Friday, January 18, 2019

Mer Bleue Bog Hike

Another one of our favorite winter hikes in Ottawa is on the Mer Bleue Bog Trail. This trail has a wooden boardwalk over the bog. If you look closely, you can see areas where the snow looks like it is piled on a small hill. These are actually beaver lodges. You can see other evidence of the beavers by the gnawed tree trunks on the trail. Our first bog hike was just Daddy, Boogs, and me. GP and GM were worried about the trail being too icy, they came with us another day.
Boogs had fun knocking giant icicles off of the picnic pavillion. Most of the icicles broke when they hit the ground. Boogs is using this one as a snowman nose.
We had a beautiful, sunny day for a walk on the bog. It was cold, but we were bundled well.
There is so much open space, blue sky, and lovely scenery.
We did not spot any beaver tracks, but we did see these tracks. They look like rabbit tracks.
The trail was a little busy this day. We had people walking in front and behind us for a while.
We left the boardwalk and explored the longer trail back to our car at P22. Boogs had to cross this fallen tree trunk over a small ravine.
Daddy and Boogs had a karate chopping snow fight.
There was a beautiful spot on the trail where we could hear chickadees in the trees. Luckily, I had our bag of seeds in my coat pocket.
The same few birds kept coming back to our hands again and again. The little bird I am holding only had one leg. When it landed on your hand, it would rest its soft little belly against your skin. It came back and got seeds from our hands at least a dozen times.
Before heading back to the parking lot, we took the trail leading to another parking lot. I forgot to wear my knee brace that day, so we had to turn back after about 20 minutes.
The woods are simply magical this time of year with all of the snow.
A few days later, GP and GM joined us on another tour of the Mer Bleue Bog trail.
It was nice to be on an outdoor adventure all together.
This hike was colder. The sun was hiding behind the clouds.
Boogs and Daddy had an epic snowball fight and chase all along the boardwalk trail.
They were throwing snowballs over GP and GM to attack each other. GP and GM were really good sports about it.
 There were less people on the trail this day. It was so quiet and peaceful.
By the  time we reached the place we had fed the birds on our last hike, it was starting to get dark. There were no more birds to feed.
Of course, we had to stop at Tim Horton's for hot chocolate after our hike. It is a family tradition.
This post is linked to:
Country Kids linky

12 comments:

  1. We've not had any snow yet this year, so this looks so idyllic to me. I love thr fact the tiny bird came to eat from your hand too. Mich x

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    1. We are always amazed at the birds when we hike these trails. So pretty.

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  2. Sounds like you have parents in the perfect setting for a winter break. Both days walking look wonderful, bringing the grandparents, and enjoying the wonderful winter sun. Daddy Boogs looks like he is great fun for Boogs with their snow fights together. #CountryKids

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    1. My husband and Boogs are extremely active on our hikes. They run circles around me. It was wonderful for my husband's parents to come out with us. Boogs loves spending time with them.

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  3. What a lovely snowy walk! We have boardwalks over the bog here in Ireland too, but snow is so rare! My kids also play karate chop with their dad ;)
    #CountryKids

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    1. This is one of my favorite winter walks. It is so beautiful and open. You can hear the wind blow through the stalks around the frozen water.

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  4. Knocking giant icicles off the picnic pavilion sounds like fun. Love the photo of Boogs using one as a snowman nose! The trail looks like a beautiful place to explore and so magical in the snow. I do love how the chickadees land on your hands. Boogs and Daddy look like they were enjoying their snowball fights. Thanks for sharing with #CountryKids

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    1. It is harder than you think to knock down an icicle with a snowball. We had fun doing it.

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  5. More fabulous snow adventures, what gorgeous trails these are. It must be wonderful seeing the beaver homes, and those two snowball fights look epic! I'm also happy to learn what a chickadee is, it looks like a Coal Tit, would that be correct? Thanks for sharing with us at #CountryKids

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    1. I looked it up, the Coal Tit and Chickadee are related. Looking at pictures of the two, the Coal Tit had a slightly higher rise on its head. The two also have slightly different belly color ranges.

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  6. I'm amazed to see how much snow is covering the ground and how tame the birds appear to be. We also like discovering track as a family. #CountryKids

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    1. We were happy to be there with all of that fresh snow. It was absolutely beautiful.

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