© Richard HuangThe Vicki Barron Lakeside Trail is an approximately eight-kilometre loop around picturesque Island Lake in the Town of Orangeville. The trail is used for hiking, cross-country skiing, cycling, and nature study.
© Richard HuangSet amid the rolling hills of Dufferin County, within the towns of Orangeville and Mono, Island Lake Conservation Area offers year-round recreation across 332 hectares of lake, wetlands, forest, and meadow. It also plays a vital ecological role in protecting the headwaters of the Credit and Nottawasaga rivers. Groundwater rises to the surface here, supplying these river systems with clean, naturally filtered water.
© Richard HuangIn June 2021, as Toronto began to reopen, we assumed parks across the city would be packed, so we chose this trail a little farther afield to avoid the crowds. To our surprise, staff stopped us right at the entrance. The wait ahead, they said, would be twenty to forty minutes, and the route was one-way—once we went in, there would be no changing our minds. If we did not want to continue, this was our chance to turn back. They were limiting admissions, which suggested there were already plenty of people inside.
© Richard HuangThe first thing we saw upon entering the park was this barbecue seating, all locked up. Evidently, limiting visitor numbers was not the park’s only pandemic measure: there were almost no toilets either. Oh dear… When nature calls, what are you supposed to do? Head into nature, apparently.
© Richard HuangA small number of visitors took every precaution while touring the park during the pandemic. We were not quite so fearful. Like most people there, we did not wear masks outdoors. If you are going to embrace nature, you might as well embrace it wholeheartedly.
© Richard HuangOne look at these pictures on the wall tells you how deeply Canadians long to return to nature.
© Richard HuangThese pictures always make me smile. Rather than putting that longing down on paper and leaving it there, why not go out and live it?
© Richard HuangCome on—get moving.
© Richard HuangOne of the trail’s best features is its network of boardwalks spanning the water.
© Richard HuangMany stretches over land are boardwalked as well.
© Richard HuangWhere there are no boards, the trail is surfaced with gravel. It is flat and easy underfoot, suitable for older people and children alike.
© Richard HuangThe plant life along the trail is remarkably varied. Round a bend and an entirely different patch of woodland comes into view, with more to take in than the eye can follow. I know little about plant names or species, but there is beauty everywhere here—a pleasure to behold and a breath of fresh air for the spirit.
© Richard HuangWhat interests me more is the sight of flowers blooming and fading. In nature, every coming into being and passing away seems to follow its own order. Perhaps embracing nature really means embracing its laws: a world within every flower, and in every tree the cycle of flourishing and decline.
© Richard HuangWe are very small in the natural world.
© Richard HuangVenturing into nature deepens our understanding of it—and gives us more opportunities to connect with one another…
© Richard HuangFriends might go cycling together…
© Richard HuangOr two sisters might take the dog for a walk…
© Richard HuangOr a father and son might sit together, doing nothing in particular…
© Richard HuangOr someone might quietly endure a scolding from his girlfriend…
© Richard HuangLook at these young women, propping up their phone with a forked branch and using the tree trunk as a selfie stick. Perfectly natural and harmonious, would you not say?
© Richard HuangHuman beings simply cannot sit still.
© Richard HuangIf we want to live in harmony with the natural world, embracing nature is not enough. More importantly, we must approach it with humility and respect, and abide by its laws. As the saying goes, those who follow nature flourish; those who defy it perish.