Ralph Klein Park April 4, 2020

I looked forward to this morning since yesterday morning.  For this round of two hours being "out & about" I picked Ralph Klein Park.  This city park remains open except for the building, playground and washrooms.  Once again, I got an early start to avoid the anxiousness of being where there is potential to be a bunch of others.  When I pulled into the parking lot, a coyote with a limp leg crossed the field on the other side of the lot.  For the two hours here that was the only physical distancing from that I had to be concerned about.    

The lights along the pathway were still on as I began walking.

the tracks left behind by the coyote with a limp leg

I never did see it again.

This is the building that is closed.  It is surrounded by a pond which is frozen and snow covered.  

The building is closed but the stairs and platforms are open to obtain great views from. 

There are many sitting spots along the trail.   It was quite pretty after the new dusting of snow and with the sky brightening up.  Some of the trails are paved while others are gravel.  I noticed day old snow covered foot prints with tracks from a stroller.  Someone enjoyed this space with their little one.

picnic area and playground

There were many large beautiful murals.  This was my favourite.  

It is painted on the side of a storage container almost the size of a train car.

I did not google to find out what these pillars represent and there was no sign there with an explanation.  There was a sign asking not to go on top of the mounds on either side of the pillars as they contain grass growing experiments.   I call these "pillars of strength".

Here I am tapping into those pillars of strength!

The trails wound around ponds that were still frozen and covered in snow.  There were platforms you could walk out onto.  These are marshes and wetlands that I think would be nice to see come summer.  There were no birds here today but I understand there could be some as the weather warms up.

a bullrush, lots of them here

I left the trial and ascended the stairs to the top platform around the building.  

This is just one of the sights on the platform. 

There was one trail that lead in another direction around another pond but that was closed.  It was approaching two hours later anyway by now so I headed back to my car to head on home.  I looked back at the walkway that leads to and from the facility.  I wondered what this looks like in the summer.  Maybe I will get to find out!

This was my route today with some over lapping.  I realized when I was leaving the Park and looking at this, there were other trails that may have been open that I could have walked along.  I will keep that in mind for my next visit.