Le P'tit train du Nord......mid-May

Finally the long awaited sign of spring

                            


And what's this I see here for the first time? Did someone throw a cluster of last year's dead greens into this tree? No, the monster looks alive

and looking at it's underside shows that it is kind of a living parasite branch of the pine tree.

Two trees in one

Le P'tit Train du Nord............mid-April

For the ones that can read

and for the ones that can't

  
No green sign of nature's renewal as yet but the ice on lake has melted to make room for a lonely visitor. 

Some of our rocks were deposited some 500 million years ago, they say. I wonder how old these beauties are. 

Le P'tit Train du Nord....mid-March

More than 100 years ago a railway line was built leading deep into the Laurentian Mountains North of Montreal. It was known as Le P'tit train du Nord.  30 years ago the train made its last passenger journey and work began to transform the line into a 230 km long linear park and 20 years ago it was inaugurated as such.  Today Le P'tit Train du Nord plays host to cyclists, skaters, cross country skiers and humble wanderers such as myself.
My walk starts here    

with Lac Raymond on my right and forestland, walls of rock and residences nestled in the hills on my left

I know that the large residence further up the path belongs to retired nuns and was surprised that the two gentlemen whose voices reached me from behind turned out to be monks as they passed me on the way back to my car.