Toronto Mini Strolls: Around Baby Point

One really cool perk about being an author is the opportunity to meet great people and, from time to time, kindred spirits such as the three women I joined last week for a little walk around Baby Point.

I met with Linda and her two friends, Diana the fundraiser and Sheila the urbanist, and soon found out that the three women and I share the same love for all things related to improving urban life and walkability of our city.

Funny story
Linda Plater is the dynamic BIA Coordinator for the Village of Islington neighbourhood, aptly self-proclaimed "Toronto's Village of Murals". She's also the editor of the local quarterly Islington Times, and recently wrote an article about Toronto Urban Strolls 1. Here's how she found out about my walking guide and the fact that it includes the Islington Village Murals Stroll:  

"Half dressed in the gym change room, my tennis friend told me about her recent self-guided tour of the Islington murals. And she raved that her group of girlfriends loved their afternoon out exploring Islington! This active group of Mississauga young, fit seniors were planning more trips with the help of a fabulous guidebook."

Mini stroll around Baby Point 
Linda's street, our starting point, is a dead-end with access to the park flanking the Humber River. We soon reached the paved path and headed north to cross the Old Mill Bridge and enter Étienne Brûlé Park.

We saw a group of high school students from a Waldorf school doing an outdoor class

 

My new friends pointed out a path climbing up the hill in the back of the parking lot, which I had never noticed. It leads to the country-like Humberview Road, from which we took Humbercrest Boulevard.

We turned right on Baby Point Road, aiming at Coffee Culture Café at the corner of Jane and Annette Streets, an unassuming coffee shop serving good light meals.
 
I was thrilled to discover Queen Margherita Pizza just across from the café. (I have been to their location in Leslieville and love their Neapolitan pizza.) The Baby Point location is bright and cheerful and would be the perfect end to a long walk along both sides of the Humber River in Étienne Brûlé Park.

On our way back, a Little Free Library caught our attention on baby Point Road. We see more and more of them around the city (read this post on the Torontoist.)

When we reached the Humber, the glistening water was too temping under the sun. We decided to walk along the river. At this time of the year, you can see people trying their luck to catch salmon (Yep! there's salmon in that river), but fish didn't get there by chance. It's part of Ontario's fish stocking program. 

We met again the high school students who turned out to be excellent at spotting salmon! We followed a few specimens in their attempt to swim up the low dam.

We walked back on the paved road on the west side of the river, passing the kayaks of Toronto Adventures (getting ready for its last aquatic adventure of the season).

Linda told us about Hurricane Hazel which blew over 200 mm of rain in 1954, enough to flood the area. Then she showed us the blue wave on one of the pillar under the Bloor Bridge, marking the level that the waters of the Humber reached during Hazel!

Once again, I've seen how great walks encourage great conversations. We will definitely continue to stroll together around our great city.

Old Mills Subway Station is right beside Bloor Bridge.

 

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Mimico Creek Path: I love surprises in the middle of the city

Yep! This scene was capture in a residential Toronto area!

Mimico Creek Path is a hidden little gem just a few blocks south of Bloor Street West in Etobicoke, the western part of Toronto. The whole loop described here is less than 1-km long (see map at the end of the photo gallery).

I had noticed a clearing at the end of dead-end Meadowvale Drive, which normally announces a small ravine. Wanting to take some photos of fall colours, I decided to go down the path and explore the surroundings.

Be warned, this is a diamond in the rough. The trail may be slippery, and at times a bit challenging (climbing up and down some big boulders by the creek at some point). You will notice a bit of litter here and there, and probably a few tags airbrushed on the retaining walls by the cascade. But if you look at the right place...

The joyful sound of the water running down the creek; the glorious beauty of the sun through the trees and the fall colours reflecting on the smooth dark creek; and the wall by the water creating a decent platform to sit and sip and admire (there's a Starbucks coffee shop at Thompson Avenue and Bloor West, with the bakery Bake Sale on the Kingsway across the street, a mere 3-minute walk away).
 

View of lovely Meadowvale Drive on the east side of Thompson Avenue

  

West of Thompson Avenue, Meadowvale Drive is the dead-end trail with a path leading to Mimico Creek Path. One would think this is a private backyard but the yellow fire hydrant in the middle of the small trail tells you otherwise.
 
You soon hear the stream. Turn left to access the wider part of the creek.

  

  

 mmmmm

Bake Sale on the Kingsway (3076 Bloor West) is at just across from the Starbucks.

 

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