Frosted Beaches
Today it’s snowing outside. It’s practically March, but it’s as good a day as any for snow to finally show up. With any luck it will cool down and become proper snow – currently it would be more accurate if I said it was slushing from the sky ;)
![Leslie Street Spit Leslie Street Spit](https://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/picture-6.jpg?w=1078)
Winter loveliness brings to mind a trip Tito and I took to the Leslie street spit 2 years ago – before the birth of this blog. Because the spit acts as a breaker on the east side, and because that winter was very cold, the entire beach was frosted in ice.
![Leslie Street Spit Leslie Street Spit](https://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/img_0591.jpg?w=1078)
The Leslie Street Spit (technically Tommy Thompson Park) is a long spit made from construction refuse that extends out into Lake Ontario. It began as the place where material was dumped during the excavation of the Yonge Street subway line.
![Leslie Street Spit Leslie Street Spit](https://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/img_0535.jpg?w=1078)
The beautiful thing is that nature reclaimed the park. It’s an interesting contrast – there are now parts that are still used for dumping and parts that are protected as an important stopover for migratory birds.
![Leslie Street Spit Leslie Street Spit](https://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/img_0540.jpg?w=1078)
Because it began as a construction dumping ground, the personality of the spit is varied and ever changing. One beach is a graveyard for telephone poles. One is the final resting place for innumerable bank safes. One entire beach contains the remains of a building that had fluted and carved columns, you could almost pretend you were at the ruins of some ancient site.
![Leslie Street Spit Leslie Street Spit](https://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/img_0573.jpg?w=1078)
There are gardens of rebar, a bird banding station, a lighthouse and a shipwreck. In the summer it teems with a wide variety of wildlife, and it’s a macro photographers dream.
![Leslie Street Spit Leslie Street Spit](https://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/img_0518.jpg?w=1078)
There’s an entire part of the forest that’s been taken over by cormorants.
![Leslie Street Spit Leslie Street Spit](https://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/2431625652_2b477b7e2b_o.jpg?w=1078)
It’s the site of our annual first bike ride of the season. We’re always freezing by the time we get home :) Tito and I have shot it year-round, but days like this can still leave us in awe of what a beautiful spot the Leslie Street Spit is.
![Leslie Street Spit Leslie Street Spit](https://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/img_05991.jpg?w=1078)