5 fun things you can do outside safely this summer
stories by Laurie Stephens
photography by Doug Burlock
We are more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and who would have thought we would still be wearing masks, practising physical distancing, working from home and avoiding indoor gatherings? It’s certainly been a challenging time, and it may continue to be so for some time as we collectively struggle to battle this virus into submission.
So, how can people cope with the isolation and still stay safe? According to infectious disease experts, the answer is: Get Outside!
Respiratory viruses like COVID spread through aerosol droplets that can go from person to person. If an area has poor ventilation – like many indoor spaces – the droplets can accumulate and the amount of virus in these droplets can then reach the point of infecting someone.
The outdoors provides perfect ventilation, said infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch in a recent news interview. If you can safely spread apart from others outside, “the risk of transmission of this infection would be exceedingly small.”
What’s more, just the simple act of heading outdoors and enjoying nature is tremendously beneficial for your mental health, especially if you are feeling anxious and depressed. This is all good news for those of us who live in or visit Southern Georgian Bay. After all, we have quite the outdoor playground.
There’s clean, clear Georgian Bay and the many rivers feeding it that wind their way through the countryside, and a long section of the Niagara Escarpment that hosts an intricate network of Bruce Trail hikes. We can cycle along a flat limestone trail that connects Meaford to Collingwood and every place in between.
With all of this natural beauty at our doorstep, it’s possible to enjoy a number of activities that are considered safe because we can maintain proper physical distancing. Here are just five ways we can play safely outside this summer to nurture our physical and mental health.
1. Hike the Grind
The name says it all.
The Grind is a 2.27-kilometre ascent that rises 231 metres up the mountain – one section has a pulse-racing 21-per-cent grade – flagged as “very difficult” on Blue Mountain Resort’s hiking trails map.
At one point, it hugs Scenic Caves Road. At others, you can pop out of the trees onto a ski slope and take in some breathtaking views.
“I like that it’s a challenge and you can stop at any point; you look around and the beauty is there,” says experienced hiker Susan Brindisi, 59, of Collingwood. “As you’re hiking, you can turn around and you can see, from any vantage point, the whole bay.”
Cherie Wilson, 52, who frequently hikes with Brindisi, says The Grind, besides being a physical challenge, is very peaceful. It gives her the opportunity to just stop to be in the moment, enjoy the sounds of the birds, and take in what’s around her. “I feel it’s a very safe place,” she adds. “I’ve hiked it many times by myself and with my dog, and never felt unsafe or that it wasn’t something that a woman by themselves should be doing.”
The Grind is one of 21 hiking and multi-use trails of varying degrees of difficulty maintained across Blue Mountain Resort. They are open during the pandemic for hikers who have purchased a day pass or have a 5×7 or Ikon season pass for the 2021 season.
Becki Relihan, the resort’s director of programming and recreation, says Blue Mountain is following all protocols required by the Grey-Bruce Public Health Unit to ensure the safety of its visitors and staff.
She says hikers will encounter Blue Mountain staff from the moment they exit their cars to all the way through their experience on the hiking trails. There is updated signage that indicates starting and end points of trails, trail names, map images and information about trail etiquette.
“Our adapted plan is to have our team out and around the hiking trails,” she says. “Our mountain ambassadors and patrollers will be encouraging mask-wearing as much as possible, particularly where distancing can’t be maintained. “There are areas on the resort where masks are required, and there won’t be any exemptions. This is to help keep our guests and employees safe when our operations can’t accommodate physical distancing. For example, our team has to come within two metres of guests on the Ridge Runner so that they can check their seatbelts.”
Relihan encourages all hikers to keep their eyes on Blue Mountain’s social media channels and website for pricing, operating hours, trail network maps and information about mask protocols.
Brindisi says getting outside and exploring nature puts life in perspective, especially when people feel the restrictions of the pandemic. She often hikes in the morning before she goes to work, finding that it increases her productivity and helps her keep a positive perspective.
When she misses a hike for a couple of days, she can feel that her mental state suffers.
“I just feel really powerful when I get out on the trail; I feel like everything’s well with the world,” she says. “It pumps life and energy in me when I’m out there. It’s almost like being out there on the trail gives you life.”
Every once in a while, it’s a good idea to focus on just one part of your game – whether it’s your swing or your putting – and golf ranges are the perfect place to practise.
2. Practise Your Swing on the Golf Range
Ever since the pandemic began, golf has exploded in popularity. With close to 20 golf courses in the Southern Georgian Bay region alone, there’s no shortage of choice and variety for avid golfers. Every once in a while, though, it’s a good idea to focus on just one part of your game – whether it’s your swing or your putting – and golf ranges are the perfect place to practise.
One of the most scenic golf ranges in our area is Tees Please, a popular destination for decades. With more than 40 tee spots near the base of Blue Mountain, golfers can practise their drives or work on other parts of their game while appreciating the view of the Escarpment.
“It has a separate sand trap so you can practise sand shots, it has a putting green, and an area for chipping onto the putting green,” says Rory Ring, 72, a long-time patron. “Most ranges don’t have that.”
Owner Josef Pfurtscheller, 73, says his business has been very busy throughout the pandemic, even with the periodic lockdowns. Last year, Tees Please got about three days’ notice that the range could open on May 20 with the proper protocols in place.
That meant quickly making some changes to how the range operates: creating a pass-through window to distribute baskets of balls, washing the balls before every use, installing a “tap” capacity for credit cards, and prohibiting customers from using their own balls on the putting green.
No changes were required to the tees themselves because the grass tees are already five steps apart and the mat tees are six feet apart, making mask-wearing optional. Despite the rush and the uncertainty, Pfurtscheller says Tees Please had one of its busiest years ever and hopes this year will be the same. All of the same safety protocols are in place.
“People are very restricted in what they can do, and we already have lots of distance,” he says. “People can go out there and be safe.”
Ring say that getting out on the range has been a way for him to exercise and work his muscles while combatting the isolating effects of the pandemic. “I don’t want to sit in the house and watch TV all day,” says the Collingwood resident. “From a mental health point of view and from a physical exercise point of view, those things are very important for me.”
Pfurtscheller says it’s rewarding to be able to provide an outdoor activity that is not only safe but also a good workout. He compares “whacking a bucket of balls” to a visit to a gym because 120 swings really work the body.
Just as importantly, he says, it puts smiles on people’s faces during a time when the pandemic can take a toll on someone’s mental health.
“Many of them I would talk to would say, ‘It’s just so amazing that we can come out here and at least do something, get out of the house, and laugh about something or just get some activity going.’ That’s the beauty of this kind of business. People love it.”
3. Kayak in Meaford Harbour
Seat yourself in a kayak on the water and you’ve already accomplished a couple of goals: you’re about to get some exercise and you’re following physical distancing guidelines. Make Meaford Harbour the setting and now you’ve added the element of nautical beauty.
Ringed with massive boulders and shoreline parkland, the harbour is a go-to playground for those who love to hop in a boat and enjoy some time on gorgeous Georgian Bay.
And what if you don’t have your own kayak?
That’s where Eric West of Meaford comes in. The 62-year-old entrepreneur and lifelong water enthusiast is establishing a kayak rental business operating out of the Harbour this summer and hopes to pass along his joy of kayaking to others.
“The number one thing for me in terms of the experience is the majesty of Georgian Bay,” he says. “It’s so crystal clear, I just feel it adds something to the experience because what’s underwater is sometimes as interesting as what’s above water. So, it adds this whole other dimension to paddling.”
West began his love affair with kayaking in his teens when he raced K-4 kayaks for the Mississauga Canoe Club. When he moved up from the GTA in 2013, he discovered he could paddle year-round – even in the winter, when he uses collapsed hiking poles to advance his boat across any ice he comes across. “It is amazing to paddle on the banks of a river that are laden with snow. There’s deer all along and they don’t even think about us because we’re out of the ordinary. And it’s super quiet anyway – we often paddle in peace – to let the wildlife do their thing.”
West’s rental business – fittingly called Aquaphilic (“It means water-loving, which literally describes me,” he says) – is located right in the harbour on a renovated houseboat that holds about 25 kayaks of differing kinds that will accommodate everyone from recreational to experienced paddlers.
Meaford Harbour provides the perfect place for kayakers because it has something for everyone, he says. You can hug the shallow shoreline all the way to Thornbury, venture out into the Bay, or paddle up the Big Head River up to a set of rapids just below Baker’s Bridge.
Doug Miller and his spouse Margot, both in their early 70s, have done all these paddles and more. The Meaford couple originally were avid canoeists – their wedding gift to each other 42 years ago was a cedar strip canoe – but in recent years they have converted to kayaking because the boats handle both the rivers and the Bay well and they can be totally comfortable in a wider range of weather conditions.
“The way I speak of this area, it’s a magical spot where it gives you 10 months of hiking and eight months of paddling a year,” says Miller. “It’s connecting with nature; it’s connecting with humanity, too. I think what we miss most of all are connections. Nature always works that way.”
West says he feels a greater intimacy with the water when in a kayak than in other types of boats; because you’re sitting below the water line, there’s an instant connection with nature. When West heads out for a paddle, he performs a little ritual: he puts his open palms on the surface for a few moments to feel the communion with the water.
“And then you’re getting exercise – you can paddle like a demon for as far as you want, or you can lily-dip along and just enjoy the gentle movement,” he says. “It’s social, but it’s inherently distant. And you’re just creating this incredible affinity with nature.”
4. Cycle the Georgian Trail
Bike shorts do not have enough padding. There, I said it.
I am half-way into a 25-kilometre ride along the Georgian Trail – from Meaford to Thornbury and back – with my partner, Rick Floether, and my behind is starting to get a bit sore. Fortunately, we have scheduled a rest stop at the ever-popular Thornbury Bakery, where we can hop off our bikes and enjoy a treat: a pumpkin-cranberry muffin that gives us some energy for the ride back to Meaford.
There’s plenty of action on the trail today: joggers and walkers, some with their dogs, as well as other cyclists, including a middle-aged woman who zooms by us while we are passing through the Lora Bay community.
“She’s on an e-bike,” says Rick, instantly making me feel better about our own slower pace. “They are such a great idea here with so many hills.”
We see lots of critters on our ride, too. Chipmunks hold their tails high as they scurry across in front of us, blue jays swoop from tree to tree, a fat toad watches us go by. The green canopy on either side of the narrow path hides so many different kinds of birds, the chirping and singing sounds like a symphony. It’s all very soothing.
The Georgian Trail is a 34-kilometre-long sliver of nature stretching from Meaford Harbour to Harbourview Park in Collingwood. A former Canadian National Railway line, it officially opened on October 31, 1989 after the Town of Collingwood purchased the land from CN in 1984.
Now, the maintenance of the trail is shared by the three municipalities through which it travels: Meaford, The Blue Mountains and Collingwood.
Tracing the southern shore of Georgian Bay, it attracts thousands of walkers, runners, cyclists, snowshoers and cross-country skiers each month. This “linear park” has more than 30 access points, regular markers to track your distance, small bridges over waterways, and rest benches sprinkled all along its length.
This past winter, for the first time ever, the Town of The Blue Mountains groomed the trail from Christie Beach Sideroad to Grey Road 21, providing a flat-packed trail that made it easier for winter use by walkers, cross-country skiers and snowshoers.
Our ride this day into Thornbury was leisurely, but as we head back, we decide to pick up the pace. Still, we’re able to eyeball the scenery.
Rick, an avid golfer, marvels at the lush greens of the Lora Bay golf course. We pass by the bluffs across from Christie Beach, then swing south to where the trail hugs Highway 26 and we ride through a small apple orchard just before we see Grandma Lambe’s, the famous market where you can buy the best apple pie around.
Soon after that, we are back at our access point in Meaford, the backside a little sore, the legs a bit tired, but the soul refreshed from our workout in nature.
5. Take an Outdoor Yoga or Fitness Class
Outdoor yoga and fitness classes aren’t a new phenomenon in this area, but they’ve taken on a whole new look and feel since the pandemic struck.
Shirlee Williams, owner of Buddha Rider Yoga and Cycling Studio in Collingwood, has been holding yoga sessions outdoors for about 10 years at picturesque Sunset Point. Normally, she would see up to 25 people attend those evening classes as the sun sets over Georgian Bay.
But the spring of 2020 saw restrictions in numbers and even a complete shutdown at one point – similar to this year – as the Ontario government and public health officials tried to stem the rise of cases. When Sunset Point re-opened again, Collingwood staff had painted large circles on the grass in the park as a guide for keeping a safe distance apart.
Williams, 51, used the circles for her classes once they resumed and is doing the same this summer. “They are more than far enough apart, and I think people are just so appreciative to be with people,” she says. “I remember the first class (last summer), riding my bike down and seeing people for the first time – because we had only been seeing them on Zoom – I may have actually cried. There was something pretty magical about that.”
Williams won’t be the only fitness professional to use Sunset Point as a studio this summer.
Sarah Heipel, owner of Good Energy Coach, has been leading outdoor general fitness “boot camps” since 2007. Her clients – mostly business professionals – use equipment such as resistance bands, body bars, free weights, body weight, and medicine balls in a 45-minute workout first thing in the morning or after work. The circuit can be modified to accommodate all fitness levels.
About 10 to 15 people typically attend the sessions. To keep the activity safe, each person is given certain pieces of equipment for the first part of the session and then, half-way through, that equipment is sanitized and given to someone who hasn’t used it yet.
“Having it at Sunset Point, it’s just a beautiful destination,” says Heipel, 43, of Collingwood. “We’re so lucky to be able to use that park to show up before work or after work and just decompress in that space, do something really good for your body and be with like-minded people.”
Claire Naumovski, 62, a resident of The Blue Mountains, has been doing the bootcamp sessions for about eight years, from May to October, rain or shine. The safety precautions in place – the circles on the grass and the cleaning protocols for the equipment – have eased any safety concerns she had.
She’s excited to be part of the close-knit group again this summer.
“I have to say, just being outside with other people is the most amazing feeling,” she says. “It’s social, we are working out, but it feels like it is very normal. It’s just been such a nice way to meet other people in a totally safe way.”
In Thornbury, Shelagh McKee uses the grounds behind Winifred’s Restaurant, by the millpond, for the outdoor yoga sessions she started last year as owner of Mantra Yoga Studio.
The 52-year-old former teacher, who lives in Craigleith, approached the restaurant’s vice president of operations, Neal Lewis, to hold morning yoga sessions there last year after her classes on the Thornbury Pier were shut down due to COVID-19. Lewis also happens to be a client of one of her popular men-only classes.
“It’s so beautiful back there and it’s private, so we wouldn’t have to worry about competing with other people, and he was great with it,” says McKee, adding she is expanding the number of evening sessions she offers, during which she takes her clients on a hike through Loree Forest and then takes them through a yoga practice at the top of The Georgian Peaks Club. Participants can easily hike six feet apart and the grassy area at the top is more than large enough for a safe yoga session.
“Being outside in the fresh air is what our bodies need right now,” she says. “It’s good for your mental health and your physical health. You’ve got that group capacity, that group mentality where you’re together as a family.”
These are just a handful of the many outdoor options we’re blessed to have in Southern Georgian Bay, which allow us to enjoy nature, stay active, get fit and connect with people while maintaining a safe distance and adhering to current health protocols. How will you get outside this summer? ❧
