The Great Waterfront Trail Adventure: Day 3

We made a stop at The Guild park, where many of the intricate frescoes, statues, stones and pillars from Toronto's former skyscrapers have found refuge from the wrecking ball since the 60s. The pieces are displayed throughout it's gardens - I had never heard of this place before, but I will return and encourage any other art-lovers, architect-buffs or Torontophiles to check it out.

 

Next stop was Pickering, and I was totally surprised by the vibrant scene we found on the shore metres away from the nuclear plant. There were great boardwalks, healthy looking marshes, swimable beaches and marinas all along their coast, with new infrastructure that provided shady areas to rest from the hot sun, and children's play structures everywhere.

 

We followed some fantastic coastal trails to where we camped in Ajax's Rotary Park. After checking the most recent bathing water quality results, I took a group of intrepid volunteers to swim in Lake Ontario at Pickering Beach in Paradise Park, and showed them how to do a quick environmental scan to see if the water was good for swimming (no birds, no recent storm, no win/wave action, and feet visible when waist deep). Though the water was freezing we had a great time swimming and splashing around like little kids.

 

Later on, I met Ajax Counsellor Colleen Jordan who has been working for a long time to improve shoreline health and public access in Ajax. Her municipality and the Toronto Region Conservation Authority have been doing incredible things to there for almost 40 years, including buying all the shoreline property as it came up for sale, dismantling the structures to returning the land to a natural state, and providing public access through initiatives like the Waterfront Trail. Ajax now boasts the longest stretch of undeveloped, publicly accessible shoreline on the lake - and it is definitely worth coming for a visit.

 

Oh, and totally unprompted, she told me she was thrilled about my field trip to Pickering Beach and that her goal is to see it win the Blue Flag award - music to my ears!