I have to confess, I didn’t take this photo yesterday evening – it was dark by the time we got up to the lake! But I did take it at Beaver Lake last week, where you can see both Mallard Ducks and Wood Ducks – birders, please feel free to correct me! Up at Beaver Lake, we could see that the park was getting ready for winter. The ‘lake’ (actually a pond) was drained to a low level so that it will be able to freeze in winter and become an extensive skating rink in a natural setting. The park had also done some work getting the elevated, refrigerated skating rink prepared. This smaller rink just beside Beaver Lake is often open when all the other outdoor rinks are closed due to above zero temperatures. And bus 11 goes right beside the Beaver Lake Pavilion! I should also mention that they rent skates, snowshoes AND cross-country skis up there, and that there are great, free, tracked ski trails. We got a foretaste of winter yesterday before the walk. At around 4:30 pm, there were high winds, thunder, lightening, hail, and literally buckets of water. I have rarely seen such heavy rain here in Montreal. By 6 pm there was only some light rain left. Two tenacious walkers decided to try their luck so we had a nice walk up to Beaver Lake and back down. It’s getting darker and darker every Thursday but it’s amazing how many people are out walking, jogging and biking on the Mountain anyway. See you next week!
