The Shared Path Saturday

As the weather finally starts to turn a bit Autumnal, we decided to go on another nature walk within the city limits. We headed back out to Old Mill, where we had celebrated Luke's 30th in the winter, for a slightly warmer walk along the Humber River on the historic Shared Path.

Humber River.

The Humber Valley has seen its fair share of usage over the years, first as an ancient Aboriginal portage route and subsequently a route for the fur trade with Europeans, providing convenient a route from Lake Ontario deep inland. The river itself also powered the 'Old' King's Mill, which provided lumber for the construction of early European settlements in the area.

Unaware of all this history, we set off along the river banks on the Shared Path, enjoying the Autumn sun as we went. As well as a couple of ice creams...

Probably the last dipped cones of the year.

We had also been unaware that late September is the time of year that some lake dwelling Rainbow Trout make the run upstream to their spawning grounds. Shortly after setting off we came across a number of fishermen wading through the shallows, looking to take advantage of this phenomenon. From up on a bridge we could see the huge trout making their way slowly upstream, unaware of the fishermen standing close by. We witnessed one struggle between man and fish, in which the poor trout escaped at full speed only to accidentally swim up onto the shore.

Opportunists.

Further upstream, however, we caught a glimpse of the luckier fish who'd made it through the gauntlet, and were trying their hands (fins?) at scaling the wiers blocking their path. It was fun, if a little painful, to watch these huge fish leap out of the water. Many failed time and time again, which made the occasional success all the more exciting to see. Go trouts! GO!

Epic trout.

We continued on walking upstream until the river grew deeper, wider and calmer, before turning back. Luke (aka 'River Boy') was particularly fond of this ravine walk along a 'proper' river, which brought back some childhood memories of home and trips to Ireland. So, we are sure we'll be back for a stroll at some point, perhaps with snow shoes on next time.

(SLIDESHOW)