Harsh Yet Beautiful Isolation: Bois-des-Esprits Trail

Winnipeg, Manitoba - a beautiful city located in the heart of Canada. Many wonder what appeal there could possibly be to live in Winnipeg. Aside from all the cultural events, there are so many areas of beauty just waiting to be explored. I've lived here since 2006 and even I didn't realize how many beautiful trails there are in our city to walk and explore!

I decided that I'd like to take the opportunity to explored these trails and to blog about it! :) Being a stay-at-home-mom, it's hard to find the time to do things like this on my own so I decided I should include my daughters. After all, you're never too young to learn to enjoy nature and to take a good walk! :)

The first trail we decided to try was Bois-des-Esprits. This is supposed to be a 2km walk. We managed to cover about half of it before we had to turn around and go home for lunch (note to self: next time pack a picnic lunch!). :) For the most part, this trail follows the Seine river which is a nice calm flowing river that doesn't get much publicity thanks to the Assiniboine and the Red! :) There is a beautiful variety of growth: various trees, beautiful wild flowers, berries, bushes, mushrooms, cattails... The forest sometimes had an almost Narnian feel to it and I loved it, you'd almost expect a wood nymph (dryad) to slip by! :) In fact, there was a carving of a "wood spirit" that someone carved into the remains of a tree (that sounds gross but I have no idea how else to word it lol). It freaked out my youngest, my oldest thought it was hilarious, I thought it was a tad ridiculous. Later in our walk, I saw a tree that looked like it was frozen mid-step ... in short, it looked like a Narnian dryad! It was beautiful.

I was hoping, especially for the sake of my girls, that we'd see some wildlife. We were not disappointed! On our way back up the trail, from the somewhat half-way point where we had a snack, we saw a deer! Annalise, my oldest, was thrilled! She said, "Mommy! That's a real. live. deer!!" :) Emilie, the youngest, took a bit to see where it was and was slightly afraid of it ... but then, she's afraid of almost everything these days! (I'm hoping it's just a stage!)

So here's some photos and comments of our walk! :)

View from the John Bruce Bridge - a lonely cattail growing at the side!

Reflections in the Seine from the Bridge

Carving in a tree - apparently there are a lot more of these along the trail but I guess we didn't go far enough down to see them. I look forward to taking the trail again and exploring more!

A proud sentinel, standing watch.

Hidden beauty - wildflowers

My map holder with her sister lounging, somewhat unseen, in the stroller.

The wood "spirit" that Annalise loved. Emilie refused to stand anywhere near it.

Some more hidden beauty - mushrooms growing in the wood spirit.

Not so hidden cutie! I think she had this corner of her coat in her mouth the entire time. :)

Didn't quite capture the feel as I hoped it would but this area made me think of Narnia.

Pretty berries growing close to the ground. I'd like to find out what these are.

Another variety of mushroom, growing in moss along the path. This discovery led to a discussion between me and Annalise about how mushrooms grow.

Finding leaves! :)

Another wood carving - this one made the girls laugh. :)

And then this one - a birch I think, randomly among a group of different trees! :)

And, of course, a random and lovely grove of birch (?) trees! This was another one giving off a Narnian feel.

This one begs a poem. Looking back at the path we walked.

Thistles - still beauty.

Excited girls, enjoying their walk! This was around the time we stopped for a snack. :)

More berries - these ones growing higher in a tree. I'd also love to learn what kinds these are!

And then we found a "real. live. deer!" :) Such calm, magnificent beauty!

Cautiously watching us as she eats her fill.

More berries ... could this be what the deer was eating farther into the forest?

And here's my Narnian dryad! See what I mean?! :) This is just breathtaking beauty and I think it's my favourite photo (other than the photos of my girls). :)