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[Sunday, January 2, 2000: The end is near..]
This afternoon, girl, Hugo and I went hiking down the bluffs. We took the same route that HKL, VW, and I did oh-so-many years ago. We did make a number of changes. First of all, since the temperature was low enough for the water in the marsh next to the bluffs to freeze, we were able to walk through the marsh and check out the beach. (We went in the fall last time and had to work our way back up without making it to the lake.) The weather was actually quite good for hiking. Not too cold, and not too windy. We tried to climb up the bluffs the same was I did last time (up the sixty degree slope and across a spine made of sand..) but the years must have taken their toll on that part of the bluffs, since the last part of the climb looked awfully difficult (even more difficult than the first time and it was tough enough during the rain!). Well, we ended up going back down to the bottom and retracing our steps, but it was a good hike.
![[One of the bluffs.]](../Pictures/1999-11-26/1999-12-31d.jpg)
On the last day of the 90s, I was able to convince girl and Hugo to go out hiking down by the Scarbrourgh Bluffs. The Bluffs are basically cliffs of sand overlooking Lake Ontario. What's so special about the Bluffs is that because they are made of sand, the Bluffs are eroding very quickly. Mudslides are not uncommon, and many of the houses near the edge are slowly losing real estate.
The first time I went down the Bluffs, it was in the middle of autumn and rain was drizzling down on us the entire day. That trek left us, and our clothes caked in mud and dirt. This time, being in the winter, we were fortunate enough to have dry ground (and dryer weather) to walk on. Since the temperature was below freezing, we were able to cross the reed marsh that separated the valley from the beach. Those reeds were awfully tall, and in warmer weather, the marsh would've been impassable. Having a good view of the Bluffs, we stopped to take some pictures.
On the way down to the bluffs, girl was still asking me who Werdna was. Then she mentioned Squishy and DWC.
"Are either of them Werdna?"
Nope.
![[Who wants to go first?]](../Pictures/1999-11-26/1999-12-31f.jpg)
On the way back up, I showed them the path that I had taken the first time I climbed back up the Bluffs. It was a steep climb to the top of a tower of sand which is connected to the bluffs by a narrow spine of sand. The crossing is precarious and the final few yards is a sixty degree climb up loose sand with (basically) no handholds. It was a long way down at that point, and when we did it the first time, VW had brought his trusty ice pick which probably saved our lives. This time, we decided to forego the challenge and go back the way we came. Too bad, maybe next time..
girl and Hugo are having second thoughts of crossing on the very narrow spine.
We went downtown to pick up some relatives from the bus terminal. Their bus was arriving at ten to midnight..
Okay.. I don't know who's brilliant idea this was, since I didn't hear any word about picking up nobody from the middle to downtown, on New Year's Eve, ten minutes before all hell breaks loose. It sure wasn't mine! I'll just skim over the details, we picked them up without a hitch, and we were walking across Dundas (in front of the Eaton's Centre) when the clock struck twelve. You could hear the fireworks booming in the distance, and you could see a part of the display standing on Yonge. We only stayed there for a few minutes while the TTC was shut down (They shut the subway down ten minutes prior to ten minutes after midnight.). Too bad I missed out.
Well, actually, I was planning to stay at home for New Year's.. with the express intent to avoid the chaos of downtown especially for this year. How ironic that we were pressed into service to go to the very place we were trying to avoid..
The streets were amazingly empty though, so I can't complain too much.
The night was also warm, which was good for all the partiers I guess. I couldn't care less. We went out for dinner afterward and ended up making back to the house around two thirty.. which I felt was a little late for Stonaday's party (since it would take me half an hour to get there, and I was tired). Ah well, I don't think I missed too much.
So there you have it, now you know what I was doing at the end of the 1900's. Jack crap.
