Humber Arboretum Autumn Walk

I drove to the Humber Arboretum on Saturday for a fall walk. I found out about it on the BlogTO site. They were talking about five fall hikes they liked in the GTA and this was one of them.

Located at the Humber College North Campus west off Highway 427 south of Finch, it's not too far from my place. On the weekends you can park there for free at Parking Lot 1 (near the student residences). Technically you're supposed to get a permit from the lot attendant, but no one was there when I went.

I'd say there are three main areas at the Arboretum. There's a manicured upper section where the Centre for Urban Ecology is. In that building are the public washrooms. There's lower grassland section bordered by trees on the east side. And there's a small forested section to the south. As well, there is a trail that follows the Humber River (called the West Humber Trail).

It was partially overcast when I went. I had to wait for overhead clouds to pass so the sun could shine through so the colours would pop when I took my shots. Luckily I went on my own. Others might not have been so patient.

I snapped some photos in the manicured upper section first. They have some pond features and small bridges and wooden structures that look nice.

On my way down to the lower grassland section I saw some cute chickadees. I had seen some the weekend before at Hilton Falls. People were feeding them birdseed out of their hands, so I thought I would try. All I had was a few crumbs from the bag I had my peanut butter sandwich in. One tiny fellow sat on my finger for a second or two. The rest were too shy.

The lower grassland sections have wide, mowed pathways you can walk along. It's pretty nice. The forested areas are well maintained too. When I was there the ground was carpeted with yellow leaves. It looked quite pretty.

I took a short walk along the West Humber Trail too. It's paved. It goes from Highway 27 on the east to Finch Avenue on the north. Overall it's quite a good place to visit.

Mono Cliffs Autumn Hike

I went for a fall hike on the Friday before Thanksgiving with one of my friends. The colours of the leaves were just about at their peak at that time.

We went to Mono Falls. It's up Highway 10 about 20 kilometres north of Orangeville. I found out about it from doing an online search. There was an article at TheStar.com about it.

I checked a provincial park website about the park. There were a few interesting trails I thought I might like to see - the Cliff-Top Side Trail and the South Outlier Trail to name a couple.

My friend and I got to the park a bit late. Somewhere around 2:30 p.m. The lot wasn't very full. At one end there was a pay parking machine. We selected the 4-hour option for $5.

The trails I selected were between 3 and 4 kilometres long. Though I'm not sure if the 3 kilometre one was one way or round trip. As well we had to take the Carriage Trail (1 kilometre long) in to get to the other ones.

I thought we would start with the Cliff-Top Side Trail (3 kms). Then if we had time we could do the South Outlier Trail (4 kms).

The Carriage Trail (1 km) that we took in from the parking lot met the Cliff-Top Side Trail in the middle. We decided to do the north side first.

Part way along that trail is a lookout where you can see over the valley. The view was spectacular (see above). It was absolutely amazing with the bright yellows, blazing oranges and fiery reds. While we were there we met an older couple who told us about another lookout we should see.

It was off the McCarston's Lake Trail. There's a Lookout Trail that goes off of it. Without a trail map it could have been complicated, but the lady gave us good directions and we found our way there (as well as our way back).

We never got to do the South Outlier Trail. It was getting late and the light was fading. Perhaps next time.

Fall Walk

Last Saturday I went to Edwards Gardens and Wilket Creek for a walk to see the fall colours. I have to say they were spectacular. In conjunction with the bright blue skies, the leaves looked like they were on fire under the afternoon sun.

I walked over there from my parents' place. They live about 10 minutes away on foot. Not only was it a bit of extra exercise (which is good for anyone). But, the parking situation at Edwards Gardens was a mess. They had torn up at least 2/3 of their parking lot for resurfacing. So many visitors had to find spots on the surrounding side streets (there were a few wedding photography sessions going on).

As usual, the park was in immaculate condition. The lawns were well manicured and the flowers and other plants looked beautiful. I strolled around for the good part of an hour taking pictures there before heading down the path to the Wilket Creek side.

The scenery there was just as spectacular. Just in a different way. The star of the show here were the many colourful trees.

Now I've complained over the past few years that the leaves on the trees aren't as vibrant as they used to be. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's the pollution or something. And while that may be the case, on this day, they still stood out against the lovely, blue skies. I think I got some really fantastic shots. Check out my Flickr.com page in the near future to see them.

Anyway, it was a really nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon. It's too bad autumn will be ending soon and we'll be stuck with the dreariness of winter for the next few months.