Walk on the Wild Side - Winter Hiking in the GTA Rattray Marsh & Lakeview Golf Course

This past year we've made a lot of exceptions. We're being more adaptable because it makes our lives easier in otherwise challenging times. We previously had a 10 degree hiking rule, and then this fall we lowered it to five degrees. This winter we've lowered it to minus five, and it may dip lower since we purchased so much sweet winter gear.

Over the Christmas holidays my good friend E introduced me to this wonderful Ontario hiking group on Facebook where people share photos and tips for winter hiking in their favourite locations. The group has proposed a challenge where people aim to enjoy five winter hikes in the month of January. 

I just started a new virtual challenge (hiking, biking, rowing, walking and running) the length of the Appalachian Trail in 50 weeks or less (spanning 3167.6km) some mild winter weather hiking with the family seemed like a great opportunity to log some KMs. 

Since we're in a grey area lock down in Ontario, we made sure we stayed within the Greater Toronto area, and brought masks to wear when social distancing was not possible.

Our first hike was a 2KM loop on Saturday at Lakeview Golf Course in Mississauga.  

You can hike or bring snowshoes when there is enough snow. Washrooms are open and parking is free.

I suggest bringing boots with good grips, spikes or crampons. We had one fall during our journey where Molly thought a section of pavement was dry when it was black ice.

Our second hike was on Sunday afternoon, along the lakefront trail at Jack Darling Memorial Park and into Rattray Marsh Conservation Area.

The sky looked like something out of the background of a glacier sourced water bottle today and was gorgeous.

Like usual the kids and Chris wanted to hike along the beaches and use their billy goat legs to climb the rocks overlooking the water

From parts of the walk we were able to see the CN Tower and Toronto skyline.

The Rattray Marsh Trail portion of our hike was the busiest and since it's so narrow we masked up for this complete section of our hike. 

For whatever reason, our dog Ted who normally HATES water decided that January was the perfect time to enjoy the water of Lake Ontario.

By the end of the hike we were warm, tired and had logged between 5 and 6kms. Highly recommend. I am so happy that I've found this Ontario hiking group and that we got to enjoy bright blue skies in January, a time of year I normally associate with grey. Only three more January hikes to go!

Got a great, well maintained hike for us to try in the GTA? Please share!