Urban Wilderness!

[EVCco]

Highland Creek - connect the branches

My never-ending tour of this massive system resumes near Lee Centre Drive, on the opposite side of the 401 where I began my exploration of the Western Branch back in the summer:

Heading southeast under Progress Ave:

From Bellamy to Markham Road:

Into the cavernous Morningside Park:

The creek forks at the centre of the park:

North now, up the Central Branch branch, where one encounters a quite large, and most interesting ruin - "The Bitch". I'm not exactly sure what this used to be. An army bunker? Part of an old bridge? The remnants of a mill perhaps? Apparently parts of the park were inhabited up until the 1950's, so maybe it's the remains of an old house, built too close to the creek. Anybody know?

My journey concludes at the opposite side of the 401 where I began my exploration of the Central Branch back in the fall:

 

[Goldie]

Camp of the Crooked Creek

Your recent tour is near where the river passes my home.
The area shown in your pix (attached) is in Morningside Park at the actual site of a former Boy Scouts' camp (Camp of the Crooked Creek).

An interesting history of the long abandoned camp can be found here:
http://torontoplaques.com/Pages_ABC/Camp_of_the_Crooked_Creek.html

And here's a link to beautiful photos of the same area:
http://www.curranhall.ca/community/morningside.htm

 

[EVCco]

Ah! I take it the ruin may be some former Scout facility then?

It was interesting reading about the "Swimming Hole" - the map I was using actually showed what appeared to be a small pond near where the ruin is, but it wasn't there when I arrived. I wonder if the ruin was part of the dam?

 

[Lone Primate]

Ah! I take it the ruin may be some former Scout facility then?

It was interesting reading about the "Swimming Hole" - the map I was using actually showed what appeared to be a small pond near where the ruin is, but it wasn't there when I arrived. I wonder if the ruin was part of the dam?

I'm really surprised folks would go in for that sort of thing back then... I had the impression people lived in terror of polio every summer till about 1960.

 

[Goldie]

Ah! I take it the ruin may be some former Scout facility then?

It was interesting reading about the "Swimming Hole" - the map I was using actually showed what appeared to be a small pond near where the ruin is, but it wasn't there when I arrived. I wonder if the ruin was part of the dam?

I don't believe the concrete work would be connected to the "Camp of the Crooked Creek."
The Boy Scout buildings were all log or wooden structures.
They also built log & rope bridges across the river.
No sign of the camp today except for an official plaque.

P.S. There once was a fine web site with many old photos of activities at the camp.
Unfortunately, the URL appears to have been appropriated for other uses (http://www.campofthecrookedcreek.com/).
Very disappointing!

 

[ShonTron]

This is a fun thread, thanks!

One watercourse that I think would be fascinating to walk would be Black Creek from the Pioneer Village to where it meets the Humber.

Afterwards, cross the Humber and say hi to Toronto's #1 Dysfunctional Family, the mayor lives almost right across from the confluence of the two waterways.

 

[smitty9999]

This is a fun thread, thanks!

One watercourse that I think would be fascinating to walk would be Black Creek from the Pioneer Village to where it meets the Humber.

Afterwards, cross the Humber and say hi to Toronto's #1 Dysfunctional Family, the mayor lives almost right across from the confluence of the two waterways.

If you want info on the Black Creek, contact the Black Creek Conservation Project of Toronto's project coordinator. I volunteer with this group and the project coordinator is extremely knowledgeable about the creek.

 

[EVCco]

Black Creek is definitely one of my favourites...
I've already done the southern half of that trek:
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2045784/tags/Black Creek

I think I'll try the rest in the spring.

I also still need to head out to the northern East Don area as brewster suggested. And I'm still not even done with the Highland, or the Mimico, or a hundred others.............!

 

[EVCco]

I'm really surprised folks would go in for that sort of thing back then... I had the impression people lived in terror of polio every summer till about 1960.

But at least they didn't pave the whole thing over, like many of the other creeks for fear of encephalitis in the 70's and 80's.

...then again, there is something to be said for the "urban" look of many of these concrete creeks - such as the aforementioned Black Creek.
Although, as I can attest from first-hand experience, this hasn't cut down much on the mosquitos.

 

[Goldie]

There once was a fine web site with many old photos of activities at the Boy Scout camp in Morningside Park.
Unfortunately, the URL appears to have been appropriated for other uses (http://www.campofthecrookedcreek.com/).
Very disappointing!

I tried that URL again today and it appears to have been restored - worth seeing!

 

[EVCco]

It seems the camp site was much further south from where I was, according to that map.
I didn't get below Military Trail on my last trip.

Maybe next time!

 

[EVCco]

East Don River - southern conservation

Though relatively short, this was definitely one of my most challenging treks. The Charles Sauriol Conservation Area, as the name would suggest, is not the type of urban wilderness meant for morning joggers and casual riverside strolls. Frankly, it's not meant for people at all - and it certainly does it's best to keep them out.

To demonstrate just how difficult a journey it is I'll start with a few pictures from an abortive 2008 attempt to penetrate this daunting terrain of steep cliffs and thick woods. Only a short way in from the forks of the Don the going got so tough that I was forced to make my way out, as I recall, through someone's Parkview Hill backyard!

I return on an unseaonably warm February morning. You would think the lack of snow would benefit my hike, but, in fact, it has turned the ground to a slippery stew of mud and slop, making my descent into the deep Don valley all the more treacherous:

I negotiate the rim of the hillside until I locate a fortuitously placed mountain bike path, complete with a rope system to lower yourself down:

Aparently mountain bikers have quite a time out here, for I find the ground littered with oyster shells and shards of shattered dinnerware:

These pictures really don't do the scene justice - there were literally hundreds of shells and smashed plates all over the place! Actually, this seems a fitting time to briefly revist some other odd edibles I've found floating around on my trips; from a bushel of apples in the Mimico, to watermelons and coconuts in the West Highland:

Unfortunately, the bike path doesn't last very long and I must go-it alone down a steep cliff face, itself littered with an assortment of other junk:

I make it safely to the bottom, all the while keeping in mind an incident 10 years ago when I tumbled headlong down a portion of the Scarborough Bluffs (but that's a story for another day):

Past the CN Rail crossing the footing is thankfully much more level:

North, through a hydro corridor, and I enter the grounds of Flemingdon Park Golf Club:

Further north to the Eglinton Avenue overpass:

I'm so busy photographing the underbelly's architecture that I'm almost oblivious to the train barrelling up behind me:

At this point I decide to quit while I'm ahead (and alive) an save the rest of the Charles Sauriol for another day...

 

[Lone Primate]

I make it safely to the bottom, all the while keeping in mind an incident 10 years ago when I tumbled headlong down a portion of the Scarborough Bluffs (but that's a story for another day)

Uh oh, you're a ghost?

I love this pair, though... looks like POOF! Instant Building!

 

[mattelderca]

Ahh! Those hot summer days of youth.
I spent my tween/teenage years in Flemingdon Pk. and many hot summer days in this ravine. During the early tween years a favourite pastime was riding our bikes through the golf course, with golfers yelling at us to "get off the green!"
Just below the intersection of Wynford and St Dennis there is a dam in the river. The hole on the downstream side was our favourite for swimming. Once, during an especially strong summer rainstorm, a friend and I were body surfing down the river. Starting at the dam and ending a few hundreds yards down where an irrigation line was suspended over the water. The river was so high we just grabbed hold of the line and pulled ourselves to shore. This endeavour did not last long as the two gentlemen in the big yellow car thought it might be a little dangerous and asked us to leave.
We used this section of the valley as a short cut on our way over to Bermundsy Rd. The industrial area offered many hours of fun, with Peak Freens cookie plant, canadian tire, a condom warehouse, and Margret's donuts. Amongst others.
At that time we could easily make our own rail right of way adventures and traveled down to the forks regularly. In later years there was a teen killed down there. Hit by a train while attending one of the many beer drinking parties that took place in the valley.
We grew up, and trekking around the urban wilderness was no longer required. Cars, beer and music swayed our interest from fishing golf balls out of the river for a buck or two.

 

[EVCco]

^I walked back home down Bermondsey - and I also found a golf ball on the other side of the river. But I threw it across back onto the golf course for free, like a sucker...

I love this pair, though... looks like POOF! Instant Building!

Haha! I didn't even notice that. That crazy new blue building is certainly hard to miss most of the time. You can even see it from Woodbine Ave, where I live.


On a somewhat related note, I just finished watching this great documentary about the famous London urban explorer Nick Papadimitriou:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNGskCNrBHY
A must watch for any fan of urban exploration.


PS
Speaking of London and Bermondsey Road, I noticed the TTC voice that announces stops on the bus pronounces Bermondsey with the stress on the "o" part....like BermONDsey. I always pronounced it more like "Bermundzy" as they do for the neighbourhood in London (or at least that's how I've heard Patrick Stewart pronounce it).

How did you pronounce it in those hot summer days of youth, mattelderca?