Bowness Park in Winter

I went to Bowness Park for the second time in the past 5 days. It's such wonderful place even in winter. The temperature plunged into -18 Degrees C (not considering windchill) but that didn't stop me from going. A building at the north bank of the river (which is considered another park and I will write about it later) rang a bell and I thought I might had been there some 10 years ago when I used to do lots of cycling around the city but I'm not sure. My main purpose today was visiting the lagoon and practicing some skating but I only managed to to that for around 20 min. 

It was so cold that I could barely tie the skate and when I finally managed to do that, I realized that I need lots of practice. I was OK after 15 min. but the ice, similar to most of the outdoor rinks, was very bumpy and full of cracks. My assumption was that the City runs a Zamboni off and on on the ice but I was wrong!

Bowness Park from Baker Park at Sunset. This was taken on New Years Eve which was not as cold as today

There were three workers using shovel, blower and snow remover, working on the small area that you change your shoes to skates. They were there the entire time and obviously showing working and that was a nuisance(!) but the City has done a nice job making nice pits with fire as well as washroom and relaxing facility which is fully heated. You can walk from the rink to the building because it's floored with think, soft plastic that protects your blade. You can also sit beside the pits and warm up and relax and go back to the rink. 

The City has provided nice facility for people to enjoy themselves during the cold months of winter in Bowness Park and other parks in Calgary including these fire pits that you can sit around and warm up between your skating.

The park and all the surrounding area (which each has been named a different park) is a habitat for different animal. I saw a couple of Owls when I was there on the New Years Eve. They were on the top branches of trees, making Hooo Hooo! I tried to get them on my camera but of course I couldn't! I bet if I had been there early morning, around down, I would have been able to see a few animals. I will pay more visit to the park for photography, jogging and walking and of course skating. 

(Photo, top: Sunset in Bowness and Baker Parks. Baker Park is right across from Bowness Park at the other side of Bow River. The Bridge seen far is Stony Trail Bridge which I'm sure was not constructed if it was me who 10 years ago cycled these trails!)