Canoeing on Lake Ontario
This year I learned a new trick to gain unique vantage points of Toronto - taking a canoe out onto Lake Ontario.
Being a photographer and residing right here in the city, I am constantly in pursuit of sights unseen through the lens of a camera. This pursuit often requires me to be constantly driving or riding the Red Rocket across this expansive city, typically accompanied with extensive walking over unfriendly terrain. But not anymore.
Lucky for me my friend and fellow photographer Mike Mitchener just so happens to own at sixteen foot long, hunter green canoe. At first the idea seemed absurd; canoeing on Lake Ontario? The water is too big, too choppy. Canoes are meant for smaller lakes and therefore are usually reserved for use in cottage country - or so I thought. Then after putting more research into this idea I learned that there is already an official Sailing and Canoe Club in Toronto.
Mike and I decided to take the plunge. On our first outing we got our feet wet at the bottom of Coxwell Avenue in Ashbridges Bay. I could tell by the way that Mike gracefully hoisted that very large canoe over his head, lifting it from the roof of his car and then carefully placing it into the water without making as much a splash that I was in company with an experienced paddler. From Ashbridges Bay we set out towards the big water. Dipping my paddle into the calm waters of the morning felt very natural to me. I was connected with the voyageurs from this country's origins. We continued east venturing out just past the R.C. Harris Water Filtration Plant before looping back. I was hooked!
The infamous city workers strike that had taken place over the majority of this summer had brought closure to the Toronto Island ferry service thus cutting off the masses from a very ideal place of leisure. The thought of visiting the islands at a time when nobody else from "Mainland Toronto" could gain access to them was simply too irresistible to pass up.
On two separate occasions Mike and I launched his hunter green canoe from the shore of Cherry Beach near the lifeguard station and set course for the island. Leaving early in the morning just prior to sunrise would assure us that there would be calm water and of course gorgeous light for photography. The island was silent but it was also alive. Wildlife such as raccoons, geese, swans, beavers, muskrats and herons all were busy reclaiming their territory in the absence of the usual hordes who come to the island to play and maybe have a picnic. The sound of absolutely nothing throughout the island was priceless although it was occasionally pierced by the sound of our camera shutters clicking away. Desperately we tried to capture every single moment of tranquility through our lenses as our paddles sauntered through the quiet lagoons and hidden passage ways.
There is something so absolutely incredible about laying your eyes on this ever-growing city with its dense population living and working within a complex jumble of condos and office towers and not hearing it make a sound - a sleeping giant. This is why we canoe.
Now, I am not yet an expert canoeist by any means but I can offer up the following pieces of advice for anybody out there that would consider trying this for themselves. Do go out with an experience paddler and make sure you wear a life jacket. Do stay within sheltered areas or stay closer to the shore when out on the big water. Mike and I once ventured out into the middle of Toronto Harbour when great waves suddenly appeared with no indication of prior warning. They rolled along the side of the canoe threatening to enter the boat without invitation. Frantically, we scrambled to get our cameras into our dry bags while trying to keep the tiny vessel in balance. Getting wet we could handle but definitely not at the expense of our cameras! Do carry a watertight dry bag.
Lastly, do leave early in the morning whenever possible. It is no easy task "raising the dead" at 5:00 AM on a summer Saturday morning but your reward is the sight if the rising sun and the silence of a city still deep in slumber. I am surprised that more people are not doing this.
Writing and photography by Toronto photographer William Self.
Comments (23)
Great article! I'm not a very experienced canoeist but I would love to try to canoe on the lake. I can imagine the unexpectedly large waves would be quite daunting to a beginner and life jackets would be a definite must!
Looks like fun! I am a somewhat experienced canoiest and do at least three backcountry trips a year. I would imagine the experience is a bit different on Lake Ontario. I was thinking of trying it out on Labour Day weekend but the only place I could find that rents canoes is ridiculously expensive. $60 a day to rent a canoe is extortionate considering I could rent an SUV for less.
I've done all kinds of flatwater and whitewater trips, but never felt compelled to get out on Lake Ontario at Toronto's waterfront. Is boat traffic a concern?
I think MEC is cheaper but do they transport the canoe to the lake? While the terrain is flat the portage from King St would still be challenging. :)
As far as my experience goes, boat traffic has not been a concern. There are the occasional boats out there that will indeed create a wake that one in a canoe would have to maneuver around but I yet to deal with the possibility of a collision. The Leslie Spit (between Cherry Beach and the spit itself) is a great starting point. It is nice and sheltered and the bird sanctuary can be interesting to explore as well.
A similar story ran in an Explore blog a couple of months ago, difference being the author actually portaged his canoe down from High Park:
Great article William. I hope to see more canoes out on the water because of this post!
I had the chance to join William and Michael on one of the sunrise canoe trips a few weeks ago. It's fabulous to see the sun rise over lake ontario and see the world come back to life, especially all the birds on the leslie st spit.
My set of photos is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/syncros/sets/72157622061122804/
When I finally bought a house in the city two years ago and had my own backyard where I could keep my canoe close by one of my first plans was to go out on Lake Ontario. Two summers later and I've yet to this. Reading this story and seeing the photos is making me think I will crawl out of bed in the wee hours this weekend to go for a paddle.
Ha!
I did a black line 3.5km portage a few weeks ago that would make the High Park - Waterfront portage look easy! :P
There is a West Rouge Canoe Clube as well:
http://www.westrougecc.org/
Located where the Rouge River meets Lake Ontario, on the border with Pickering. I spent a summer hanging out down there and it's really where I "learned" to canoe, although I'd canoed in Boy Scouts for a long time prior to that. The WRCC taught me a lot of skills.
You can paddle down there along to a park in Pickering who's name escapes me, as it's been so long (I'm in Vancouver now) but is quite nice. I used to mountain bike it too. The Nuclear Reactor sits temptingly off in the distance when you are on the lake itself, but it's quite a bit farther than the visual clues would make you think.
Here are a couple of organizations that run canoe trips in TO (for a fee):
I did mean to say:
- good article
- nice pictures
I didn't mean to imply that leaving Scarlem out of it was a shortcoming. :)
At the East end of the Beach there's a little shelter that's municipally owned and a place to store a canoe. When I lived down there I put my name on the waiting list....it would have been awesome.
I love kayaking, and paddled six days off Clayoquot sound on Vacation last year...but my heart will always be in a Canoe, in Ontario, in a lake in Killarney Provincial Park.
Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre (someone already linked to it http://www.paddletoronto.com) is a great place to rent or send kids to camp. I spent six summers working there . Crossing the harbour in a canoe or kayak is definitely a unique experience, especially when a plane is landing pretty much on top of you at the island airport. Tons of great exploring to be had over on the islands. My favourite spot by far has to be Trout Pond on the inland side of Gibralter Point. Immaculate, still water perfect for practicing kayak rescues or just swimming. Too many Torontonians are missing out on all the beautiful water we have in the city.
Darcy McGee: Please don't refer to Scarborough as "Scarlem". There's no reason for this. Have some more respect for those who call this area home. I bet you've never stepped foot here.
And contrary to popular belief, Scarborough is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.
Outside of the 29 years I spent growing up there, you're right...I've rarely set foot there. Mother at Meadowvale & Sheppard, extremely close friends at Port Union & Sheppard, Brimley & Lawrence.
I'd rather live in Scarborough thank Oakville. I flaunt the Scarlem nickname because I prouder of where I grew up than most. It's the place that made me who I am.
When I visit I rarely get beyond it anymore. I used to always visit Pages Bookstore, but alas...
I think a lot of the comments made today affirm what I was thinking in that there are so many resources out there if one wishes to engage in paddling related activities in this city. We are simply unaware that they are out there. Well, now that everyone is in the know I look forward to seeing you all out there on the lake this weekend! Weather permitting of course.
Hey Bill, great article and it has been a blast exploring Toronto by lake this summer. Thanks for being a great canoe mate. I look forward to future excursions and more fine images like the ones you posted above. Cheers.
Great job! Love the unique vantage points. It's great seeing relatively everyday things through your creative lens.
Canoeing can be a great sport and a lot of fun, but for those who are newbies, they should know that Lake Ontario can be very capricious. Even the inner harbour can get quite choppy with little notice. Especially with a changeable summer like the one we are having where the weather changes every few hours. And the boat traffic in the inner harbour, especially the ferries and cruise ships can be very daunting on weekends.
I once spent an afternoon hiking on Toronto island with my cruiser tied up on the wall near Hanlan's, only to realize that we were trapped, faced with 8' waves trying to get out of the eastern gap back to Ashbridges Bay. And many afternoons spend at the foot of the bluffs were marred by 3-4' waves fighting our way back to Ashbridges. And that is in a 22' cuddy cabin, with 3 or 4 feet of 'freeboard,' not a tiny canoe!
That is a good point gadfly. I have a lot of respect for Lake Ontario and know it can change conditions in a flash so anyone considering a canoe trip on the lake should be cautious. While not an expert, what I do to try and stay safe is:
- paddle early morning as the lake tends to be calmer
- always wear a life jacket (as Bill mentioned)
- carry a cell phone
- let someone know where you are
- canoe with a buddy
- be prepared to cancel the paddle before you start it if the conditions are poor. You can still take some great pictures from the shore.
- stay close to shore so you always have the option of pulling the canoe ashore and either "walking it home" or leaving it until conditions are safe
- give other boat traffic a wide berth and watch their wakes
Thanks for raising this point.
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