Lower Humber River Loop

The Lower Humber River Loop located near the Old Mill in the Kingsway area lies along a scenic trail with rushing waterways.  Collectively, the loop consists of the Etienne, Magwood and Home Smith Parks.

While winter is in full swing, you can still get out to the enjoy the trails.  If you 're not much into the winter footing sports (like me) such as skating and skiing, you can keep your feet planted on the snow by building a snowman or hike through some pretty beautiful landscaping here.

When it's safe to do so runners love this 16 kilometre stretch along the humber river.  It has a total ascent of about 70 metres and a total maximum elevation of 148 metres (ouch!)  I love to walk at a nice brisk pace but running is not my thing.

This beautiful Humber River is part of a watershed that collects from about 750 creeks and tributaries north of the city.  One of the major ones is a branch that runs for 100km from the Niagara Escarpment to the northwest.  The other one starts in the Oak Ridges Moraine near Aurora to the northeast.  They then join north of Toronto and come southeasterly into the Lake of Ontario.

It isn't so unusual from spring to fall to see a beaver or two busy along the river.  I've seen raccoons hanging around too.  Over 25 fish species live in this part of the river, but the salmon of yesterdays autumn are long gone.  You won't see many fishermen in the winter, but occasionally a line with go out for a brown or rainbow trout downstream of Eglinton.  Other times of the year you'll find pike, bass and perch swimming in the shallow waters.  Personally, never want to see a line going for salmon, especially in the fall.

Magwood and Home Smith Park are located on the west bank on the opposite site of Etienne Brule Park. Robert Smith was born in Stratford in 1877, and is a son of a Manitoba Supreme Court judge.  Not that has any bearing of anything other than the fact that he inherited enough money to buy over 1200 hectares of land which he developed in the Humber Valley.  This would be why the Park was named after him. 

Now back to the exploring.  Happy trails, even if they are snow trodden!

Sherman Falls -Hamilton

I thought I'd catch a few photos of the Sherman Falls before the sun completely swallowed up the day...Sherman Falls is so accessible, you just pull over Old Dundas Road to park and you're there! The challenge is sometimes half the fun though.

Sherman isn't one of my favorites although it is a year round flow and has a nice cascading two-tiered effect that flows over the escarpment in Ancaster.  The rock itself is so smooth that most in the area, which gives it that pretty, graceful look perfect for wedding photos or other photo shoots.  Recently Sherman was lit up by Chris Ecklund et al, to shine brightly in pink...not my choice.  Personally I prefer violet or blue hues.  The 'light shows' and have been to only one are getting better all the time.  

Humber Bay Park (Waterfront Trail)

With much more time on my hands now to explore photography and the world around me I am looking forward to doing more of what I love to do and that is to take photographs.

One of my favorite parks in western Toronto is the Humber Bay Park.  

The Park was created by MTRCA with 5.1 million cubic metres of lakefill and the peninsulas officially opened in June 1984 divided into east and west by Mimico Creek, which runs through its grounds to empty into Lake Ontario.

The ducks had something to say...

The Humber Bay Park winds along an asphalt path, crossing a two-way paved road that has a 30kph speed limit and is fairly quiet but requires some caution.  The trail runs back to Lakeshore Blvd from here, but you might want to spend a few minutes on the pedestrian path that goes south to the Metro Police marine unit.

Trail users can also take the road that makes its way from Lakeshore Blvd throught the park to a turn-around point at the water; this road runs past the gates of the Mimico Crusing Club and the Etobicoke Yacht Club, down to a scenic lookout along the shore.

If you prefer to stay on the Waterfront Trail, the next section covers approximately 1.2 km on Lakeshore Blvd.  It passes Humber Bay Park east , but you can detour into the park, if you wish, to a broad asphalt path that takes you to the middle of the park where you will find three ponds.

The three ponds are the scene of many activities including model boating. 

From here, the walkway is made of screened limestone and winds throughout the grounds, leading to various scenic look-out points along the river.

Um..I think this is a snow woman :)

 

   



Note: even though the lighting on these photographs are different, all pictures were taken at various times of the day...

King Edward Hotel

I have always loved the subject of history, which well includes architectural history.  It was an honor to be a part of a celebration at the King Edward Hotel.  The "King Eddy" as it has been known to local Torontonians for decades resides at 37 King Street East, on the south side, west of Church Street and occupies the entire second block east of Yonge Street.

It has lived here since the structure opened in 1903 and housed 400 rooms and several ballrooms as well as the grand lobby.  The King Edward Hotel was designed by two famous architects.  Chicago's Henry Ives Cobb and Toronto's E.J. Lennox and was granted his namesake by King Edward VII.  

Since then, there have been several revisions made to the original hotel which included 530 additional rooms and an 18 storey tower added to the original eight-storey structure to the east of the hotel.  In the late 50's the two top floors occupied the Crystal Ballroom, which since has been permanently closed due to stricter fire codes and was not included in the restoration project in the early 80's.  

Throughout the years, the hotel has seen a number of hands pass ownership, one of which in 2009 was retained by ' Le Meridien to manage it.  They closed the hotel to perform a major restoration which included 140 condominiums from the third to the fifth floors.  These floors have been unused for a number of years, and there have been rumours of 'hauntings'.  Historically, there are always rumours that emerge that involve the closure or ruins of historical places.  It alludes mystery.

Last year, in 2012 saw the most recent ownership from "Skyline Hotels" .  We were all happy to enjoy wonderful food, good music and dance to celebrate a successful year.  I hope that 2013 will finish off better than it has started.  This was a good way to begin.

The King Edward welcomes visitors to view and take pictures of many paintings and the historical architecture and furnishings that adorn the building.   You may even get a chance to visit the 4th floor...