Craig Nicol strolls down the Woodbine Beach boardwalk tugging occasionally at his yellow Labrador retriever Monty’s leash to keep the dog on track.

Monty has a good reason to need some extra prodding on this warm Thursday morning in the last stretch of October.

He’s slightly distracted because he’s walking alongside Nicol and about a dozen other dogs and their owners.

But these aren’t just any dogs. They’re guide dogs.

And this isn’t just any walk. It’s a walk with the Safari Walking Group that Nicol and friend Elizabeth Hurdman founded in 2006 as a way to help people who are blind or visually impaired enjoy Toronto’s green spaces.

“I was familiar with some of the parks, but I wanted to know more of them and I couldn’t really handle the navigation on my own without someone else along,” Nicol recalls of the group’s beginnings. “Liz had more sight then I did so we built on the idea of sharing abilities.”

Drawing in a crowd was slow at first, but when word started spreading through listservs and organizations helping those with visual impairments, Nicol and Hurdman generated a steady pack of regulars to adventure with him to every corner of the city.

These days they meet every Thursday from May to October, switching up the location each time. They’ve hiked High Park, the Humber River, the East Don Parklands and Etienne Brule Park numerous times, encountering everything from llamas to red wing blackbirds.

Today they’ll trek from the Woodbine Beach bus loop to a rocky stretch of the beach’s western shore to a massive red Muskoka chair by Leuty Lifeguard Station and finally over to Kew Gardens. Afterwards they’ll head to the nearby Gull & Firkin pub for lunch.

As they walk, they chatter about weekend plans, how difficult it can be to make pesto, the time they all took a trip to Newfoundland together, how frustrated they’ve become with persistent TTC delays and how much their guide dogs seem to be enjoying the company of their canine pals.

Runners jog past them doing a double take at all the dogs and just steps away four toddlers frolic in the sand under the watchful eye of a woman who scoops one up just after he faceplants.

Members of the group have varying levels of sight, so some can’t see such scenes unfolding. They can, however, feel the boardwalk slats and sand beneath their feet and hear the sounds of nearby waves cascading along the shore.

“Listen to that water. Do you hear the waves?” one of the walkers calls out to the group. “Isn’t it just so calming?”

Later they stumble on a surprising sound: the tunes of a musician tickling the keys of a baby grand piano he wheeled over to a prime boardwalk spot.

The pianist’s music was so unexpected, semi-retired librarian Debbie Gillespie teased the Star, “did you plan that?”

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She was walking with her guide dog Frosty, a 23-month-old yellow Labrador retriever. Gillespie joins the group for adventures about once a month because it gives her some freedom.

Asked if she’d go on such long walks without the group or Frosty, she said, “I could do it, but it is a lot more mental effort to use a cane as well.”

“We like to go out, walk, have fun and be independent,” she continued. “It is not a big deal. It is the same if you’re blind or not.”

Fellow group member Joan Robinson, who was accompanied by black Labrador retriever Forester, pointed out that the experience is just as good for the dogs as it is for the walkers because Nicol and others plan a route on terrain they can easily navigate.

“(Forester) doesn’t have to worry about down curves, up curves and traffic lights so he can really stretch out and walk at a good even pace for a long time because on city terrain you don’t get a chance to do that,” she said.

Robinson has been walking with the group since the fall of 2010, when she joined it for a jaunt in Etienne Brule park that she now describes as“unforgettable.” It has since become her favourite route on the group’s annual circuit.

She discovered the group when another walker coaxed her into joining.

It was similar for Robert Hampson, who heard about the group from Gillespie. That day was his first time out with the group. He quickly realized their journeys are a way to advocate for the blind community and are both good for him and his black Labrador retriever Spokane.

“It was a good excuse to hang out with some friends,” Hampson told the Star as he headed to the Firkin with the group.

“And it is getting (Spokane) outside rather than being inside at work”

The walk was an extra special treat for Herdman, who had taken the day off from his job running a day program for adults with developmental disabilities at Variety Village.

As the walk wound down, the Star asked him if he’d be spotted out with the group on future Thursdays.

Without any hesitation, he answered: “definitely.”