park walk (2) Saturday was lobster fest !! No, I did not eat lobster, I burnt myself to a crisp, as in. Eating lobster would be quite uncomfortable even for this Cape Breton boy with an uncle who "fishes" for lobster. Anywayz, I decided to take my saturday and see what this High Park was all about. It was more inspired from a desire to see the venue where the WingFest was supposed to be.. I more than admit I was a little disgruntled by their sloppy handling of the event that never was. I was wondering how many people might show up to something that was not happening. So, I arrived at Dundas W Stn (I always like to land at a stop I have been to before and do some walk through a new neighbourhood) and walked west to Keele. The Bloor W & Keele entrance to the park went south along dog paths and forest trails. This is my favourite sort of park walking as it is quiet, wild-ish and reminds me of truly walking in the woods as a kid. The trails are not just designed for dogs but also for the exercise types with stretching posts, chin-up bars and balance beams, probably left over from some participaction program from my childhood. They wound south and west through the trees until I hit the picnic area.  What was strange was the lack of "You Are Here" in the forest trails' signage. Lots of signs posted here and there but with no clue as to where you were on that map. Almost immediately upon arriving, a jogger asked me what was up the path I came down. The park, at least on the east side, is all a mystery.. which is kind of fun. The trouble is that I ended up at the deep south end of the park before I knew it. I and another fellow stood at the main sign wondering, "Where Are We?" Another couple approaches and we both ask them and then all four of us are looking over, finally deciding on a parking lot near a duck pond (that being said, I should post some afterthought pics which while being shot badly or uninterestingly, IMO, add to this story) and we all departed. The couple was surprised that me and the other guy were not together. People walking single in a park is weird, I guess. At least I wasn't hanging out at the playground.  Beyond the park and under the Gardiner (Frederick?) led me to the beach. Not much of a beach but what can you expect by a giant lakeside place. I am still not brave enough to swim there even if I wasn't self conscious about swimming in public these days. Still, the beach had a handful of sunbathers and even a few kids in the water. I peered around looking for a public venue large enough to hold chicken wings & midway rides but saw nothing. No wonder it was cancelled. So east along the boardwalk I began to walk. It was at this point I realized I should have more water and probably a bit of sunblock. Bright sunny days are one thing but waterside walking can burn you to a crisp.  I was somewhat surprised by the amount of foot & bike path along this way, as I was led to believe that most of it was roadside walking. It was pretty pleasant trudging along a mix of boardwalk, park path and roadside bike paths. Mini parks and eateries and royal canadian legions and ballrooms and yacht clubs dot the path from Sunnyside Beach Park to the Harbourside at the south of Spadina. Near the end I realized that one should eat more than cookies & coffee for breakfast, as my bloodsugar dropped and my ankles were killing me. Once I hit Spadina, it was back onto the TTC for a ride home. See the entire Flickr stream here, which should be appended soon. June 18 07 |
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Comments
So the WingFest was really cancelled? did they tell people? Was it really happening this past weekend? How come I didn't go? (ok, this last question is not for you)
Posted by: Maria at June 19, 2007 06:40 PM
it was cancelled. i cannot see how they could have moved it to another venue without it being advertized somewhere... scam i would say. good thing u DIDN'T go :)
Posted by: tbit at June 19, 2007 11:01 PM
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