The Roaring Of The Waterfalls

Continuing where I left off yesterday, here's another view of the east branch of the Rideau Falls. Note the snow down below, yet to melt in spring conditions at the time I took these shots in early April.

Here we have a first glimpse of the west branch of the falls. The National Research Council has its facilities on the far shore.

I started across the bridge spanning the west branch.

I reached the viewing area on the west shore. In the distance on the Gatineau side of the Ottawa River, a number of buildings can be glimpsed. That's where the main channel of the Gatineau River merges with the Ottawa River.

A Meeting Place Of Two Rivers

One day in early April I headed out to the New Edinburgh area to visit this waterfall. The Rideau Falls are where the Rideau River ends, pouring into the Ottawa River east of the downtown in two plunge falls, separated by Green Island. On this shore, the New Edinburgh side, the east falls were filled with spring run off. The falls were sighted by Champlain when he first came up the Ottawa River in 1613; Rideau means curtain in French. From time immemorial before that, First Nations tribes lived and journeyed through this area, and they were already familiar with this place.

In the background are a couple of buildings, both for the foreign ministry. The Diefenbaker Building, at left, stands on Green Island. Beyond it on the west shore of the Rideau River is the Pearson Building. And the National Research Council has labs facing the Pearson Building, seen at right in the background.

A look across the Ottawa River takes in the Gatineau shoreline. That wooded area is parkland, the Leamy Lake Park. Outlets of the Gatineau River merge with the river over there, though the main channel lies to the east.

I started along the bridge crossing over the falls.

Here we have a look at the east falls from the viewing platform on Green Island. We'll pick up from here tomorrow.

A World Of Cold, White Weather

Picking up where I left off yesterday, here's a shot of Parliament Hill on that snowy March day.

The Gatineau shoreline was lost in the snow, but you can see the progress of open water on the ice. I was back in Major's Hill Park at this point.

A squirrel was in the park, and took cover behind a tree as I approached.

This view looks towards the Connaught Building and the Chateau Laurier.

While this looks back towards the National Gallery of Canada.

And I finish with one more view of the National Gallery at left, and the iconic Notre Dame at right.

A Walk Through The Spring Snow

For today and tomorrow, my shots date to after the first day of spring. We had snow falling on this particular day, and I was out for a walk. I was in Major's Hill Park and photographed this view looking towards Parliament Hill. The fence in the foreground is a snowfence to protect the tulip beds. 

I went as far as the viewing platform where the Alexandra Bridge commences. At right is the outcrop of Nepean Point.

A statue of Samuel de Champlain stands up there. For the time being, this is as close as I'll get to the statue- the parkland surrounding it is being reconfigured with a new design.

Here's the bridge from the platform. It crosses over the Ottawa River to Gatineau, and on that day, the far shore was disappearing in the falling snow.

Here's what the river looked like to the west. There was open water out there, and faultlines in the ice closer to the bridge.

This view looks towards the Canadian Museum of History.

I started back the way I came, pausing to photograph Parliament Hill framed by this art sculpture, Dialogue.

A Cold Time In A Hot Town Tonight

No, it doesn't look like this around here at present.

These shots date to the last day of February, after a snow storm. At the moment around these parts, it's seasonal, but we've already had some hot days.

These are close to home for me.

At one point there was a church here. I've never found what happened to it, but all that's left is a side chapel and the basement. Today the basement is a parking garage for a number of townhouses, while what had been the floor of the church is a private yard for those townhouses.

Another church can be seen down the street here. It's the Peace Tower Church, an independent church.

Later in the day I was out in the Glebe and stopped on the Bank Street Bridge to photograph the Rideau Canal looking east. The Canal is presently filled up for the season, with boats apparently being allowed to travel just now as opposed to some weeks ago. The current Covid situation would be a reason. The stadium at Lansdowne Park can be seen at left.

Here's a view taken looking into the stadium. Part of the field is given over to parking in the winter. Right now the sports teams operating here are on hiatus.

I finish with a shot taken a couple of days later. This was in the Westboro neighbourhood. More cold scenes tomorrow.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Park

The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for June, that theme is Park. Check out how others are interpreting this theme right here.

Each year I tend to feature Central Park in the Glebe in transition, from winter into spring. Usually I would have posted this in late April or early May, but coronavirus pretty much threw my posting schedule and internet access up into the air. I did decide that this would probably do well for the theme day. The park is a ribbon of low lying land stretching across the north end of the neighbourhood here; Bank Street runs across it.

Here are how the views looked one day in late December, first to the east and then to the west.

In mid-January, this is how it looked.

Here we have views from the middle of February.

In early March, this was how things were. As you'll see in the west view, this area is popular for dog walkers. Signs of a spring thaw were just starting to show, though it was in fact a colder spring.

And here it was in early April. The snow was going, though this year we had periodic snowfalls that month.

This shot shows something of the current status quo in the west end of the park. An infrastructure project is underway here, part of which is to improve the drainage in this section of the park, so there's a good deal of mud, and this area is presently closed off to the public.