Sun, Aug 21 2011 - Best (& serious) Gelato #3 + Edwards Gardens (View Original Event Details)
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First off, I've learned a couple of important things from the first two "Best of" Gelato hikes:
1) people aren't very motivated to hike after they've had gelato!; and
2) make sure you know which measurement of distance you're using when calculating how long it will take you to reach the desired establishment!
Armed with this new and important information, I arranged for the Gelato hike #3 to essentially end at the Gelato store.
Today was the "Girls Gelato " hike! Eight TOC women showed up at the start location: Victoria Park subway station. The weather forecast was grim: the thundershowers were supposed to start the night before and not end until mid-day. Cancelling did cross my mind on Saturday, but after so many false predictions, I chose to take the "wait and see" approach. In the morning, we were met with overcast skies, but it was warm and dry. So off we went!
Oh, and the other thing I learned: it would be amazing to be in the ravines as opposed to just walking on residential sidewalks the whole way! So!… The first leg of our hike took us through "Donora Park" which lies between Victoria Park and Dawes Rd. From there we entered into Taylor Creek Park (which by the way, is where, over ten years ago, my jogging "career" began and blossomed!) The trails took us under the DVP, and eventually over the rail road tracks. It was there that the first rain drops tried to make an appearance. We stopped for a few minutes to adjust gear and ponchos, while cyclists, who were supposed to have dismounted to cross the bridge, slipped and skidded all around us! (Well, so be it if they can't read a sign).
This trail wound us ever northward and westward, until we were eventually passing by the Science Centre! And we just kept going… up … up … to finally reach Edwards Gardens. By now the sun was peaking out and taunting us with promises of making complete fools out of the weather men. While we took a water break, we watched a wonderful wedding party ;)
But by now, some folks were itching for the promised land: the Gelato Store! So it was that we set for the west again. When we arrived at Bayview, we headed south. But glancing back north, we saw "it". The black clouds. We didn't really even know it at the time, but we used it as an excuse to "hurry it up" and get to the Gelato place: The Mad Italian. We even bypassed the Chocolate Store with barely a glance as we all focused on our goal. And then we saw it, the "Gelato" sign! All eight of us piled in and spent a good while ooohh-ing and aww-ing over the flavours. The more decisive of us placed orders and got the ball rolling. The patio was clear and the awning suggested that it would protect us against any raindrops. So some of us started gathering outside. I hadn't gotten myself all sorted yet when suddenly everyone was back inside. But… why? A quick glance towards the window told the WHOLE story! The rain had arrived, and brought an army with it! The wind was gusting full force down Bayview. If we had been hiking still, we all would have been soaked in seconds. There was no warning bell with this one! Lucky for us, there was space near the back where we could all fit and sit down and wait it out. We joked that we could not be in a better spot to be stranded! Meanwhile, it was looking like the awning might get blown clear off the building, and the staff were trying to deal with that, but all the while staying calm and providing excellent customer service!
I don't even know what we all had, but I tried the waffle cone with banana, pineapple and pistachio gelato. Another girl had the vegetarian lasagne (which I was secretly coveting because I was quite drooling over their short but very vegetarian lunch menu!). I didn't get away without also buying an in-house baked apricot tart though!
By the time we were all done, we'd all figured out the various routes and busses that everyone would take to get home. I walked back to Vic Park Subway station, and did manage to find one geocache on the way! There were many trees blown over that were not there before, and the river was fast and furious, as they say.
Thanks everyone for braving the day with me!
Thanks to Mad Italian (if you're reading) for being so super and wonderful to us. We walked over 16 km to get to you, and it wasn't just the product, but also the service that made that hike worth it!
Thanks Susan for the photos! (which I'll post soon)
And of course… thanks Random Chance (and maybe Mother Nature too) for letting us reach our destination before releasing the deluge!
Total distance: 16.3 km
Avg pace: ~5.3 km / hour
Donations: $6.00
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.