High Park, Toronto, ON

It was a gorgeous day (sunny and 27C/35C with the humidity) and Gord and I wanted to be outside ... so we took the streetcar to High Park.

High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario. It spans 161 hectares (400 acres) and is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology. High Park was opened to the public in 1876 and is based on a bequest of land from John George Howard to the City of Toronto. It is the largest park entirely within the city.

We entered the park at the Queensway/Colbourne Lodge Drive.  Right away one of the park's trains went by us (it takes about 25 minutes to do the circuit).

We headed towards Grenadier Pond and followed it along.

A tree had been knocked down or cut down.

Someone carved a chair from the stump

The greenery is taller than me!

There were a few people fishing

Interesting contrast ... the wooded park and condos

There were a few people relaxing and enjoying the park

Kids had fun!

We watched some birds for a while ... until some kids ran up and scared them away.

Protective parents!

Hello, Cutie!

See ya!

We walked up the hill to get a better shot of the maple leaf ... it will look better when the flowers that make it up bloom.

We kept going up the hill.

This guy had the right idea

The colours on this tree were awesome!

Gord in front of the same cherry blossom tree that bloomed in May

We headed back down the hill on the other side of the stream

Here's the hammock guy still chillin'

Looking back the way we'd come

We headed back to Grenadier Pond and followed the wooden path along side it.

Heading up the path towards Bloor Street W

Hard to believe we are in the middle of a big city!

Just up that hill is Bloor Street W

High Park was an excellent spot to spend a couple hours!  It was a beautiful afternoon and it's nice to get the sense of getting out of the city for a while.