Humber River

[dan e 1980]

there are many waterfalls along the humber, some a foot tall, some many feet tall. i assume they put them there to slow down water flow and probably to keep sections of the river filled with water at all times so that kids don't play in the river bed and all of a sudden get washed away by a wall of water that was unleashed by a storm very far away up river.

my question is, since these waterfalls exist, it would be very dangerous to canoe or raft down the humber. could they not build some ramps at the waterfalls so you can pass safely?

 

[dan e 1980]

ooout and aboot? more like transportation issues

 

[EnviroTO]

Usually they serve a dual purpose, moderating the river flow and oxygenating the river. Oxygenating the river makes it more livable for fish and combats algae.

 

[dan e 1980]

i think some ramps would be a good idea. i'd love to travel the humber in a raft and i'm sure other people would to. the only way to do it now is to portage and you must know where
the waterfalls are to avoid injury or death. maybe some ramps that are like a grate but with rollers could be used.

of course, this is all a pipe dream since the city would never fund this.

 

[shawnmicallef]

You can canoe up from the lake past the subway overpass. Some friends have waved at the subway driver from their canoe.

 

[adma]

I suspect the advent of recreational canoeing and rafting hadn't been fully considered during the post-Hurricane Hazel remedial work to the Humber--though perhaps that was a blessing in disguise, considering the potential of drunken-yahoos-on-rafts abusing their privilege. (Okay, I'm sensationalizing there.)

 

[green22]

I have a whitewater kayak and I went down Mimico creek and Hurmber river from the subway. Mimico has some falls. I can only handle about a foot or 2 or 3 feet at the most. Any idea where the falls are on Humber and how bad they are. Planning to hit the creeks/river by the end of the month. In the winter I just stick to Lake Ontario whenever it's above 4c.

 

[dan e 1980]

waterfalls in list starting at hwy 401 ending just south of dundas.


here's one about 1 1/2 feet tall


this is kinda big


this is a pretty big one, looks very dangerous



two of them, look small


four of them, look kinda big, can't remember.

 

[shawnmicallef]

If you go for a bike ride down the humber trail, you can get a good view of most of the falls too.

--

Drunken yahoos on rafts tend to take care of themselves. Witness the drunken culling that goes on every year at Elora Gorge.

 

[EnviroTO]

^ A better view that Google Maps?

 

[dan e 1980]

shawn, i used to bike it all the time before. i don't think i have the energy to do the whole trail anymore these days. it would be nice to float on a raft down the humber and just relax. let the water do the work.

 

[shawnmicallef]

I dunno if i'm ready to let the Humber Water do any work on me just yet.....


Enviro> Well, I suppose. Funny you bring it up, the real vs. the google....there's a minor discussion over at Reading Toronto about Baudrillard and simulation.

 

[dan e 1980]

i went on the trail today and i saw a family of deer and a beaver swimming in the river. there are many sharp stumps sticking out of the ground (trees that the beaver cut) that pose a danger if you fall on them. if you look up into the tree canopy, you can see many spots where the beavers cut branches off. i tried to take a pic of the deer but it didn't come out good. another ting i notices that on one part of the trail, all the trees had metal tags with numbers stapled to them.

 

[Chuck100]

While the waterfalls have many positive spin offs, they were built in the first place to prevent ice jams of all things. Water upstream of the wiers is now sufficiently calm to allow a solid layer of ice to form. Come spring, the ice will harmlessly melt in place rather than travel downstream in large chunks which can form jams and cause flooding.

 

[dan e 1980]

i once saw blocks of ice the size of cars on the paved pathway. where the river bends, the ice goes straight and gets shot out of the river. it keeps going till it loses momentum or hits something. i once saw a parking lot filled with ice. if it were filled with cars when that happened, it would have caused lots of damage. i think it was at old mill.