Nature Journal Entry #3: An August Afternoon at Nose Hill Park
Where: Nose Hill Park (East Side)
When: August 25th 2024 (Late Morning to Mid-Afternoon)
Highlight: The prairie breeze and the blue sky!
Krystal and I decided to explore Nose Hill Park and check out the remnants of the grasslands that once dominated today's north Calgary. We started by leaving the busy 64th Ave Parking Lot and proceeded northwest and up through the hills. Along the way, there were plenty of wild roses, goldenrods, creeping thistles, and native grasses (with evidence of attempts to remove the invasive creeping thistles shown through signage). Amongst all of that, as Krystal and I hiked towards the center of the park, we stumbled upon some unique native plants that make this land home. For instance, we seen expansive patches of western snowberries, silverberry bushes hugging the trails, lonesome red dome blanketflowers, and a bunch of silver wormwood. Interestingly, silver wormwood goes by many common names, including white sagebrush, which has ceremonial and medicinal uses within many different Indigenous cultures. The common wormwood (related, but different), as Krystal informed me, is actually used in producing absinthe (and other liquors). As we proceeded throughout the park, we seen a bunch of grasshoppers, a sparrow darting from bush to bush, and heard the shrieks of a Swainson's hawk as it soared over our heads (likely looking for lunchtime meal). We also noticed different thistle species beyond the more common creeping thistle (aka Canada thistle): bull thistle and musk thistle. Once I got home, I learned that both species are considered invasive plants to North America.
Eventually the hills gave way to a flat expanse. We walked for a good while through the park and seen a couple different native plant species: thimbleweed and silky lupine. The silky lupine, which I had to identify at home, had leaves with an exceptionally very soft texture to feel. Eventually, we turned further north and took a trail leading down into Porcupine Valley and its adjacent paved pathway. We appreciated the horizon with the forested valley meeting the blue sky. As we continued through Porcupine Valley, we found a pathway going south (we imagined it would lead back to the parking lot) and up a fairly steep hill. It was a bit of a work out, but we managed to get up there just in time to enjoy the greatest blessing of the day: the prairie breeze. Words cannot express the feeling of relief I feel when a cool wind gust rustles the grasses, sways the trees, and alleviates my exhausted and sweating body from the summer heat. As we meandered back through the foothills, we found a boulder left from a long-departed glacier. I later found out that the proper term for this is a glacial erratic, which is a "glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests." There are a lot of them throughout the Calgary region, but this glacial erratic is sometimes referred to as the Nose Hill Buffalo Rubbing Stone. After getting back to the parking lot, we went for vegan food at Nan's Noodles.
