Sat, Sep 23 2006 - Toronto Central Ravines and Belt Line (View Original Event Details)
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First of all I want to give a warm welcome to Monique and Katherine, their first event with TOC. When I arrived at the station, I saw Benster he was the first to arrive at the entrance doors to the subway. He is the other event coordinator from the TOC club, interesting enough, he didn't look like his picture from the website. So don’t always trust those pictures you see on the internet! As this is my first event that I have coordinated, Benster was nice enough to help me keep track of the people at the end of the line even though he was not the coordinator for the day. Benster was I should say the comedian of the group.
The cloudy day started with some puddles on the ground. But as the day went on, you could feel a light breeze and the sun emerging from the clouds. Some people overdressed, myself included thinking it might be cooler than it looked but we didn't’ let our clothes get in the way of the hike. If you haven’t tried this hike, you should try it someday because it has a variety of everything from hard-packed and hard-paved surfaces, ravines with narrow edges of hills, parks, cemetery, gardens and historical building etc.
We started the hike at the Belt Line Linear Park, this 4.5 km recreational trail was actually the route of the 1890s Belt Line commuter steam railway which once circled the city. The tree-lined trail linked beautiful houses, neighbourhood parks and open spaces. Because of the flat dirt trail, one could see this path used by joggers, bikers, families and dogs. As the hike went on, I looked back at the group and everyone seemed to enjoy him/herself. I must admit we enjoyed Benster with his comical talent but sometimes we had to give him a break by letting him have a breather from the hike.
Then we arrived at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery. This cemetery is well kept. We saw beautiful memorial gardens and fountains, birds chirping on trees. Interesting enough, we saw the burial site of our former Canadian Prime Minister- the Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King. Believe it or not he held the prime ministership for more than twenty-one years before I was born. As we continued our walk through the Moore Park ravine, we can hear the zen-like sound of the stream from the Mud Creek. As we walked further, we encountered the amazing Don Valley Brickworks, the brick plant which opened in 1889. It is a famous historical architectural site which is now under construction to be finished in approximately 2008 and will hold future cultural events. The old bricks and the orange tinted wall structure bring us back to past times. Due to construction and the age of the building you can see dust still sticking on the old windows. Monique could still see her name imprinted on it from the last time she was here on her own. Benster using his finger proceeded to draw his name on the window hoping he would become famous one day.
During the last part of the hike, most of us were relieved to have conquered some uphill battles. People chatted and made new friends and best of all, we worked up an appetite. At the end, Rob and Sol stayed behind a bit to have their lunches and to further enjoyed the ambience of the forest. Sol met up with us so Kayani, Benster, Katherine and myself decided to cool off at a pub. Everyone celebrated their accomplishment by making a toast. After that long walk, Benster quickly reinvigorated himself by having a cold beer.
Thank you all who came out to make my first coordinated event a memorable one. I hope we will run into each other again in future events.
Min C
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.