Around the Valley

As I drive around exploring I often end up with random pictures that don't fit together, but capture a bit of the seasons in the valley.  These are a number I've taken in the Beaver Valley recently, a lot in our old stomping grounds a little further south.

Last week when I drove down into the valley during our January thaw, it just made me feel like spring.  And what will be better than maple syrup season?

In a few weeks this line of big old maples will be lined with maple sap buckets as the syrup season gets under way.

And this is a somewhat posh and modern maple syrup 'shack'.  I happen to know the owner of the property and remember when he built it.

Until our recent January thaw, the ski club has had a wonderful season.  In fact, temperatures were so cold for so long, I expect they've built up enough snow to survive any number of winter thaws this year now.

I had reason to go in and chat with the manager (in my role on behalf of the Bruce Trail, which crosses ski club property in the summer), and found four large buses down in the parking lot.  A large group of school children visiting for the day, and it did look busy.

One of my favourite runs from just a few years back - spot the two skiers and a snowboarder?

I even drove by Lake Eugenia in the hopes of finding open water and a few ducks to identify, but no luck.  There were lots of 100+ year old stumps sticking up above the ice though, from when the lake was originally flooded in 1914.  They'll all be well re-submerged when the lake refills to its summer level.
 

All the way to the opposite end of the valley, I was in Thornbury for another Bruce Trail meeting and found this historic plaque.  You wouldn't know the name of Charles Rankin unless you had read a fair bit about the original settlement in the valley, but Rankin was the surveyor who laid out all the roads and lot lines 150+ years ago.  And that means he was the person who named the townships and towns around here, just in case you're ever wondering who came up with names for townships like 'Artemesia' and 'Eugenia', names apparently plucked from ancient Greek legends.

And there on the shore, where the Beaver River enters Georgian Bay, the waves were crashing on the protective line of boulders.  Then I noticed what appears for all the world to be an old gravestone among the boulders!  How in the world would it end up there?