A trail of two waterfronts in Ajax

Our hike today has us waiting for spring and longing for summer. We can just imagine the blue-green winter waves dressed in summer’s sapphire blue. The vista from the Ajax Waterfront Trail makes it easy. We walk the asphalt trail that wends along the bluff high above the shoreline. The edge is close enough to allow you marvel at the view, but not close enough to make you queasy.

Our hike today has us waiting for spring and longing for summer. We can just imagine the blue-green winter waves dressed in summer’s sapphire blue. The vista from the Ajax Waterfront Trail makes it easy. We walk the asphalt trail that wends along the bluff high above the shoreline. The edge is close enough to allow you marvel at the view, but not close enough to make you queasy.

What a great place to bike, we agree. And the breeze from Lake Ontario, enough to make us pull up our hoods and shove mittened hands into our pockets on this chilly March day, would make a ‘cool’ bike hike on a hot summer’s day.

The wind whistles and the waves roll and crash. Nonetheless, the gulls and ducks and geese venture out, like us, to enjoy the sunshine. My daughter laughs to see ducks riding the waves like comical sailing ships. Seagulls bobbing on the water submerge, having caught a fishy snack.

The trail is perfect for walking, strolling, running and inline skating, too. Its smooth, fairly flat surface is great to explore piece by piece with young children or all at once with an older crew.

Rotary Park is a great starting place for two very different adventures. Our bike hike plans suit the eastward trail, but today we venture farther west -- past the beach, across a long curving bridge that zigzags across the Duffin’s Marsh and through a meadow.

Here we see birds at close hand, lined up like schoolchildren waiting to file into school, or huddled together behind a driftwood windbreak. Like stubborn statues, a pair of swans stands side by side in the icy water, heads tucked beneath their wings for warmth. Hard to believe that within the month, this congregation of waterfowl will launch small armadas of fluffy ducklings, goslings and cygnets onto the waves.

We see few birds in flight; those daring aviators meet a worthy adversary. The wind holds flapping seagulls motionless in midair, pinning them to the sky. Awkward mallards windmill past at double-time; when these poor pilots fly with the wind, it looks like an invisible hand shoves them along.

The wind takes its toll on us, too. Walking through a lightly wooded area, the wind drops and we can feel the sun’s warmth. I point out how much the shelter of a few trees protects us, a real-life demonstration of wind chill!

According to interpretive signs, this area is an old field meadow. Typical of abandoned pastures and overgrown ditches, old field meadows are a transitional stage between bare land and forest. Grass and shrubs encroach; seedlings take hold and grow into trees. Finally, the meadow surrenders to woodland.

Until then, this old field meadow provides a great habitat for rabbits, squirrels and small rodents. All around us, the snow shows evidence of pattering paws. With delight, my daughter picks out deer tracks, first one set and then many more. She follows them to the water’s edge.

“They must’ve been thirsty,” she decides.

End to end, the trail stretches six kilometres, but as part of the Waterfront Trail, it links to Whitby on the west and seamlessly connects to Pickering on the west. Another trail, the Duffin’s Creek South portion of the Trans Canada Trail stretches north.

Retracing our steps to Rotary Park, my son and daughter notice the playground. It’s not the cookie cutter equipment they usually find. They log-roll, zip-line, pedal and jump for a good half-hour. It takes a reluctant chorus of “Aw, Mom!” a ten-minute extension and a promise to return before I can peel them away.

To get to the Ajax Waterfront Trail, head straight down Harwood to Lake Driveway. You’ll find parking lots east and west of Harwood. For the Rotary Park lot, drive west and watch for the sign.

Trail Tales is a series to introduce you to Durham Region Trails, an inexpensive way to experience nature and an active lifestyle. Walk, run, hike, bike, ride, ski … ENJOY! To learn more, visit www.durhamtrails.ca.