Killarney Provincial Park
Killarney Provincial Park
Official website: www.ontarioparks.com/park/killarney
Killarney Provincial Park is located above the north edge of Georgian Bay. It has a mixture of white quartz and granite hills, numerous & varied lakes, woodland and wetland. There is a campground located at George Lake from which interior day trips or hiking excursions are easy to do. It has multiple access points for interior camping with well marked portage routes.
This location has been a favorite of club members for many years.
Trip Reports & Stories
Killarney Trip 2016
September 16 to 20, 2016
Trip instigators: Tim Grant and Jean Lefebvre Lakes paddled: George, Freeland, Killarney, OSA; day trip on Muriel, Artist; out and back same route.
People lived on these lands long before we came to paddle, and before Europeans “discovered” Ontario. A very brief history of Killarney:
“For many years, the village was known as Shebahonaning, an Ojibwe name meaning "canoe passage”. The Native peoples who hunted, fished, and trapped here lived on what was to become a well-traveled route for the voyageurs and explorers of France and England. Fur trade posts were built along the Georgian Bay, with the Killarney post established on June 28th, 1820, by Etienne Augustin Rocbert de la Morandiere. His wife, Josephte Sai-sai-go-no-kwe (“woman of the falling snow") was a member of the Odawa Nation (the traders) and was born in Michigan. She was the niece and adopted daughter of Chief Kitchi Bashigigan and a close relative of the famous Chief Tecumseh. [..] When and why the place name Shebahonaning was changed to Killarney is unknown.” (http://www.killarneyhistory.com/, accessed 28 September 2016.)
Our intrepid trippers: Fernanda “Toadstool” Peyronel and Andrea “Fire Retardant” Chappell; Jean “Sick Frog” Lefebvre and Janet “Brown Sugar” Baine; Tim “Maple Gurgler” Grant and Barb “No Sleepum” Davenport. In the kayak: Jeri-Lynn “On Fire” Catton.
Our George Lake campground night was without incident, unless you call leaving a car window fully down in the rain, allowing infiltration of water and raccoon, who ate chips, grapes, and all of the 72% dark chocolate, leaving nothing but orange-Dorito-powder footprints, “an incident”. We awoke, oblivious to this and to the impending food cull. Jean dealt a mighty toll on any weighty food stores, casting aspersions on the gluttonous even as he cast out food. Who needs extra maple syrup? Tim didn’t, as it turned out. At least Tim’s nine packages of bacon survived the cull. Bob Lang - Membership Retired for the second time. Not idle, but free now to indulge in productive fun (like the Philharmonic Choir and basketball refereeing) and the elemental fun of being alongside, on, or in water. Andrea Chappell – Newsletter editor
I and my Mattawa joined the Club 5 years ago. I soon bought a used kayak too. This is my second time on the Board. Please send your stories, tips, recipes, drawings, etc., for our newsletter.
Feeling lighter of food, and dampened of rain but not of spirit, we packed up and paddled onward to our adventure.
We knew of a Metis among us, and came to know other tribes. The Chairokees packed luxury in the form of light camp chairs. One camp chair owner on occasion demonstrated his wrong side up, becoming known as the Chairokeister. Or Jean. The Squatters were behind (as it were) in technology, bringing only their natural seats. People of the Tarp were hard to spot, as they were undercover. All were peaceable, as good Canadians are.
You may reasonably ask how the kayak fared. Tim and Jean were all over (and under) this. They fashioned a kayak yoke, which was fastened to the cockpit during portages. A disadvantage was that the porter’s view was often eclipsed by the cockpit enclosing his/her head, unless the kayak was tilted sufficiently to the back. It was rated a success, but will likely need design modifications before it appears in our Gear Envy section. The kayak had some storage capacity, but a small amount of gear needed to be taken in a canoe.
Our planners provided two vigorous hikes, a bonus to any paddling and camping trip. Both entailed significant climbs via the routes that we took, but we Slayed the Pig and got High on Crack. Following a guide (surely not Jean) on the way to the Crack, we spiralled for what seemed hours around a bowl formation, amid cries of “Back in bowl”1. These hikes are very well worth the effort, with a gorgeous views over a topaz lake and an incredible panorama. As Fernanda can attest, there were also many, many varieties of mushrooms, now all documented for a club talk someday. Right, Fernanda?
1 Search for “back in bowl”, from “All of Me” (Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin), great for a silly movie night.
OUR I-TIM-ERARY
Friday September 16 – at George Lake campground
Saturday September 17 – to Killarney Lake
oGeorge Lake, through Freeland Lake to Killarney Lake.
o~12km paddling. 45m and 420m portages, well maintained and fairly easy.
oGood campsite for one night. Hike “The Crack Trail”.
Sunday September 18 – to OSA Lake
Pack up. George Lake to OSA Lake.
6km or more paddling. 120m portage.
Camp two nights on a lovely OSA Lake island.
Monday September 19 – OSA Lake
Paddle from OSA Lake through Muriel Lake to Artist Lake.
~12km round trip paddle: 585m, 165m, and 35m portages, twice each.
Hike “The Pig” portage, roughly halfway. Ridge hike. Grand view.
Tuesday September 20 – back we go, the way we came
18km paddle. 120m, 420m, 45m portages, back through Killarney, Freeland and George.
Return drive home.
One pleasure of camp is the comradery around the fire. Andrea managed to light lint with her flint in one strike when no-one was looking, while it took about 147 with eyes and cameras watching. Fortunately, Jeri-Lynn stepped in as fire whisperer. Fashioning armour out of aluminum foil to protect against 3rd degree burns, we were even able to cook around it. Culinary delights emerged, and despite the cull, we had lots of food. The group had paired up to provide either a supper (main dish and dessert) or breakfasts. The main dishes: curry chicken with rice (precooked for maximum portaging pleasure), tomato macaroni, gluten-free pancakes (chia instead of eggs) and maple syrup rations, oatmeal with peanut butter and chocolate chips topping. Desserts: “kitchen cupboard” chocolate bars, and apple crisp made in a Dutch oven (see Gear Envy), with cream cheese. People always offered assistance. For example, thinking of our health, Janet cut calories from the apple crisp by rubbing most of the brown sugar and butter on her thighs.
We camped at site 162 on Killarney Lake, which had a good ledge for jumping into the lake. At one point we were alarmed by a noise of a monstrous bullfrog … and Jean unaccounted for! We were relieved when he emerged from the woods unscathed. The OSA Lake island site 323 was a lovely spot, complete with a full outhouse, though not one you’d set up close to. The views of sun and moon rises and sets were magnificent, and much time was spent sipping beverages watching them, many a photograph attempting to capture their magic.
2 Jeff’s Map, Killarney and Georgian Bay Coast, v2.0.
For the most part, temperaments were positive, though cross words were heard from Jeri-Lynn and Andrea’s tent. “A 7-letter word, ending in ‘r’, meaning __”. Other tent dwellers were not very good at these puzzles, as “shut-up” never fit the clues. Those two were the camp larks, up as early as 4:30am to make the most of the day. An owl was awake all night, but Barb napped soundly during the day. The weather was co-operative. Just as last year’s Killarney trip started with rain, so did this one, but our weather was charmed again, and when it mattered, it was a lovely mix of sun and cloud.
Every trip has moments of levity, and some even downright incredulity. One came as Tim tipped his head back and guzzled our precious maple syrup. However, the heavy liquid proved inappropriate for gargle, and came back out his nose. This may not become an official sport of Killarney 2017. We heard it can be quite painful.
By George, it was a Killar' trip, getting high on Crack, slaying the Pig (evidenced by 9 packages of bacon), and generally having O-sa good a time. Thanks very much to Tim and Jean for putting this in motion!
For photos, see: https://wwccphotos.smugmug.com/Canoeing-2016/Killarney-with-the-Crazys-2016/
By Andrea Chappel
Killarney Trip 2014
June 27-30, 2014
I’ve never been to Killarney before so I posted it on the WWCKC activity calendar. Luckily, five other paddlers crazy enough to go north, in June, jumped on board. This was a flat water trip, but the portages were nothing to sneeze at... maybe cough, wheeze and swat flies at, but not to sneeze at.
We started our 4-day loop trip with the longest portage into David Lake, 745m... phew!! Luckily the path was fairly clear of rocks, roots and mud. Our campsite was pretty decent, but we could have used oxygen half way up the hill as we hiked up to the camping area!
Next day we had an easy paddle but fairly tough portage of 665m into Balsam Lk. With extreme luck and timing, we paddled right up to the best site I’ve been on in quite a long time. I say with luck, because not 5-10 minutes after we landed, a flood-gate of canoers burst open. If we hadn’t been there at that time, who knows how long we would have been looking or where we’d end up...phew!! The next day we had a great paddle around Balsam Lk and a great campfire that evening. A few star gazers stayed up that night but I was done – my lovely ex-ped mattress awaited.
The next day’s paddle out was a really nice cruise around and out of Balsam Lk, across a quick 30m portage, through Three Mile Lake and south on Bell Lake. It seems like such a small part of Killarney that we paddled - with so much more to see. I will definitely have to return.
For photos, see: https://wwccphotos.smugmug.com/Canoeing2014/Killarney-Provincial-Park-2014/
By Warren Brandes