After a long hike, as we neared our destination of Churchville, Brampton, K2 the Kuvasz, decided to approach Credit River to quench his thirst. However, he was startled to see a discarded paper cup floating in the river towards him. I could notice his confusion even though at that time I was trying to suppress my anger at seeing the trash thrown by someone accidentally or intentionally. I reached out and picked the trash from the river throwing it in a garbage can later.
K2 and I were hiking for past 3 hours on various neighbourhood roads and trails that took us through a village set in a picturesque setting, a conservation area, open meadow and flood plane, low bush along the Credit River, a heavily old growth forest patch, finally to the Churchville Park in Brampton.
The initial section of the trail called Davidson trail offered lots of wild birds viewing. The photos below show a silhouette of a turkey vulture, a male American goldfinch in breeding plumage, a male grey catbird singing his heart out, a mourning dove foraging on the ground, a cedar waxwing, a male red-winged blackbird ‘conk-la-reeing’ his heart out, and a camouflaged spotted sandpiper. The sandpiper was perhaps picking the insects out of the wet mud.
The Davidson trail also had some trees with flower blooms that looked appealing to the eye.
The next section of the trail passed through a high elevation lush green meadow with high voltage electricity transmission lines and flood plane of the Credit River farther away to the south and Highway 407 at a distance to the north.
K2 glanced back at the trail that we had hiked on. A little ahead, the trail passed through a small section of heavily wooded area and K2 stopped to evaluate the change of circumstances.
The trail became narrower as it passed through the forest. K2 seemed to be enjoying the scenery, but the humidity inside the forest made him pant a bit. Whereas I was taking in the idyllic scenery all around me, for K2 is was the smells all around that were enthralling.
We had our lunch by a fallen tree that posed a challenge to negotiate around it in any case. A little later, we crossed a makeshift bridge over a brook. After taking his lunch and quenching his thirst, K2 was in much better spirit.
We reached the small homes at the periphery of Churchville, a village in southernmost Brampton, where the flowers on the tress were blooming. The beauty of the crabapple blooms on one of the trees was ineffable.
Although we were hiking all along the Credit River, the trail was at a high elevation with no access to the river. As we entered Churchville Park, we had our first access to the river waters.
There was a local resident with his two furry friends on the other side of the river. K2 wanted to approach them, but there was no way we could have crossed the river from there. So K2 was content playing in the water on our side.
After having a tea at the park and K2 having a few tidbits, we started our return journey. When we entered our neighbourhood, the distant glance of crabapple blooms through the woods looked ethereal.
last words
Until our next blog, au revoir! Be outdoorsy, embrace diversity, and support causes for the conservation of nature!
K2, the Kuvasz, and me 