It’s hard to believe 2016 is drawing to a close. And it was quite a year when it comes to outdoor adventures, both close and far. With a three-week road trip all the way to Los Angeles, lots of camping with family and friends, my first solo trip and endless microadventures, it is next to impossible to narrow down ten best. But I’ll still try.
winter
Bruce Trail, snow and lime
Our latest microadventures had three things in common: snow, Bruce Trail and lime (as in construction material, not fruit). Why lime? Well, with easily accessible deposits of limestone in the Niagara Escarpment, the Halton Hills area not far from Toronto became a hotspot of industrial development in the 1800s. At the beginning of the century, the land was surrendered by the Mississaugas Nation (now known as the Mississaugas of the New Credit), and the lime production boom began. It was the remnants of the lime industry that we got to explore during our trip to Limehouse Conservation Area and Hoffmann Lime Kiln Ruins near Devil’s Pulpit.
Easter Weekend in Algonquin
I am writing this post surrounded by camping gear at various stages of dryness: tents spread across the floor, shoes propped up against the radiator, clothes hanging on chairs. It’s one of the less glorious parts of camping – having to sort out the gear after the trip, especially one that ended in frantic packing in the pouring rain. Our cat is enjoying it, though.
Winter yurting at Silent Lake: birds, friends and bonding moments
We love our Saturday microadventures. They are a great way to recharge at the end of the week, explore new places nearby, plus they don’t require a lot of planning. Sometimes, though, the need arises for a more intensive reboot, which means it’s time to plan a camping trip.
A few weeks ago, as I was browsing the Ontario Parks reservation site, I saw a yurt available at Silent Lake Provincial Park. It was a stroke of luck since roofed accommodations for winter usually get booked months in advance. We visited Silent Lake a couple of times before, including for my birthday last summer, but never in the winter, so it was a great opportunity to see it in a different light.
Geocaching at Crawford Lake = perfect birthday celebration
Our younger son turned 12 about two weeks ago. Usually, his birthdays are elaborate affairs that he plans himself. He picks a theme, comes up with activities and then chooses a cause that will get half of his birthday cash. The party usually has something to do with his hobbies. So in the past, we’ve done an art class at Neilson Park Creative Centre (the theme was “Starry Night at the Museum” and we even had Van Gogh’s Starry Night cake that we made all on our own) and a nature party at Humber Arboretum where kids hand-fed chickadees and did some container gardening. Last year, he wanted to show what it was like to be a vegetarian since he was often teased about it (well, technically we are pescatarian since we occasionally eat fish, I am sure you’ve read about our post-camping tradition that involves fish & chips) so we had a cooking party at High Park’s Teaching Kitchen where kids made veggie burgers, sweet potato fries and chocolate-zucchini cupcakes.
This year was supposed to be all about geocaching, of course. After unsuccessful attempts to find a GPS unit rental place in Toronto, I was tasked with developing our own treasure hunt in High Park. While the birthday boy would have loved to be involved, it wouldn’t have been much fun for him on the day of the party. The invitation was all ready to go when all of a sudden he decided that he was too old for parties and just wanted to go geocaching instead.
Allegany State Park: walking, skiing and geocaching in a winter wonderland
Be careful what you wish for, they say. That’s what I was thinking after spending over an hour stuck in a traffic jam, all courtesy of the lake effect snow storm. All winter, I’ve been complaining about the lack of winter: no snow, no skiing opportunities, no beautiful enchanted forest. And here we were, less than thirty minutes away from our weekend destination, Allegany State Park, with nothing else to do but watch the snow coat our car until all we could see was faint blinking of the police vehicle up ahead. After an hour of willing the cars in front of us to move, I decided to get outside and take a walk. It was definitely magical: large flakes of snow falling softly, blanketing the world around. I walked to the front of the line, chatted with fellow stranded travellers, learned that two trucks had ended up in a ditch earlier that day bringing all the traffic to a standstill. Eventually, the mess was cleared up and we started moving but it felt like dog-sledding or even just walking would have been faster. The world around was completely white, with only rear lights of the truck in front guiding us ahead. I wanted winter, and I got it.
Hiking at Rockwood Conservation Area: limestone cliffs, caves and potholes
In his book The Wild Places, Robert Macfarlane calls his friend Roger Deakin “an explorer of the undiscovered country of the nearby.” I really like the expression and feel it captures perfectly the mission behind our microadventures – to explore the often overlooked natural places close to home. I already mentioned Macfarlane’s book and his friend Roger in one of my posts a few months ago. That was at the beginning of our microadventures. Since then, we have visited a lot of beautiful places in and around Toronto, every week uncovering new natural wonders. By now, our Saturday hikes have become a well-established tradition, something to look forward to during the week.
Two Saturdays ago, our explorations of “the undiscovered country of the nearby” took us to Rockwood Conservation Area. It is part of the Grand River Conservation Authority, which runs under the motto of “Nature. Next door…” The tagline suits it perfectly since most of its parks are located in or around large metropolitan areas. For instance, Laurel Creek, another of the Grand River parks, is right in the city of Waterloo and can be easily accessed by public transit, on bike or on foot. It is our favourite nature destination whenever we come to visit our son who’s currently a student at the University of Waterloo.
A Perfect Day at Hilton Falls: hiking, 3 geocaches, lots of chickadees and waterfalls, of course
The other day my older son said “Lord of the Rings” was boring because people walked a lot and didn’t do much. And then, he added that if he wanted to read about people walking, he’d just read my blog. I don’t know if I should feel offended since he implied my blog was boring or flattered that it was compared to a classic. But here comes another post about walking.
As I mentioned in my previous post, a nature adventure was long overdue. I was hoping to go further north, like Scenic Caves near Collingwood, to do some cross-country skiing. However, my husband, always the more sensible of the two (or a buzzkill as I call him), noted that it was too much of a drive for a one-day trip. Annoyed as I was, I had to agree. It was already pretty late in the day so by the time we’d have gotten there, there wouldn’t have been much time left to ski.
In the end, we agreed on Hilton Falls Conservation Area about 30 minutes away from home. Our younger son immediately consulted his geocaching map and pronounced it a very good choice. We had brunch, packed some snacks and water, wrote down clues for the caches and were on our way.
Hilton Falls is one the Conservation Halton parks. It is the fourth one we have visited, and I must say it is my favourite so far. The falls, of course, is the main attraction but there are also over 30 kilometres of trails, including part of the famous Bruce Trail. Three of the trails are usually groomed for skiing in the winter with gear rentals available right in the park. However, with this winter being so flaky, the rentals were closed.
January update: nature pauses, geocaching and hugging trees at Kortright Centre
Yesterday, I had about 20 minutes to spare before picking up my husband from work so I decided to swing by Cullen Bryant Park in East York for a nature pause. It is my second week into a new job so I have been putting most of my energy into trying to get the hang of it and haven’t had much time for nature pursuits. The lack of vitamin N has started to take a toll: I could feel a spring inside me get tighter and tighter. But the moment I stepped into the park the spring started to uncoil. It was a very short walk along the Taylor Creek Trail (although it did include a pretty steep stair climb) and the boots I was wearing weren’t suitable for a slippery winter trail, but I emerged from the ravine feeling like a different person.
New Year’s Celebration in Killarney Provincial Park
Back in our home country, there is a superstition that the way you ring in the new year determines how you spend it. So for the past six years or so, we have been heading into the woods to spend the first minutes of January 1st around a campfire. And it seems to be working: we have had no shortage of campfires and incredible camping moments for the rest of the year.
Gone Camping 