Falling into Autumn

To state the obvious, autumn is the best season. The crisp mornings, the changing leaves, the perfect weather for warm jumpers and hot chocolate. And there aren’t any annoying insects to spoil the fun. Last autumn we saw the incredible colours in Algonquin Park. This year, of course, our opportunities for travel are more limited, but pandemic season has helped us look closer to home, and we’ve discovered amazing natural beauty within walking distance of our condo. Toronto, it turns out, is quite spectacular.

We’ve been helped in our wanderings by Active TO – an initiative led by the Mayor of Toronto to close major roads beside the city’s beauty spots, and keep them exclusively for walkers, joggers, cyclists and the occasional skater. This allows social distancing on the city’s vast bikeway network. For instance, we’ve enjoyed walking beside Lake Ontario on the Waterfront Trail, a route that winds its way along the Canadian shores of the Great Lakes (some 3600km in all). Its parks and beaches make ideal spots for a waterside picnic.

Running into Lake Ontario are the two rivers between which Toronto was originally founded: the Don in the east, and the Humber in the west. These flow through the city’s famous ravines – deep valleys with spectacular parks and forests, and skyscrapers just peaking above the canopy. As we walked up the Don River, the trees grew taller and their colours more vibrant. The vivacious red maples could have been lifted straight from Algonquin.

By the Don stands the Evergreen Brick Works. It was once a brick factory, but the quarry has been filled with ponds and trees, and the buildings have become a vibrant community hub for research on sustainable cities. As we emerged at the peak overlooking the park, we glimpsed the end of a successful marriage proposal. It’s not surprising: the view downtown is one of Toronto’s best.

Past the marshes of the Humber River we found the best spot for Toronto’s greatest autumn spectacle: salmon jumping. Every year hundreds of Pacific salmon swim from the lake to lay their eggs in the quiet streams upriver. Sadly, their route isn’t made any easier by the local fishermen who lie in wait. But their energy as they leap over dams and waterfalls is remarkable – not to mention their persistence.

At Thanksgiving this year, we felt grateful for the beauty in the city we call home. Among the industry of Canada’s busiest metropolis, our journeys in nature help to centre and calm us. And as we head towards a no doubt unusual winter, the changing leaves are an uplifting reminder that pandemic season too shall soon pass.