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Crothers Woods

Sure, it feels like -17° C (1° F) outside, but that’s no reason for me to end a weekend ritual that has brought me joy during the pandemic! I learned today that eyelashes aren’t the only thing that can ice up in freezing weather...apparently, eyelashes and head hair can too! And now, you know too. :) 

Today I drove to Crothers Woods. If you drive by the Loblaws on Redway Road, there’s a little road at the back of it that leads down to a water treatment plant, and you can park there. 

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’d been at Crothers a couple weekends before - that time I’d followed the now defunct railroad line up from the east edge of Brickworks and wandered around, following the winding Lower Don River. This area is unique in that it has lots of smaller trails and paths where it’s easy to ask yourself “wait is that a trail?” especially in the snow. This also seems to be THE SPOT for mountain bikers.

This scene from that first hike in late January made me giggle. A family chilling on the sidelines while men on skates polish their own little ice rink to perfection. 

This time, I was immediately greeted with this helpful map:

A few reactions to this map: 

1) Was question mark really the ideal symbol marker for actual sites? Like, a star or an “i” for info booth wouldn’t have done it?

2) Police dog training facility?! Ok, remind me not to do any graffiti on that side of the tracks. (I’m remembering 1983′s Style Wars, where we see some of the drastically violent tactics the NYPD used to try and stop graffiti and street artists in the city. If you haven’t seen it, check it out - it’s a great look at 80s NYC and it’s free on YouTube.

3) For some reason I find it really funny that they include Loblaws in the map. Guess it’s not going anywhere anytime soon?

Safety: 

Note that the trails here are narrow and uneven (in part, due to bike tire marks on particularly wet days). There were several times I slipped so this may be a good one for cramp-ons or hiking poles. I own neither of these devices, but I think that’s what they’re for, yeah?

Mountain bikers frequent the area, so I recommend being extra careful as you come around corners, especially on the more narrow and high up trails.

I appreciated the expanse of it. With few on-trail markings, you’ve never quite sure where you’re going to end up. I definitely plan on returning - especially when it’s warmer outside. Below are more pictures from my visit, including a sweet view of downtown Toronto (including the CN Tower).

Strava Pic:

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Moccasin Trail Park, Toronto, ON

In my desire to innately grasp the ways in which Toronto’s waterways relate to each other, I spent today’s hike in Moccasin Trail Park as well as on a bit of the East Don Trail. It was beautiful! 

The path was paved and only slippery in one small spot on my 2 mile hike - definitely a plus for those with accessibility needs. I did regret not wearing my winter boots, mainly due to the temperature (somewhere around 20F/-6). Thicker socks might have done the trick too. 

One feature of this park is the rainbow tunnel! It’s painted on both sides and all thorough out the inside as well. It was done by Mural Routes, awesome local organization I recommend checking out once this pandemic is over. 

Shortly after the rainbow tunnel, there’s a bridge over the East Don River. I was struck by the intricacy of the tiny ice crystals that had formed around rocks in the water, and by observing areas where the water had frozen versus where it continued to sluice through the surrounding area.

I wandered a bit around a big railroad bridge, and that was about it. Today was a shorter hike, but perfect for a stark winter day like today. 

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G. Ross Lord Park - North York, ON, Canada

Has anyone tried Strava to track their hikes? I used it for the first time today and I found it really accurate and fun...also, it helped me get back to my car. Let’s dive in. This hike was a bit further out of the city and it was totally worth the trip. Nearby, there’s an Eastern European grocery store (Yummy Market) complete with a prepared foods counter in the back. I stopped here after my hike for some delicious treats to share with my roommates.

So let’s get into it. I parked near the north entrance of this park (the one closest to the dog parking). There’s a good deal of parking here and it’s free. There are bikes for rent available at a couple park entrances and parking lots. I started my hike by following some other hikers. This resulted in me traversing some very slippery bridges and footpaths, and then suddenly, I found myself completely alone. I guess one challenge of winter hiking is that trails become less clear. I walked down to the water (which is apparently polluted) and surveyed the large icy pond. 

I kept on thinking that if I walked further down the west corridor I’d find people, but I really found none. I did try following groups of footprints and accidentally found myself in an encampment, which I quickly left. I decided I’d walk down to Dufferin and Finch, loop around and see if anything got more “park-y” or lively.

After walking east down Finch, I did spot an actual trail. It still was very industrial in terms of atmosphere. Following this paved way led me up through the park’s dam. 

I found the landscapes and architecture here to be very stark, almost Soviet-feeling. I think part of what contributed to my surprise (besides the juxtaposition of nature and machinery) was the amount of people walking along smaller pathways in the distance. It’s hard to capture in images how vast and wide the space felt.

I noticed some very odd striking buildings in the distance. Lots of older folks were traversing by them. I couldn’t figure out what they were and went closer to investigate.

The buildings turned out to be mausoleums that were part of Westminster Cemetery. I admired the ways in which folks showed love for their departed ones. I’ve been reading a lot lately about how we’re desensitized to the sheer impact of COVID because the numbers are too large for our brains to comprehend. Walking through memorial after memorial nicely decorated with fake flowers, pictures, rosaries, and other symbols felt like the inverse of that.

I was able to exit the mausoleum and walk up small unmarked roads that eventually lead me out to Torresdale Avenue, and I followed this up to a park entrance that let me back in on the park’s east end. This was when I finally saw signs of life! People walking, kids trying to sled without sleds (yep that’s right), and families enjoying each others’ company. 

One thing I noticed walking through the park was that Eastern European languages were being spoken by many of the walkers. I also heard some Korean. It was refreshing as in quarantine, it’s easy to forget how diverse the larger world is. Some type of Eastern European music was also blasting (from different groups) both when I parked and when I headed back to my car, and it was nice to see people having fun and enjoying themselves in a relatively safe way. The trail had lots of offshoots that I would love to come back and explore some time.

Were I to return again, I would walk the eastern side of the park and explore that more deeply. I do think it was nice to get a lay of the land, even if at moments it felt a bit creepy when it was quiet and uber industrial. The mausoleum is something I definitely wouldn’t have discovered if I hadn’t made the wide loop I did around the park.

Strava stats below! So far it seems like a good exercise tracker. I like that it includes elevation, as well as the ability to input just about any physical activity know to man.

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New Year Hike (Toronto)

In an incredibly satisfying “end of year wrap”-style, my first hike of 2021 linked up all of my previous hikes throughout the city. It was also probably my longest hike - about 11 kilometres (7 miles). I met a friend and colleague for today’s hike at Broadview Station. It snowed a bit last night so the city was looking beautiful, and temps were around freezing - not too cold! 

We walked to Chester Hill Lookout, which I was a bit disappointed in - the lookout view is mostly of the DVP and other highways. From there, we walked up to Todmorden Mills Park. 

We explored this area a bit and then continued along Pottery Road. I was intrigued by “Fantasy Farm”. The horses were only screaming horror movie to me. I’d like to come back and find out what a fantasy farm entails in the future - the walks in the area are chained off for now.

One of the underpasses we walked through had animal-themed pillars:

The Lower Don Trail ran through Pottery Road and we took a short detour up this trail to admire the river for a bit. 

The designs used to encourage safe crossing were clever I felt - the middle section of the road has a path that forces a momentary pause in the middle before completing your crossing. The road also has a fun ecological pattern (blue waves) painted in the crossing sections, instead of the usual yellow lines.

After this detour, we followed Bayview down to Evergreen Brickworks. This was the “aha” moment for me, I hadn’t been able to see this trail (on the opposite side of the road as Brickworks) on my previous hikes. The trail was winding...AND it got us there!

The big pond (resevoir? body of water?) at Brickworks was frozen with a thick layer of ice that was beginning to get a bit slushy.

We passed through Evergreen’s South/West parking lot and followed a trail (neither of us knew where this would lead). There was a wide clearing followed by a very icy trail, and we were suddenly in Beaumont Park - another trail to follow!

We followed the Park Reserve Drive trail north through David A. Balfour Park. Here’s a cute hockey player I made the acquaintance of.

We exited David A. Balfour Park just below the Mount Pleasant Cemetery via a staircase a bit north of the Vale of Avoca (I’ll never get sick of over the top landmark names).

This was us after 3 hours of winter hiking! 

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Evergreen Brickworks, Toronto, ON

I visited Evergreen Brickworks today and was not disappointed. The former brick factory and quarry (which supplied the building of local landmarks like Casa Loma and Massey Hall) was converted into a beautiful city park opening in 2010. You can read more about the history of the Evergreen Brickworks here. Part of the interest for me is how this park links into the other trails, pathways, and parks that eventually feed into the Lower Don.

The first thing I noticed upon entering were the murals on the East side of the space: 

There was a big line-up for coffee once I got to the central area where the old brick buildings are located...must be good! I noticed a bike rental shop (not currently open) - good to know for future visits. 

Before starting my hike, I made a new friend, Stan! Poor little Stanley was shivering although his mom had wrapped him in several warm and stylish layers. 

I started by going right on the trail from the starting point of the bricks factory and it took me to the highest point in the park. The trail wasn’t too slippery despite considerable rainfall the day and night prior. 

After getting some good high up views, I took a trail that snaked down from the upper trail back down into the former quarry/valley. It fed into the Beltline Trail. Both Brickworks and the Beltline had a fair number of families out walking but not in a crowded way. I felt a quiet comradery and peace seeing so many folks (and pets) enjoying nature together. I walked a bit of the Beltline, and then looped down to a side trail off the Beltline that zigzagged up to Chortley Park. 

I find the history of land very interesting (it has a lot to due with the politics of where I was raised, I’ll get into it sometime). When I reached Chortley Park, I remembered the story Alex McLeod (a Toronto-based 3D digital installation artist) had shared in his interview with CBC Arts. I highly recommend a listen, but basically a decadent, lavish palace was built in the space in the 1910s as a house for government officials. It was too expensive to maintain and within 20 years was in disrepair - finally being torn down in the 1960s. And now it’s a park. That’s crazy right? Here’s a read on the palace and its death, with historical images.

One fun interactive “learning object” I found along my way was this holographic sign that is demoed through the video. If you’re from my team and you make it this far (1) I’m shocked and (2) I hope you get a kick out of this cute little graphic. 

More images from my hike (including some timely Christmas trees): 

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David A. Balfour Park, Toronto

Sometimes it’s fun to just open up a map of Toronto, identify a green space on the map, and pop over for a mystery hike. That was how I ended up at David Balfour Park. The first thing I discovered was that part of the park was under construction, so it takes a bit to find your way in if you’re coming from the North side. The Rosehill Ave part is blocked off, but if you walk up Avoca Ave, you’ll notice a downwards slope with lots of giant construction vehicles on it. I would never have known if I hadn’t seen other people enter this way, but this is actually the current entrance.

So first impressions - the park is more a “path” or a trail then what you’d generally think of as a park. If you go North after entering from Avoca Ave, the trail features dirt steps. Due to the rain yesterday, it was pretty muddy and slippery (had a couple folks warn me) but there was a wooden handrail for most of this section of the park. It kind of gave me summer camp hiking feels because the wooden features (e.g., the railings and the steps) seemed old and not the sturdiest or most reliable. 

I ended up under the Vale of Avoca, a beautiful large car bridge with a pretty intense sounding name, and explored the graffiti and street art for a bit. 

You would need to hike a bit up behind the trail to the higher under-the-bridge area to see this quote.

(Rare selfie to give an idea of relative bridge size).

Afterwards, I walked back towards my original entrance and explored the South side of the park. The path here was paved which was nice. It led to another even more imposing bridge which, to my knowledge, doesn’t have a super dramatic LOTR-y name. This one was specifically for trains.

The trail from David Balfour Park left me at Mount Pleasant Rd & Roxborough - careful crossing here as there are no signals - and I was able to continue further down the trail which at this point would be called the “Park Drive Reservation Lands”.

A yes, a discovery walk. What am I supposed to be discovering, though?

So interesting thing, there are all these signs to keep out of the storm water area, but a few meters after this sign the fence just....ends. 

The aforementioned storm water area.

Had I the time, I could have continued following trails in this area for an entire day as it would have eventually taken me near the Don River and related trails, which span out for kilometres across the city. My route is highlighted in pink (within the larger map) to give you an idea of the immense spread of trails.  

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Joker’s Hill, Newmarket, ON

Last weekend was sunny and the roads were clear, so I decided to drive up to Newmarket to check out the Joker’s Hill Trail. This wooded area is actually a research field station managed by University of Toronto. I parked off of Bathurst Street on a dirt road. A few other cars were parked there as well, but for the most part the area was pretty quiet. The first communication that greeted me upon a hike was this handy guide to coyotes:

My next find was that the trails had no signs - well, no signs that I could understand. Trees were spraypainted with squares in 1-2 colors that I believe correspond to various routes throughout the site. One tip I got from a fellow hiker was to follow the red markings as they would eventually lead me back to the Bathurst St parking.

The woods themselves were beautiful. Perfect row upon row of pine trees...

A few notes: the area is quite large and it’s easy to get lost - I’d recommend going with friends as it can also be quite quiet on a cold day. Expect to rely on your Google maps to navigate yourself back out if it’s not somewhere you go often. I didn’t come across any washrooms There are a few really steep areas that would probably get slippery in winter, so you may want to bring hiking poles or be mindful of this. The signs in this area are to keep your dogs on-leash, but most folks I encountered had their dogs running free-range. In fact, I had a couple Rottweilers frolicking on either side of me for the last half of my hike (owners were a ways behind me).  I didn’t mind since they felt like my personal adorable guard dogs. 

Here are more beautiful shots from my hike: 

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Today I woke up with a strong desire to bike the waterfront. Not usually what I’d plan for on a winter’s day, but why not? I rode the subway down to Union Station and got a bike rental from DreamCycle, one of the few bike shops still open during COVID. I didn’t have a set map, I just decided to bike East and wander down any areas that seemed interesting.

My first stop while biking East was at Jennifer Kateryna Koval’s’kyj Park. It was at the end of an offshoot of Queens Quay, a road with lots of industrial companies. The park was small and quiet (most of it was blocked off and closed for the season), but it had good views of the city and some fun graffiti tags and stickers. 

My next stop was Cherry Beach-- I’d never been there before. I was able to lock my bike up at a post and walk the shore a bit. I did a bit of sea glass hunting and even climbed into a lifeguarding shelter for a higher view. Conveniently, this site has a couple of portapotties in the parking lot. Perhaps my biggest takeaway from Cherry Beach was that squirrels love to dumpster dive for tasty treats and are super efficient at it. The beach had more activity than the empty tiny park I’d visited earlier, with some folks walking along the trail and the shoreline. Not many though, as it was fairly cold.

After stopping for a bit at Cherry Beach, I biked by Tommy Thompson and continued on the trail which headed north, and then looped back West. This trail led me to the Lower Don, which snakes through the city. I loved how post-apocalyptic this part of town felt - I’ll be honest though, there were some pretty post-apocalyptic smells too. I was excited by the graffiti and decided to explore this area further by biking a bit North before returning my rental.

It was at this point in the ride that I tried switching gears on my front wheel, only to have the chain come off of the bike’s sprocket. I got my gloves all greasy trying to put the chain back on, and eventually resigned myself to walking all the way back to the bike shop - what would have been 20 minutes becoming closer to an hour and 7 minutes, with sunset coming soon and the cold setting in. I had resigned myself to this fate when a biker asked if I needed help. I said yes, and him and his partner pulled over on either end of my bike. The guy in front whipped out a pair of disposable gloves and tools and immediately diagnosed the issue. While he didn’t have the screwhead to fix the issue, we worked together to get the chain back on the sprocket. I thanked them profusely and was careful not to change gears at all for the rest of my ride. 

When I explained the situation that had occurred to DreamCycle, they refunded the charge for the day ($35) due to the issue. So all in all, a good adventure.

I ended my day with a shredded chicken banh mi and small bowl of pho from Banh Mi Ba Le 2 on Dundas & Spadina. They’re not the fastest, but they are THE BEST.

My route: 

The Lower Don (lots of fun street art and graffiti there):

I mean... TRUE. 

My favorite view on the Low Don Trail (what little of it I have seen).