And on the 7th Day...

Today started with a beautiful walk with the dogs along the creek that runs through the U of T Scarborough campus, both in and out the water. The easiest way to get to this creek is to drive to Old Kingston Rd, park, and head north along the trails that track the water.

After some YouTube timewasting, including the discovery of Project Aiko -- a working female android prototype with the ability to read, do math, have a conversation, and learn -- I decided that it was time to get out of the house and do something useful. If a young engineer can build an android in his basement, the least I can do is get in shape so when SkyNet comes online I'll be able to fight back (or be assimilated, either way). :)

So, I biked down to the lake and did some more vigilante gardening, this time to repair a thunderstorm-damaged bit of connecting trail, and to improve a second path through an otherwise intractable mud pit.

After digging and moving dirt, and lugging stones to try to build a better set of stepping stones, it was time for a dip in the lake... which is still crazy cold, but very refreshing.


Went home, fed the dogs, watched the latest Homestar Runner cartoon, and headed back down to the lake, this time to Bluffer's Park. There, I launched the kayak and the paddled the 6.4K home to Galloway Road in about 80 mins, including stops to take pictures of the shore, the mist on the ever-so-glassy water, and a precariously balanced house with a whole lot of empty air beneath it.

After putting the boat away, I biked the 8.3K back to Bluffer's Park, retrieved the car, and headed for home.

What a wonderfully exhausting weekend!

Building A Boat Launch

Have you ever started a path? No one seems willing to do this. We don't mind using existing paths, but we rarely start new ones. Do it today. Start a path. -- George Carlin

Today I paddled for 2-1/4 hours, from Rouge Beach Park to the beach near my house.

Rouge Beach Park to below Guildwood Park by Kayak

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

This was partly to run a final test of the new boat launch path I've been building sporadically since April, and partly to finally break in my birthday present -- a new Yakima roof rack from Rack Attack.

Two months ago, I decided that since the beach nearest my house was a mere 10-minute portage from door to lake, I would take it upon myself to improve the access path, as the winter left a lot of debris on the beach and made getting a kayak down to the water very difficult.



One happy side-effect of this project has been to make the beach wheelchair-accessible, and on the first weekend I started, a group of local dog owners came by with their pack of collies, one of which is equipped with a pair of wheels to replace her non-functional back legs. In the past, her owner told me, it's been very difficult for her to get to the water. Now, she can roll right in with the rest of the pack. Her owner was thrilled, needless to say.



Anyway, I'm happy to say that despite some problems in the early beta tests (in May) today it worked great. The lake's still too cold for swimming, but the paddling's beautiful, especially with easy access to the water.