Not every journey has to be some mighty forage into the unknown. Sometimes we have to venture out into the normalcy of local beauty. The Humber River is one of Toronto's badass access points for a humble evening paddle sure to scratch that adventure itch while building a spicy muscle burn on a lazy Tuesday.
Thanks to a beautifully (but stinky) put-in on the Humber River I am always thrilled to slide my kayak into the water. The lazy paddle down the serpentine Humber river is nothing exciting but it has a particular charm that only a wetland smack dab in the middle of a massive city can offer.
There are moments when I can nearly forget that I am only a few km from the smoggy core of Canada's largest city but those feelings are fleeting. Instead, I find myself surrounded by nature clashed with the relentless buzz of traffic. Humber is a wetland that is besieged by the sounds of a city on all sides.
Fortunately, the dense greenery does a particularly good job of hiding any visual evidence of the concrete wasteland that is never more than a few hundred meters away. I am still damn happy! This is the paradise of my work week and I am here often.
After about a kilometer and a half of paddling, I enjoy a respite from the sun as I pass under a series of several bridges. One bearing train tracks quickly followed by two others carrying cars, and finally the iconic white bridge carrying throngs of cyclists, skateboarders, and people out for a walk.
Once free of the final bridge I rocket into the open waters of Lake Ontario. On a windy day, Lake Ontario can be pretty choppy, It is not uncommon to see waves that are four or five feet high. For paddlers who are not prepared for aggressive water, there is a massive and long sheltered shoreline that is protected by a cement barrier that extends the for several kilometers.
Shore paddling isn't what I am after, I want to give the lake a chance to rough me up a little so straight out into open water is where I point my nose. This particular day is pretty calm so the choppy waves that I hoped to encounter are mostly just a fleeting dream on an endless horizon. Fortunately, though, there are a few adrenaline-chasing jet-ski riders zipping around the lake kicking up a smidgen of excitement from time to time.
As I paddle away from the sheltered warm waters of the Humber I quickly notice that in spite of a swelteringly warm day the deep lake water remains as frigid as ever. Great fun until I realize that the sun was starting to get pretty low on the horizon behind me so I whip the boat around retracing my path back to dry land and a promising bowl of fresh cherries.
