ALLAN GARDENS

Today's Senior Hike commenced at the Christmas Flower Display at the Allan Garden's Conservatory. 37 members walked the downtown streets to lunch at Loblaws on Lower Jarvis. After lunch members stopped to sample the beer at the Steam Whistle Brewery. From there, we wound our way to the Wheat Sheaf Pub at Bathurst & King. A total distance of of 11.2 km.

HUMBER RIVER TRAIL

Barry and I led the 30 members participating in today's hike. The path along the east side of the river through Etienne Brule Park was snow packed requiring the use of the dreaded icers! After crossing the Humber River to the west side we climbed up the ravine to have lunch at the Humbertown Plaza. After lunch we made our way back to Old Mill via Royal York and Dundas and Home Smith Park on the west side of the river. A total distance of 10 km.
After the hike a few of us walked the 1 km distance to the Dark Horse Pub on Bloor St. Unfortunately I could not drink alcohol because of the antibiotics I was taking! Nevertheless it was enjoyable. Helen came by a picked Barry and I up.

HUMBER RIVER PRE-HIKE

Barry and I pre-hiked tomorrow's hike along the Humber River Trail. Helen dropped us off at the Old Mill Station. We walked along the snow covered trail on the east side of the river and then up the ravine to the Humbertown Shopping Plaza. We stopped for a coffee and then proceeded down Royal York Rd to Dundas Street. At Home Smith Park we made our way down the west side of the river back to Old Mill. Helen came by and picked us up. I was encouraged that my left heel did not bother me and my stomach behaved. Hopefully the "Keen" Hiking Boots will be my "go to" ones.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Today we had our Senior Hiking Club Christmas Lunch at the Mandarin Restaurant. I picked Ann Atkins up from the York Mills subway station. Everyone attending seemed to enjoy the food and company. At times it was a roomful of nattering old biddies, blokes included. I was care fully what I ate and had no problems stomach wise. I made a slideshow of the hikes throughout 2016 to view at the lunch. Unfortunately the layout of the room is not conducive for easy viewing.

PARKS & RAVINES

Today's Senior Hike of 11 km was the official one that Ann, Jill & I pre-hiked on November 12th. 50 members participated in walking through 7 parks and ravines finishing up at Eglinton & Laird. My heel was beginning to bother me so I took a shortcut to the finishing point. [see pre-hike for more info on the route taken].
After the hike we repaired to the Shoeless Joe's Pub for refreshments.

LAKESHORE EAST

For today's Senior Hike Helen drove Barry and I to Runnymede Station. Ilo Puhm led the hike to the Lakeshore through Rennie Park and then along the boardwalk to the Enercare Centre at the Exhibition grounds for lunch. The heel on my left foot was beginning to bother me so I dropped out at lunchtime. I caught the bus to the On the Rocks Pub at Front and Sherbourne. I left my hat on the first bus I had to catch and I'm one of the members who were on that bus picked it up? We had our Executive Meeting at the Pub. Unfortunately the map below shows where I dropped out at the Exhibition and not to the Pub. The distance was 8.4 km.

TORONTO ISLANDS MOON WALK

This evening Barry and I joined Tom Fiore's Moon Walk on the Toronto Islands. There was a fair number of folks participating including TSHC members, Mary ayers, Mary Moore, Tonie Norman, and Bobbie Ardell to name a few. Unfortunately the clouds had begun to roll in as we set off from the Wards Island Dock. The sunset wasn't too bad in terms of clarity and colour but the so called Super Moon was not a photographer's delight. Tonight the moon is closer to the earth and therefore appears to brighter and larger. The next time it appears this way will be 2034! The group walk to the pier at Centre Island to hopefully watch the moon rise. It was shrouded in clouds and impossible to capture a shot. Barry and I walked towards the Wards Island Ferry Terminal and managed to get a few reasonable shots. Waiting for 7:15 pm return ferry I dropped my camera. It fell off the bench and broke the eyepiece etc. Little did I know it would cost over $500 to fix!
From the ferry terminal we made the short walk to the Fox Pub for a libation and a bite to eat. We chatted for an hour and thanked Tom.

MOON WALK PHOTO"S

RAVINES & PARKS PRE-HIKE.

I met Ann Atkins and Jill Cobb at Starbucks at Yonge & Lawrence for a pre-hike. We set off through south through the parks and ravines into Sherwood Park. Crossing at Bayview we lunched at the Glendale College Cafeteria. After lunch we walked back to Sunnybrook Park then up through Serena Gundy Park to Shoeless Joe's Pub at Eglinton and Laird. After a pint I left the ladies as I had to get home in time to pick Helen up from the subway. We covered the pre-hike of 11.3 km in 2 hours and 15 mins.

GRANITE BREWERY

After Kevin's hike we had libations at the Granite Brewery. I had a pint of their Best Bitter which was served too cold and not very similar to the British brew! We congratulated Kevin on an enjoyable hike

SHERWOOD & SUNNYBROOK PARKS

Barry and I met Kevin Doyle, our trusty leader for todays Senior Hike at Eglinton & Mount Pleasant. We walked through Sherwood Park and lunched at the Glendale College Cafeteria. Lunch over we walked through Sunnybrook Park and Mount Hope Cemetery finishing up at the starting point. There were 69 participants covering a distance of just under 14 km.