I missed two days walking down the beach because conditions were too difficult. On Monday, I tried, but made it only a block. The snow was saturated with water. 16 centimeters of snow on top and 4 centimeters of slush and water. You get the picture. I stepped into a snow-covered gully and soaked my feet.
I decided making it all the way to beach one wasn’t in the cards, so I retreated to Shore Lane (the street that runs parallel), walked as far as 13th street, and then packed it in and turned around.
This is unsolicited but I need to plug Merrell footware – https://www.merrell.com/. It’s not Merrill’s fault I stepped into deep water in a running shoe. Amazingly, even after freezing my feet, I could still walk for another 30 minutes comfortably. I’m a fan of Merrell for sure. I suspect there is some science behind this. This is my go to winter walking shoe.
The temperatures are not an issue this week. In fact, the colder the better most days. The challenge this week was warm temperatures, wet snow and too much water.
Monday, April 16th, 2018 – I took lots of pictures today, but they were all the same. “white”. Wet snow, gigantic snow flakes.Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 – Looking east across the beach one boardwalk. This should be a January pic. It hardly looks like April. Showing the footsteps I’m following along the boardwalk – These are not mine. Only one other person walked here in the past 24+ hours.Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 – Looking towards the Blue Mountains. Ice near the shore, but open water and waves are eroding the shore ice daily.Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 – A lonely picnic table at beach one. Blue Mountain in the background.Thursday, April 19th, 2018 – Looking north with a telephoto lense. Strong winds today, and the wave action is chipping away at the ice along the shore.Thursday, April 19th, 2018 – At Beach one looking north east. The volleyball nets are lonely.Thursday, April 19th, 2018 – Today was easier walking down the beach because I could walk on new snowmobile trails.Friday, April 20th, 2018 – There is so much snow it is hard to believe that the Easter bunny has come and gone already. A beautiful day, but this is more skiing weather than beach walking weather. This picture taken near 13th street looking north to Georgian Bay.Saturday, April 21st, 2018 – Taken from 18th street looking toward Blue Mountain. The ice is still hanging on close to the shore.Saturday, April 21st, 2018 – There is a culvert at 17th street that empties clean water from storm sewers. Despite cold overnight temperatures, the ice is melting carving a channel as water runs to the lake.
