Wed, Nov 11 2009 - Urban Hike - High Park and Waterfront Trail (View Original Event Details)
|  |
It promised to be another wonderful evening of strolling in the park....NOT EXACTLY..... It was dark and cold and then, Victor showed up!
After some introductions, collecting monetary donations and a brief description of TOC and it’s events - our evening of fast urban hiking began. There were some usual suspects(Geraldine, Josephine, Anita, Elaine, Margaret) - some people just don’t know when to stay home and veg!
And there were a few new and eager members to our mid-week power walk sessions(Sabrina, Rui, Danielle, Mona, Fidelia) After a hesitant “strolling in the park” start - the organizer quickly pointed out that this is a D4 TOC event and we needed to pick up the pace...quickly.
The group responded admirably with Dorothea and Fidelia setting a good pace. I kept telling them - we’re almost there!
We walked through some very dark and dis-orienting trails.
A group photo stop by Geraldine, then up a hilly road.A short break along the trails allowed us to “peel off” and do some pull ups where Anita demonstrated the one armed, “grab and pull” technique... Dan showed us the manly and brutish version by doing 4 pull-ups. This was surely very entertaining, as Josephine kept laughing at us. Up and down a few more hilly ridges, some stairs and eventually down to and around Grenadir pond.
Victor then kindly led the way to the Waterfront Trail, Humber Bay Bridge and Humber bay Park. We enjoyed a couple of nice photo stops at the Bridge and over at Humber Bay Park with great views of the city.
Nihar wanted to know how long was the trail - I told him it goes all the from Niagara to Kingston... (I told him we we not planning on doing the entire trail)
There was a momentary sense of “being loss” when Fidelia accidentally took over leading the group and after 2 seconds, Victator...oh, I meant Victor - resumed the leadership and all was well.
We returned to the park and broke off into two groups. One group returned to the finish and the other group continued to do some fast, dark and cool trail walking.
Geraldine lead a good pace back and the night silence was broken only by Fidelia’s loud screams for light.
Gordan just loved it all. Victator is planning more punishment...oh I meant to say, fun hiking in the future.
We finished up by doing a short steep hill to the end point.
Fidelia wanted to be carried up the hill.
Anita gasped for some water and did organize a social for a few members.
Sabrina did well considering her prior ankle/foot injuries.
Rui was cool, calm and collected.
Time taken: 3 hours
Distance: 7-8 km
Pace: Moderately fast.
Outcome: calories burned, legs burned, excellent group and great workout.
Men: 5
Women: 12
The hike leader kept chanting a secret, ancient military drill code... “come you people....get moving....up, up, up...get moving....keep up the pace...”
Thank You,
Ghanesh
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.