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!

Garden Central

It's no secret to anyone that we, the royal we as in my entire brood, have been fighting the winter blahs.  This past weekend we planned a get together with the cousins and wanted to do something that would let the kids play and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.  It seems as though my plea for some indoor parks has been temporarily satiated with a trip to a green house in downtown Toronto called Allen Gardens (less than a ten minute walk away from College Subway).  Allen Gardens is a park that hosts a free indoor botanical garden with six greenhouses in total.  It is open year round and added a bit of colour to our day.  We stayed for about 45 minutes before we moved outside for a quick play on their brand new playground situated behind the playground (I will write a review on the playground another time).

This is a popular location in the core of the city for people to get wedding and engagement photos, mainly because it's open from 10-5pm daily and it is nice and warm inside, year round.  The greenhouse also holds some nostalgia for Chris and his sister who would often visit when they came to Toronto for March break when they were kids.

 Making our way to the Greenhouse, there is some construction in the area, so not all of the entrances are open right now.

 Entering the First Greenhouse.

 Jack said his favourite part of the greenhouse was the toy train. 

 Molly checking out all the flowers.

There was some "discussion" about how we weren't allowed to pick the pink flowers.  The minions had to be reminded on a few occasions about the hiking adage: take only pictures, leave only footprints.

The other big "hit of the day" was the pond that had turtles and fish in it.  

What's your favourite way to beat the winter blues with the family?