RIVERDALE

44 members met our learned leader, Charles Chaffey, at Broadview Station for an interesting 8.5 km walk through the downtown area. At first it was a soggy trudge through Riverdale Park and up the hill to the farm area for an optional pee break. Then a walk through the Necropolis Cemetery and Allen Gardens before heading to Ryerson University for lunch in their modern cafeteria. After lunch we made our way to the U of T campus with a detour through Queens Park. Our final destination was the Faculty Club where Charles is a member. This time he sure picked out an excellent watering hole. A delightful peaceful spot in the busy downtown area.

GOAT ISLAND

I decided to join my wife Helen on a visit to Niagara Falls. She and her friends went to the Casinos while I refrained from loosing money by taking a walk around Goat Island. The island is situated on the US side of the falls. Crossing the pedestrian side of the Peace Bridge I entered the US Border Control. With a name like Whiteman I had no problems at the Border, "Up yours Donald Trump". At the visitors centre I picked up a map of the area known as Niagara Falls State Park which includes Goat Island. The State Park is the oldest in America, established in 1885. Goat Island was named after John Stedman in 1778 rowed his herd of goats to the island to protect them from wolves. From the visitors centre I crossed the bridge onto the island. I took the path circumnavigating the island with many fine views of the falls etc. My walk starting at the Fallsview Casino and back took 2 1/2 hours totalling 10 km. Such a beautiful day to be out and about.

MEREL'S

Merel welcomed us to her spacious house for beer and chilli. Everyone enjoyed the food and each others company. Later we conducted the planned Club Executive Meeting before heading for our respective homes.

DONALDA GOLF COURSE

Today was the first time I used my Apple Watch to track our hike. It worked fine other than me forgetting to re start after pausing during the hike while the group donned their icers. The mistake also effected the hiking stats.

Our Senior Hike started at Don Mills & Lawrence. Ann Atkins led the group of 33. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn early on but managed to navigate our way back to the road leading to the Donald Golf Course. At the end of the course we climbed up the embankment to Don Mills Rd using a rope tied to the guard rail (Ann's idea). We then wound our way along Graydon Hall Rd to the George S Henry Academy for our lunch stop.
After lunch we navigated our way to Merel's house for refreshments