Face forward - even if not moving forward

Well, it seems "Where I Live" posts are becoming all the rage among my Opera friends (well two, anyway). I'll add photos here and there as time permits..
(Addition 1: Hamilton Rail Trail pics July 9, 2009)


First off, Hamilton is in the province of Ontario in the country of Canada. It's at the headwaters of Lake Ontario; and being at the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, this city has the distinction of being the waterfall capital of the world. As an example, Mt. Albion Falls is a 20 minute walk from my apartment.

This picture I took of a roaring Webster's Falls a few years ago is one of the best I've ever seen anywhere; notice the base of a rainbow on the lower right corner.

One of the interesting things about many of the falls here is the huge hole or crater burrowed by powerful water streams as glaciers melted and retreated. This picture has a melting hole that is well over 30m (100ft) across and cut back over 1km (over 2/3 mile) from the edge of the escarpment.


One of many, many conservation areas inside the Hamilton city limits.

Most of the conservation areas are linked together by the Bruce Trail. The Bruce Trail is over 800km (500mi) in length, stretching from Niagara Falls to Tobermory.


This is the view of my front door..

This is the view from my balcony in winter..


Hamilton is more popularly known as "Steeltown" due to the long history of steel making giants Stelco and Dofasco (but currently known as U.S. Steel - Hamilton and Arcelor-Mittal). If you download and view the split skyline photo below, much of Hamilton's waterfront is dominated by the piers and plants of these two companies.


A place I spend a lot of time is my church. My principal work there is audio/visual and all things related to that. This is me posing at the sound booth I designed and built a few years ago.


Now all of this doesn't include McMaster University, McMaster Hospital, The Hamilton Tiger Cats (a professional football team) or the Royal Botanical Gardens. More on these a little later...

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One interesting man-made feature very near where I live is the Hamilton Rail Trail. It's an abandoned railway line that travels along the edge of the Niagara Escarpment from downtown to within 0.5 km of my apartment. The rails and gravel have been removed and the bed paved over to provide almost 5kms of very smooth pathway. The grade is very gradual and scenic lookouts are placed every now and again. Becuase I haven't bicycled in a long time, my legs were really hurting.

Here's a shot of the trail near a lookout.


A shot from the lookout toward Hamilton Harbour.


A picture of steps installed to climb up the escarpment. There are tracks on the outer edges of the steps for people to roll their bicycles up or down. This is one part of the steps going from halfway to the base...


Going from halfway to the top of the escarpment...


The view eastward at the top of the escarpment.