A Seasonal Look Upon The Ottawa River

A few days back this blog passed by a milestone that I overlooked. It was on the 19th day of September in 2013 that I started this entire endeavour. And here we carry on, at least until Covid-19 mutates and turns us all into zombies. (...... braaaaaaaaaaiinnnns!.....)

A couple of times a month I come down to the Portage Bridge as it crosses the Ottawa River between Gatineau and Ottawa to photograph downstream. The view from here includes the Alexandra Bridge, National Gallery, Parliament Hill, and the Supreme Court of Canada. The river cuts through a series of islands here, and this is the main channel, with the Gatineau shore at left and Victoria Island at right. I last did this series in the spring, which can be found here.

This first view was on a grey day in March. The river flow is swift enough here that it doesn't freeze up below the bridge. Where it ices up downstream depends on the harshness of the winter, but I for one would never walk on the river ice between Parliament Hill and the Gatineau shoreline, though some do.

Just a few days later, things were much brighter.

In early April, the river was at a high point, and raging with early spring runoff. All visible ice on this part of the river was gone.

Later in April, things looked different.

Here we had it in early May.

While this was towards the end of May.

A few days into June, here was the view, late in the day.

In the last days of the month, I returned in the morning.

In mid-July I returned, late in the afternoon.

Late in July, the sky was quite different in the latter part of the afternoon.

In early August, I returned late one afternoon.

This was the view towards the end of August, late in the day. An idiot on a jet ski was roaring through the river below.

One day in early September brought a completely different mood.

And lastly, this was a few days later in September, with a clear sunny afternoon. Off in the distance on the Hill, there were some early signs of fall. I'll be carrying on with this series and feature the next post in March, I expect.