Taking It Outdoors

With nothing but bad news circulating around the world on the COVID19 situation, what better place is there to be than alone on a trail with a good friend, away from all the worries and noise?

That’s exactly what Deb (Widow Badass) and I did this past week.

Deb and I have been hiking quite regularly since she retired at the end of last year. Before you think that we actually live close to one another, I should mention that given the ugly nature of Toronto area traffic, we’re usually at least 90 minutes to a 2-hour drive away from each other.

Whenever possible, we attempt to find hiking spots somewhere in the middle.

As you can see from all the green space on the map, we have a lot of hiking potential between us.

This week we were off to Alton, a small community northwest of Toronto. Neither of us were familiar with the trails in this area, but the Alton Mills Art Centre was a secondary draw.

The stillness of Shaw’s Creek, before it thunders over the dam.

It was a damp-cold day and the trail was icy as Cruella’s heart, but these weekly meetups are an excuse to get outdoors and share a few giggles.

The trail didn’t lend itself to taking many photos – it was simply too icy, and the bulk of my attention was spent trying to preserve dignity … and all limbs intact.

Going up was infinitely easier than coming down.

I did discover that the 280+km Grand Valley Trail terminates in Alton, on the Pinnacle, so I’ve made a mental note to explore some of this trail system in the future.

In the meantime, I was so preoccupied with the steep decline we would have to navigate, it never occurred to me to actually take a photo from the top of the Pinnacle. In fact, I couldn’t even tell you what the view looked like.

Once we reached the safety of our cars again, we agreed that we had invested a respectable amount of time on the trail and then turned our attention to exploring the art centre. It is the studio home for several local artists and we soaked up some creative inspiration while we were there.

One of several statues outside the art centre.

Final verdict?

The day was a success, of course.