Gus Harris Trail

I admit it, its not quite green enough yet, but it's getting there...  Our weather has been so confused lately promising us warm days ahead and waking up to blankets up to our noses!  But, spring has sprung and with it promises longer days and yes, warmer ones too.   

The Gus Harris Trail, which was christened on June 1, 2002, was named in honour of Augustus John (Gus) Harris, who was a career politician.  Like Kay Gardner (see the Gardner Beltline Trail in this blog), Gus served his city tirelessly in a variety of different roles and eventually becoming the mayor of Scarborough Township in 1979-88.  He passed away in February 20, 2000 due to his complication of Parkinson's Disease.  Yet another sad tale of a man who's honor was given to him after his death.  I could never understand this philosophy and it happens often.



We reached the trail very late in the day passing through from the east and travelling to the west, which is why most of the pictures are in the mode of the sun setting.    You can reach the Gus Trail off of Pharmacy Avenue, just a little north of Victoria park.  It's not a particularly large section of parkland but you won't be disappointed and despite the preceding photographs, there's much to love about this trail.  

 
A little historical fact (of course) was during the last ice age, this section of Warden Woods Park was once a part of the natural shoreline of Glacial Lake Iroquois!  The sandy soil of the ravine, has been ravaged over the years which have made city workers busy.  The most severe problem is soil erosion which has been somewhat eradicated with rock walls embedded in mesh to prevent flooding and further erosion.

I wanted to mention the footbridge that you'll see a few hundred metres into the trail.  It crosses the creek, and the other side offers dozens of several foot trail that weave their way into the forests of maples and oak trees.  I had my zoom lens ready to take my first decent shot of a wide variety of birds I saw overhead, including one woodpecker, which was evident by sound.  

Unfortunately as it was quite late into the day, so I didn't get THE shot of the bird I was hoping for :)