Urban Wilderness!

[EVCco]

West Highland Creek - everlasting

Today my seemingly everlasting journey up and down the Highland Creek watershed coincides with another everlasting event. For you see, I am currently in the midst of what can only be described as a camera battery miracle - a veritable battery Chanukah, if you will. Allow me to explain...

On my last trip along the East Don, just as I headed under the DVP, my camera started flashing the "Low Battery" alert, which usually indicates that I have about 10-20 more photos to take (depending on the use of flash, zoom, and other such functions) before the power completely craps out. Well, that day I went on to take 93 more photos and, by the end of my trip, the battery still hadn't died! Now, this in itself is not that spectacular. With judicious use I've occasionally managed 50 or more extra pictures after the fuel gauge had hit empty. But 93 was at very least a record, so I left the battery in and went out today, to the West Highland Creek, to see how far past "E" I could push it - starting where I began another trip back in July, I head south now, through Birkdale Park:

Birkdale Park becomes Ravine Park, but the creek remains the same:

OK, I know I just said that I'd stop taking pictures of shopping carts, but I simply couldn't pass on this one; upturned and mounted on a newspaper box, I feel it rather deftly conveys the irreverent iconoclasm of a classic Duchampian "readymade" while, at the same time, makes a prescient commentary on our modern consumerist society, caught in the banalities of a 24 hour news cycle:

Through Brimley Road and into Thomson Memorial Park:

Through Thomson Memorial Park and still into Thomson Memorial Park:

The creek extends the park through a hydro corridor and past Scarborough General Hospital:

Under McCowan Road and into Bendale Park:

I finish the day south of Lawrence, where I met up with the creek via its Southwest branch back in January:

120 more photos in all, and the battery is still chugging away! Now, I'm not a religious man, but I believe it is now safe to say that I am in possession of a battery sent down to earth by God almighty himself!
...or, I have a camera with a slightly malfunctioning battery indicator.

In either case, rejoice!

 

[r937]

... rather deftly conveys the irreverent iconoclasm of a classic Duchampian "readymade" while, at the same time, makes a prescient commentary on our modern consumerist society, caught in the banalities of a 24 hour news cycle:

lol

on a somewhat related topic, did you see this --http://torontostandard.com/culture/banksy

i contacted the article's author last week to mention the error regarding "r.crumb" and he said he'd get it changed, but so far it hasn't been

 

[EVCco]

R. Crumb?! The dilettante!

R. Mutt and Mr. Natural must be rolling in their respective graves...

 

[Mechelle]

what a depressing photos.

 

[EVCco]

Haha. Sorry to learn my pics get you down Mechelle, but it's time to get out your tissues, 'cause here comes another batch:


Parkview Creek - if that is its real name

One for the "lost rivers" fans. Well, perhaps not "lost," but not likely that well known. I've passed this little waterway many times over the years, walking back and forth along O'Connor Drive around the Parkview Hill area, but didn't know much about it other than it began somewhere around Curity Ave and eventually emptied into Taylor Creek. So today I thought I'd get to know it a little better, starting at Curity and O'Connor:

Around this point, where a small spur-line of the creek funnels down a hole, I'm dismayed to discover that the mosquitos have begun to return. Fortunately I'm wearing a nice thick jacket. Unfortunately I failed to consult the weather forceast beforehand and am now sweltering in the 20+ degree heat that is bringing these damnable critters out:

Here, where the creek forks, is where a map, or at least a little prior research would have come in useful. The right fork cuts down a narrow crevice where it quickly ends at the back of the Home Depot building just a block from where I started:

So I head back down the left fork, through more of a residential valley, hoping this side is heading my way:

No such luck. I end up on the other side of Home Depot, having basically gone in a big half-circle from Curity & O'Connor to Curity & Cranfield. So I'm forced to walk down to St. Clair Ave and start again from Parkview Gardens:

The creek forks again, but fortunatley in the other direction, back to O'Connor. Nevertheless, I head up this side-stream just to see what it was all about:

Back on the right track, heading southwest between St. Clair and Glenwood:

At last, the creek joins up with Taylor Creek, and I head back towards the O'Connor Bridge, and home:

 

[EVCco]

Wembley Woods - bonus wilderness

Since the last creek was so short and obscure, here's an even shorter and more obscure set from a few years back. Just east of Gerrard & Coxwell, alongside Wembley Drive, is a little wooded area with a tiny little stream:

 

[r937]

Here, where the creek forks, is where a map, or at least a little prior research would have come in useful.

i used to live on glenwood (east of o'connor) and i've been down those "home depot ravines" -- i could've told you it was a waste of time

nice pics though... lots of interesting detritus again

 

[Northern Light]

The 'Home Depot' ravine is generally understood to be the 'Curity' ravine in the bureaucracy.

Its considered an ESA by the way as the little ravine just to the west 'Ferris Ravine' which parallels Ferris Road up to about Plaxton.

There are actually a rich variety of interesting species.

Both streams were, at one time, completely natural brooks, but are now find the majority of their flow from storm and combined sewers.

Word to the wise, best not to traipse in-water 24 to 48 hours after a heavy rain fall.

I'm not sure how far the 'Curity Ravine went originally as much was filled-in.

The stream running in the Ferris Ravine forks, with one part once having originated close to Dawes Rd; the other crossed Dawes, originating somewhere close to Victoria Park and St. Clair.

Edit: Suppose I should add ESA is Environmentally Significant Area

 

[Promagstyle]

Tam O'Shanter Update

Some pictures that I have took near the Tam O'Shanter Golf Course near Kennedy Rd.

Facing West

Facing East

Bridge to Kennedy Road

Facing East from barrier??

Facing West from Bridge

 

[EVCco]

The 'Home Depot' ravine is generally understood to be the 'Curity' ravine in the bureaucracy.

Do you know if there is an official map available that shows and names all of these little rivers and ravines across the city/GTA?

Facing East from barrier??

Was it this thing?

 

[Promagstyle]

Do you know if there is an official map available that shows and names all of these little rivers and ravines across the city/GTA?




Was it this thing?

Yes it was exactly that thing, that looked like a Service Bridge to Tam O'Shanter Golf Course

 

[Goldie]

Thanks for that great tour of West Highland Creek, EVCco.

This photo of yours shows the bridge that once carried Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) through the Thomson Park area.

 

[EVCco]

^Thanks Goldie!
I wondered why that culvert was there for seemingly no apparent reason


Mud Creek - ring around the Rosedale, part 1

Eberhard Zeidler, in The Toronto Chapter of Architects' 1972 book "Exploring Toronto", writes in his essay on "The Nature Trails of Rosedale" that while traversing the woods and ravines of this area "in winter, you will explore silently a fairyland." Having never seen a fairy myself (nor even a pixie, brownie, elf, or nymph - of either the wood or water variety) I was hoping I might repeat my luck in spotting those deer a few weeks back.

Unfortunate, then, that I left my own exploration of this area until a week after the official end of winter. And still, I fear I was a bit too early even to enjoy the wild flowers, which in spring "abound on the south side with remnants of snow." Nevertheless, Mr. Zeidler assures that while "some pioneering spirit is necessary to find your way through these enchanted valleys ... if you explore with imagination you will be rewarded." So, with that in mind, I take the imaginative step of beginning my exploration at Moore Avenue and heading south down the Mud Creek ravine, in the complete opposite direction that he suggests:

It truly must be spring, as a constant parade of joggers, bikers, and dog walkers disrupts any chance of a "silent exploration." And, not but a few steps into the Moore Park Ravine, I spot my first wild flowers, just north of the Heath Street pedestrian bridge:

South of Heath Street, the Mud Creek weaves its way back and forth under the foot path numerous times, through a series of small culverts:

Under the CP rail bridge now, which we'll meet again later:

Further south, through Governor's Bridge:

Things get tricky here, as the Mud Creek heads off into the Don Valley Brick Works Park, while I begin following what I later learn is actually the Chorley Stream (I think? See - lostrivers.ca/MoorePkRavR.htm):

As I hit a dead end by Chorley Park, I head back north and hit the Bricks:

Along the upper west slope of the park a swampy little stream materializes:

Mud Creek now resumes in full through a series of marshes and ponds, then heads directly under the Brick Works itself:

Out the other side, straight south, to Bayview Ave:

Past the CN railway tracks the creek winds into a berm from which 3 separate streams seep out the other side to end in the Don River:

 

[EVCco]

Yellow Creek - ring around the Rosedale, part 2

I previously thought that the first picture in the next series (clearly taken a while ago, in another season) was of the mouth of the Yellow Creek. But, as explained on the LostRivers.ca website:

"Things are not always what they seem. In this ravine, Yellow Creek is apparently seen in an open manmade channel, but this is really part of the Spadina Storm Trunk Sewer and carries water piped from Castle Frank Brook. The water from Yellow Creek flows in sewer under the path and enters the Don River just south of the DVP Bayview link. Close to the end of the ravine the Spadina Storm Trunk Sewer water enters a sewer under the Bayview/DVP/Bloor Street interchange, to join the Don River just north of the Prince Edward Viaduct. There are two small remaining sections of an old channel that used to cross the Don flood plain, to be found in the embrace of the interchange."

Even after that I'm still a little confused myself as to exactly what is which, and where - so here's just a bunch of watercourse pics from the general area described above:

The Yellow Creek emerges in earnest just north of Milkmen's Lane in Craigleigh Gardens:

Under Glen Road, and north into the Park Drive Ravine:

Just before Mt. Pleasant Road the creek heads back underground, then resurfaces in David A. Balfour Park:

And so, North Toronto Subdivision of the Canadian Pacific Railway, we meet again! Pics from under, around, and on top of the bridge:

Pressing still northward, through the Vale of Avoca:

Under St. Clair Avenue:

Into Deer Park, to complete the Zeidler Circuit (albeit in reverse), where Yellow Creek heads below ground again, and into the great beyond under Mt. Pleasant Cemetery:

Three hours later, but still no fairies! So I decide to extend my exploration, through the cemetery and up the Belt Line Trail:

Over Yonge Street, with a little "before and after":

Following the Belt Line, and the former course of the Yellow Creek, from Yonge Street to Avenue Road:

More of the same, from Avenue to Eglinton:

North of Eglinton faint traces of the creek appear along Chaplin Crescent:

At Bathurst Street the Yellow Creek (or at least what can be inferred of it) heads north. But I continue west down the Belt Line Trail to end where I began my tour of the Spadina Expressway/Castle Frank Brook a month before. I can't claim to have spotted any fairies today. But, oddly enough, at the very end of my trip I do find a strange token of some kind of tiny being:

Keep your eyes open in these "enchanted valleys"! You never know who might be watching...

 

[r937]

two more nice creek tours, evvco, both in my back yard, so to speak

did you, in fact, step in any mud in the mud creek ravine? i invariably cannot help it...

the heath street footbridge is known locally as the "cat's eye" bridge because of its role in the novel of that name by margaret atwood, who grew up near there

also, it's interesting that you spotted that german graffiti, i went by there just last week

i've translated the german here -- http://rudy.ca/aber-bilde-mir-nicht-ein.html