Northern Winter (Black and White, part 1)

Winter, in Edmonton, Canada typically means a fair bit of snow and temperatures in the minus 15 to 30 Celsius range. The 2011/12 winter has been atypical. Except for a week in mid-January where temperatures fell to below normal, most of the winter has featured daily highs around freezing. Nonetheless, there has been snow on the ground since November.

This series of photos are some that I took during the last week of January and the first week of February 2012 the the North Saskatchewan River valley in central Edmonton (in fact most are in Dawson Park). Dawson Park lies on the north side of the river valley meaning it gets a lot of sun and the snow can melt (or blow away) relatively quickly on the exposed ridges.

The Ridge

The Steep Path Up

Dawson Park seen from the south side of the river:

The North Bank

One of the fascinating things about Dawson Park is a section of “hoodoos” a geological formation more famously associated with the badlands of southern Alberta near Drumheller.

River Valley Landscape

While the exposed areas have just a touch of visible snow, the sheltered trails are well covered with snow and very wintery in appearance.

Birch and Snowy Path