A Different Kind Of White Christmas

Happy Holidays everyone! Here in Southern Ontario and more specifically Hamilton Ont. We typically have snow to wake up to on Christmas morning but this year instead of snow, it was a thick and heavy fog (that started to roll in the night before)! We joked about it technically still being a white Christmas while family opened gifts and the photographer in me was just itching to go out and shoot. But I knew it wouldn't be possible because I volunteered to cook turkey diner.

I really hoped the fog would be there the next morning, but was doubtful. It is rare that we will have two days of fog, never mind thick fog. To my surprise it was still lingering around and I went to the Chedoke Rail Trail (a favorite place of mine). Close to home, easy access to a beautiful trail and multiple waterfalls and typically a low volume of people at the right times of the day.

As soon as I got on the trail, a very short lived burst of sunlight gave a gorgeous hue to the fog.

While walking through a surreal feeling fog, I started to think about what waterfall would be best to stop at. There is a couple of them that only have waterflow in the spring or with rain, and ultimately I decided to stop at one of them. Sanatorium falls, a waterfall named because there used to be a massive Sanatorium at the top of it.

I ventured off trail and while in awe of the beauty, I also got concerned. The creek bed was dry, but the further up I hiked. The more and more I heard water running under the rocks.

Eventually I started to see water above the rocks, which gave me hope but not much.

Then the waterfall became visible through the fog. With very little waterflow, as I had worried. Also with a lot of tree branches etc. stuck on it and along the creek. This is a result of heavy erosion, which has completely changed the terrain around countless other waterfalls in the area and even caused a major roadway to be closed for more than a year.

The beauty of this hike with the fog was incredible! Not the white Christmas that I would have liked to see but a great number 2. Even more incredibly, the fog is now going on day 4. This is totally unheard of! I have lived in Hamilton for 20 years and before that a smaller town just outside of the city for 10 years. I have never seen a heavy fog that has lasted 4 days, in this area. This is unchartered territory when it comes to weather conditions in the area and trust me. It has had the people around me getting very sick and tired of constant references to the movie The Mist lol