozen Quidi Vidi Lake - St. John's

Cold weather

My complaints from yesterday about a lack of colour were swept away by the sun, as you can see a little bit of blue does wonders for the scenery:

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto - Flatrock

This shot was taken at the Grotto in Flatrock, which is the preferred parking place for those hiking the East Coast Trail due North.

Here are some more pictures from the hike:

Start of the trail in Flatrock - Stiles Cove Path

Here’s Red Head, an impressively steep cliff about two and a half kilometres from the start. From a viewpoint halfway there you can appreciate how steep it really is:

Wintry Red Head - Stiles Cove Path

On every hike I take, somehow I always end up with pictures of my shadow, I guess they’re my way of documenting that I was actually there:

Shadows on the trail - Stiles Cove Path

Cliffs at Red Head Cove - Stiles Cove Path

Everywhere I walked I found tracks of foxes, hares, squirrels an mice. One fox practically walked the same route as I had for most of the way:

Tracks in the snow - Stiles Cove Path

After five hours I was pretty much done for, I hope the good weather persists this month so I can get into proper hiking shape again.

Thursday

Sunny. Wind west 50 km/h gusting to 70 diminishing to 30 in the afternoon. High minus 9. Cold wind chill minus 26.

Environment Canada

The reason I’m optimistic is the ‘Sunny’ part in that forecast, because without sunlight most winter photos just end up looking the same. I was out yesterday and everything in sight looked either black, grey or white. Really dull:

Monochromatic winter - Silver Mine Head Path

And yes, that is a colour photo.

So, when the sun pierced through the clouds today, I wasted no time and went outside to get some much needed exercise. After two weeks of dreariness both my legs and back were glad to see something else than the couch.

Sunlight on the trail - Torbay

On the trail I paused several times in places where I faced the sun, I just stood there soaking up the rays. There’s more sunshine in the forecast next week, more snow too, I’m looking forward to that!

Near the end of my hike I passed Manning’s Hill, which is the spot where I get my first good look at the ocean every day, just a minute from our home:

Looking down Manning's Hill - Torbay

Merry Christmas and an adventurous 2012

Clicking on this photo will give you a bigger version that’s better suited for printing.

In case you’re wondering what it is you’re looking at: it’s a ‘christmas tree’ I made by burying glow sticks in the snow outside our house.