Sun, Oct 29 2006 - Rattlesnake Point to Crawford Lake - Jim's group (View Original Event Details)
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On October 29, 2006, two groups headed out to do the Rattlesnake Point to Crawford Lake hike: Jo led one group and Jim led the other. The groups departed from the car-pool location at different times.
With respect to Jim’s group, the day went like clockwork, for the most part. It was coldt and windy at the carpool departure point, where everyone showed up pretty much on time. The wind made it difficult for Jim, with his various papers (waivers, maps, and more maps), to complete the necessary paperwork at the start, but after chasing a few escaping documents, all needing to be accomplished was accomplished.
Everyone got to the hike’s starting point on time—except for Jim, who’s car stopped at Tim Horton’s and got sidetracked my Min C’s detailed discussion of body art (i.e. body piercings, tattoos, etc.). Jim did not realize that Min C was so thoroughly informed about such things!
Anyhow, realizing he was a bit late arriving at the parking lot where the hike would begin, Jim stepped on the gas a little—zipping right by the man in the little booth at the entrance to the parking lot. When the passengers in the car dutifully informed Jim that the man was emerging from the booth with a not-too-happy look on his face, Jim put the car into reverse, and jumped out to meet the man.
The man immediately told Jim that he had been speeding (imagine that?) and that he had missed a stop sign (Jim looked to the right of the little booth, now that his car was stopped, and noticed a rather unimpressive looking and out-of-the-way stop sign.
After apologizing profusely, Jim paid the necessary park fees, and drove the car slowly towards the parking lot, which was full of vehicles.
The rest of the group was all there, and so the hike started. Two of the newest TOC members, Timon (named after the tragic hero in Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens”) and Ernest, made an immediate impact. As it turns out, Timon is an expert cyclist and hiker. As one of the fittest people on the hike, he set an impressive pace for much of the day. Chuck assisted him in keeping the group moving.
Ernest, who is a professional photographer by trade, ably assisted Jim in making some adjustments to the settings on his digital camera. Given his profession, it was no surprise that Ernest also was one of the more photogenic individuals on the hike, as the pictures posted for this event will attest.
Another new member, Derek, demonstrated his expert mingling skills by managing to talk to almost everyone who was on the hike.
Three minutes into the hike, Julie developed a blister on her heel, from some bright white runners that she had recently purchased. Somehow she managed, despite the tender ankle, to complete the hike in good form. She looked especially sharp in the strangely colored toque that someone lent her to prevent her from freezing.
Speaking of bright white hiking shoes… the infamous Jason, who was rather bundled up due to the invigorating cold, had the brightest and whitest pair of hiking shoes one could imagine. They were brand new, apparently, and he was attempting to tip-toe his way through the hike, so as to avoid getting any dirt and/or mud on his new footwear. Does this lead one to question Jason’s judgment? I think so. Who in his/her right mind would buy white hiking shoes? The question presumes, I understand, that someone does in fact have a “right mind” in the first place rather than a mind so marvelously capacious and complex as Jason’s. Therefore, Jason is excused for his error in judgment, since the error points to the excellence of his imagination, not the rigorousness of his logic. It takes much imagination to use white hiking shoes on a muddy hike while fully expecting that the shoes will remain white at the end of the day!
It was a great day for taking photographs, and Jim certainly hopes that some of the other photographers on the hike will send their photos of the adventure to Coco, who will post them on the TOC website for all to enjoy.
But perhaps the most wonderful part of the hike (other than the fact that Jim nearly broke his ankle on a rock that was hidden from view by some lovely fallen leaves) was the stop at the reconstructed 15th century Iroquoian village, located at Crawford Lake. As the pictures from this portion of the hike demonstrate, there was much to see and enjoy at the village. Jim particularly liked the storytelling circle.
Perhaps the TOC is a bit like an Iroquoian longhouse, and perhaps each of our adventures (whether a hike, a bike-ride, or an outing to a movie) leads us to prepare these write-ups for a very good reason: to satisfy the impulse to bond, to form human community through storytelling, the same impulse once manifested in the Iroquoian storytelling circle. We develop our sense of community—and we clearly are a community full of wonderful differences—by sharing a narrative, or narratives, of our experiences together. We may not be sitting around a traditional storytelling circle, with a fire in the middle to keep us warm; but, through gathering around this website, through creating new events to be enjoyed by all, through trying to describe our enjoyment of those events in words and pictures exchanged during and after the hike—we commune, I think, in a very special way.
Somehow, Jim’s group never did meet up with Jo’s group: that’s one of the mysteries of the day.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.