Thu, Jun 21 2007 - Summer Solstice by the Lakeshore (View Original Event Details)
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This was the second time I've done this Summer Solstice hike, the first time was one of our first TOC events in 2005. We missed it last year. The west end of the Toronto beachline had been neglected in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and I grew up knowing it was a wasteland of cheap motels and a beach that was never safe for swimming. But over the years urbanization has taken over, from the iconic humber river bridge, to the restored Palais Royale and a vibrant effort to clean up the beaches and the replacement of seedy motels with high end condos has transformed this area, perhaps making it into one of Toronto's best kept secrets...
After a confusing and hurried start, 23 of us and Rocky started out walking west along the boardwalk. Rocky was dragging behind in his need to SNIFF and EXPLORE everything, so I was sweeping behind the rest of the group, and we got separated immediately. But very soon afterwards we ran into the rest of the group at the bridge that spans the Humber river. It was still full on daylight and Carolyn was busy snapping pictures. We continued on, to the condos where the terrain got rocky and the long grasses began. This was the Humber Bay Butterfly area and we saw a few specimens flitting around. When I was here two years ago, this was the end of the road. But they have opened trails and a park on a outlying peninsula that we wanted to explore. I'd never been there before and had no idea how long the trail would be
For some group members they had enough of the flitting insects that were attracted to the long grass and turned around at this point, with the hope that we'd meet them later. The majority of us trudged on.
This small park was the highlight of the evening! It gave us a fantastic view of the Toronto skyline, just as the sun was setting, and the light show on the CN tower had begun. It was beautiful the way the sun glinted off the buildings and there were just enough clouds in the sky to make the sunset colourful. I took Rocky off leash and he bounded away - this was not an official off leash park, but it was remote enough and there were other dogs off leash doing their thing in a mostly remote and hidden area.
Rocky showed off to all the ladies as usual by taking a swim in a pond and drying off by zipping by us and shaking at the members who looked the driest. it didn't take long before we had finished the peninsula loop and were heading back in the setting sun. Rocky wasn't ready to go back, so I was left to collect him as he did some final exploring and complained about a hearing problem that affects the ability to hear his name called when he is near sand and water and grass.
I hurried up and caught the last of our group as they trudged back to the Sunnyside pavillion. It was here that i got to really meet and talk with some of our newest members - Corrie, Sara, Christine, Carolyn, Leo and Chi and we even got to see a crane just minutes before the sun set completely. What a treat, right there at the mouth of the Humber river - I guess the area has really cleaned up since the 80s! By the time we made it back to the Sunnyside cafe most of the group had given up waiting for us. It was almost 10:30 ... the late sunset makes you lose track of all time! I regretted not being able to stay and have a drink or two with the people who were left. With such a big group it was hard to keep track of everyone! As Jacqueline found out when I errantly marked her as a no show when she'd been there the whole time! But even within our large group, we found, once again, that the world is quite small, since Wade and Sara work in the same complex...
All in all, it was a beautiful night and the general consensus was lets do this again! Hopefully we'll get some more volunteers to take up weeknight hikes in the following few months, especially with the promise of ice cream en route!
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.