Total Days: 8
Total Kilometres: 105 kilometres
Total Portages: 33
Total Length of Portages: 13.094 kilometres
Longest Portage: 2.525 kilometres (Helen Lake to Nellie Lake)
Average Daytime High: 22.6 Celsius
Average Nighttime Low: 18.0 Celsius
Route: Charlton Lake – Howry Creek – Murray Lake – Leech Lake – Hanwood Lake – Van Winkle Lake – Rocky Channel – Bear Lake – Goose Lake – Bear Lake – Rocky Channel – Van Winkle Lake – Cat Lake – Howry Lake – Gem Lake – Fish Lake – Great Mountain Lake – Little Mountain Lake – Kirk Creek – Three Narrows Lake – Kirk Creek -McGregor Bay – East Channel – North Channel – Low Lake – Helen Lake – Nellie Lake – Carmichael Lake – Grace Lake – Cranberry Bay – Frood Lake – Charlton Lake
Maps Used: Friends of Killarney Provincial Park map (2007 version)
For the backcountry camper, Killarney Provincial Park evokes images of white quartzite mountains, crystal clear lakes, and falling asleep to the echo of a wailing loon in what appears to be a pristine wilderness. If you dig a little deeper into the history of the area you will learn that Killarney’s wilderness has had its share of trials and tribulations. Some of those crystal clear lakes, some as clear as a swimming pool, are mainly located in the area of the park that consists of the white quartzite mountain ranges. A lake with a quartzite bottom aided in the acidification of some lakes from acid rain produced from nearby smelting emissions in the Sudbury area. Lakes such as Nellie, Topaz, and O.S.A. continue to be a present reminder of how industry can devastate the aquatic ecosystem with crystal clear waters yielding very little vegetation, and little to no aquatic life. Back in the early 1980s the pH was measured in many lakes with Nellie Lake having as low as a pH of 4.4 being found (tomato juice is 4.1 – 4.6). Paddling in some of these lakes today is like paddling in a swimming pool, and as you look over the side of your canoe you can see over 20 feet down to the bottom. Logs that fell years ago now stripped of their bark, look like bones from some kind of prehistoric beast. It actually leaves you with an eerie uncomfortable feeling at times when you learn the reason behind these lakes becoming so “beautifully clear”. Thankfully humanity is capable of learning from their mistakes and recovery efforts, including local emission controls, have resulted in increasing pH levels in many of Killarney’s lakes. Other historical human practices in the park included logging and more recently, expanding the park’s boundaries to the north, now known as “The Killarney Lakelands and Headwaters”.
Whether you are hiking the challenging La Cloche Silhouette Trail, backcountry camping on Grace Lake, or even just parking your trailer at the main George Lake Campground, Killarney seems to have something for everyone who enjoys the outdoors!
We chose to camp the last week of August and paddle/portage 8 days on a loop known as the “Great Mountain Loop”. This loop takes you through different habitats and terrain that include marsh, clear lakes, creeks, and McGregor Bay.
DAY # 1: Charlton Lake to Van Winkle Lake
Weather: Sunny. High: 23 C Low: 17 C
On August 20th, we woke up at the Pinewood Inn in the town of Espanola (highly recommended) and drove to the Widgawa Lodge located near the town of Willisville to pick up our rental canoe and park permit. We left the access point located here around 9:30 am and paddled our way into the park via Charlton Lake. We saw many cottages along the shore before entering the park proper, and while rounding a corner we surprised a Great Blue Heron which squawked loudly at us for interrupting his calm morning. We had a few portages today that included a 1,090 metre from Murray Lake to Leech Lake. A portage of this length was not a nice way to begin our trip because you realize how out of shape you are! Our last portage of the day, an easy 120 metre, brought us into Van Winkle Lake. We have an island campsite tonight (site #162). After a supper of homemade rehydrated Sheppard’s Pie, a pair of Whip-poor-wills called nearby as we settled into our sleeping bags on our first night in the Killarney wilderness.
Wildlife Sightings: Ruffed Grouse, Broad-winged Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Loon, Eastern Chipmunk, American Redstart, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Great Blue Heron, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Whip-poor-will, People
Remember to: Fill water bottles before heading out so you don’t have to pump water on your first day.
DAY # 2: Van Winkle Lake to Fish Lake
Weather: Showers to sunny skies. Cloudy by the end of the day. High: 21C Low: 16C
This morning we woke up to rain showers along with our Whip-poor-will now being accompanied by the distant calls of Sandhill Cranes. After coming out of the tent we heard a “loonie party” on the lake with up to 10 yodeling Common Loons while we made our breakfast consisting of granola with nuts and dried fruit.
We had a lovely morning paddle! Our destination today was Fish Lake and we skipped quite a few portages by taking the Rocky Channel instead of taking the series of portages that lead through Cat, Howry and Gem Lakes. However, when we arrived at Goose Lake it was literally a mud flat and we couldn’t even find a way to walk along the shoreline without the risk of getting sucked into the marsh muck (though it looked like a few people have tried). There was only one choice in our minds…we had to backtrack. We paddled back to Van Winkle Lake via the 190 metre portage, followed by a 480 metre portage to Cat Lake, a 665 metre into Howry Lake, a 130 metre into Gem Lake, a couple of lift overs, and finally entered Fish Lake after a 90 metre portage. In the end we added an extra 5 hours of paddling and quite a few metres of portages to our day. When we arrived on Fish Lake it was getting late in the day and as we passed one campsite after the other campsite they were clearly all occupied. In fact, a group at one of the sites told us that they were pretty sure both sites on the entire lake were occupied. Obviously someone was staying on this lake that shouldn’t be, though we were too tired to ask to see anyone’s permits. In the end we shared an island campsite (site #154) with a couple of gentlemen from Michigan who have made multiple trips to Killarney. We shared camping stories and enjoyed each others company. Sleeping came easily that night after a long days paddle. We hoped that tomorrow’s surprises are a little less annoying, but that’s all part of backcountry camping, you gotta expect the unexpected sometimes.
Wildlife Sightings: Common Loon, Sandhill Crane, Wood Duck, American Redstart, Canada Goose, Red-eyed Vireo, Broad-winged Hawk, People
Remember to: Call the park regarding portages/low water levels before heading out. Bring a full water bottle on portages especially when it is warm and you have more portages than expected.
DAY # 3: Fish Lake to Threenarrows Lake
Weather: Sunny in the morning with scattered showers and strong winds into the afternoon. High: 20 C Low: 17 C
We departed from our island bunkmates and headed south into Threenarrows Lake. The last time we were on this lake was in 2007. As always, today was a mix of paddling and portaging. Great Mountain Lake offered some nice views of the La Cloche Mountains. Little Mountain Lake was a beautiful shade of blue. Looking at the map we could see this lake is nestled in between two quartzite hills so runoff of acid rain probably contributed to a lower pH of this particular lake.
After portaging 770 metres and 835 metres, we paddled a winding marsh which reminded us of the Nipissing River in Algonquin Provincial Park. It was along this section we met a group of teenage boys (maybe boy scouts?) that were on their own paddling trip. One kid had duct tape on his shoes which looked to be the only thing keeping them together. Hopefully it doesn’t deter him from enjoying future canoe trips.
When we arrived at Threenarrows Lake we paddled a headwind until we arrived at our third island campsite of the trip (site #42). All we have to do tomorrow is paddle the whole length of Threenarrows Lake which will make for a more relaxing day. Supper tonight was a new one for us which we called “Lentil Surprise”, made up of lentils, tomato, onion and rice. We will probably skip this one on future trips as it only got a 7/10 on the Marianne and Aaron “Tasty Metre”
Wildlife Sightings: Broad-winged Hawk, Eastern Chipmunk, Red Squirrel, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Common Loon, Herring Gull, Red-eyed Vireo, Beaver Dam, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Caspian Tern, Double-crested Cormorant, Wood Duck, People
Remember to: No remember to today! Whoot!
DAY # 4: Threenarrows Lake
Weather: Sunny with strong southwest winds. High: 25 C Low: 22 C
This morning we slept in and after a pancake breakfast complete with maple syrup crystals, we started to paddle the length of the lake heading towards its southwest end.
Threenarrows Lake is an interesting lake. Originally it was three separate lakes until a dam was created at the beginning of the 20th century at Kirk Creek which is located near the southwest end of the lake. This was done to aid in logging activities that was ongoing in the park at this time. The result of the dam rose lake levels to around 16 feet transforming it to the one large lake that we see today. The dam was rebuilt again in 1934.
The wind started to pick up around 10:30 am as we paddled. Being familiar with this lake we reminisced of our last trip here in 2007, and we wanted to check out one of our old campsites which was campsite #51. As we approached the site we were shocked by its condition! Trees that looked to be chopped with hatchets, initials carved in trees, while the campsite itself looked a mess! Wish we could have compiled a before and after photo of this site, but paddling into the wind made reaching for the camera in the pack difficult. Looking at this site now I would never want to camp there. It’s a shame that people think they have the right to degrade Killarney, or any provincial park for that matter, with such disregard.
We managed to reach our site in three and a half hours. We have stayed before at this site (site #48) and luckily it was in the same condition as it was when we were previously there. There are a couple of cottages nearby though we cannot view them from our site. The rest of the afternoon was for relaxing and Aaron even had a nap. We finally brought out our fishing rod for the first time on this trip but nothing was biting.
Wildlife Sightings: Common Loon, White-tailed Deer, Common Raven, Beaver, Red Squirrel, Song Sparrow, Blue Jay, Yellow Warbler
Remember to: No remember to today! Yeah!
DAY # 5: Threenarrows Lake to East Channel – McGregor Bay
Weather: Cloudy with showers all day. TORNADO WATCH! High: 20 C Low: 18 C
With the sound of wind and rain last night we barely slept, which continued into the early morning. It was thankfully reduced to a light drizzle by the time we broke camp and were out on the water, and later it stopped altogether before we made it to our first portage at Kirk Creek. On our way we passed the notorious portage known as “The Pig” which is an old logging tote road and one of the steepest portages in the park that we did four years ago. Not a good day today for those that have the pleasure of tackling The Pig as it will have loose wet rocks to negotiate. We were not any better off as the series of portages in Kirk Creek were challenging with steep sections, along with it’s own slippery rocks. In Kirk Creek we had to take off our hiking boots and switch over to our sandals while dragging the canoe in a few sections that were too low to paddle. We arrived on McGregor Bay around noon. This section of the park is also quite scenic with some cottages. If we ever win the lottery and a property becomes available we are going to buy up here!
After paddling by cottages and observing some boats on the bay, we set up camp on an exposed site (site #136) on a rock overlooking the bay. We heard the distant rumbles of thunder and saw a couple of River Otters bobbing up and down while chattering back and forth in the water. While we relaxed on our rock overlooking the bay we wound up our weather radio and heard that we were under a Tornado Watch! We also learned that two days prior, an F3 tornado ripped through the town of Goderich, 300 kilometres to the south of us. Luckily for us the clouds eventually broke up, leaving us with a lovely calm sunset.
Wildlife Sightings: Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Raven, American Crow, Blue Jay, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-capped Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, White Admiral, River Otter, People
Remember to: Bring mints, or mouthwash…or something. We get bad breath out here!
DAY # 6: McGregor Bay to Low Lake
Weather: Sunny to partly cloudy. High: 25 C Low: 16 C
Today was an interesting day! We woke up at our campsite and began our day with a pancake breakfast, always a wonderful start in the backcountry! As we began to paddle from McGregor Bay into the East Channel we had a very hard time trying to find where the land narrowed to enter a small gap to the second section of the East Channel. We checked the map, followed the GPS (which we rarely take out) and we knew we were in the right spot but just couldn’t find it! We eventually found the small hidden entryway that was barely wider than our canoe. We also got a little misplaced while paddling a marsh after exiting the North Channel. The marsh was winding and trying to find the yellow portage sign that would lead us into Low Lake was difficult, to the point that we had and to stand up in the canoe to actually find it. The portage from Low Lake to Helen Lake though was easy to find as it was a big wide slab of rock that also had a campsite on it, with the portage itself being a cake walk. As we arrived on Helen Lake we began the search for a nice campsite as we would be spending two nights here. There was one problem though, all the sites looked pretty terrible! We back tracked and ended up staying at the portage campsite between Low and Helen Lake. Though it was a campsite at a portage it was very scenic with a big smooth rock and landscape similar to that of Georgian Bay.
Surveying a campsite is customary for us (and should be for anyone) and we did locate some bear scat, but it wasn’t fresh. There was one thing about this campsite that we should have expected, though it didn’t even cross our minds, in that it was located at a low spot between two hills. There was bound to be some animal traffic through here, and it started that night with the mice climbing up the side of the tent and a big “SNAP” near our site that was hopefully just a deer.
Wildlife Sightings: Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Red Squirrel, Great Blue Heron, Blue Jay, Common Raven, American Crow, Caspian Tern, Frogs, Dragonflies, Black-capped Chickadee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, People.
Remember to: No remember to today! YEAH!
DAY # 7: Low Lake
Weather: Sunny giving to clouds into the evening. High: 23 C Low: 20C
Today we spent the day relaxing at our portage/campsite. The morning started out with a burnt pancake (yuck) and the rest of the morning was spent basking in the sun while listening to CBC Radio on our solar powered windup radio while drinking tea. Marianne observed the courtship flight of the local grasshoppers. When we started feeling warm from the heat rising off the rocks we slowly slipped into the cool waters of Low Lake for a swim. After lunch we returned to the sun again while Aaron took a nap. We also saw a big bass swimming close to shore. Aaron tried to catch it with our fishing rod that we accidently broke a few days prior but the bass didn’t bother.
Tomorrow we portage up the La Cloche Mountains! We had a nice evening with a Whip-poor-will calling again. Later that night as we stared up at the stars and watched for passing satellites, we heard something crash into the tree beside our tent. Turning on our headlamps and pointing it towards the sound revealed a Northern Flying Squirrel!
Due to the fact that we were lounging around all day we had a hard time falling asleep that night while we listened to more animal traffic around our site. The climax of all this busy movement was a big “BA-Lunk” into the lake followed by something swimming away from shore.
Wildlife Sightings: Common Raven, Common Loon, Blue Jay, Double-crested Cormorant, Mallard, Whip-poor-will, Turkey Vulture, Broad-winged Hawk, Red Squirrel, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flying Squirrel, Yellow-rumped Warbler. No people today though we could hear distant boats.
Remember to: Sunscreen……durp.
DAY # 8: Low Lake to Widgawa Lodge launch at Charlton Lake
Weather: Sunny. High: 24 C Low: 18 C
This morning Aaron woke up with a terrible sunburn as he didn’t apply any sunscreen the day before while we lounged outside all day. We had two of the longest portages of the trip today. One would be a 2,525 metre from Helen Lake to Nellie Lake that would take us up a section of the La Cloche Mountains, while the other would be a less steep 2,085 metre from Nellie Lake to Grace Lake where we were to set up camp for our last night. The first portage we had to double over by going first with the packs followed by the canoe. The portage had some steep sections and when we arrived at the Nellie Lake end with the canoe we collapsed beside it a little sweaty and hungry, so it was straight for the energy bars. After ripping them open we heard a “snap” followed by a rustling sound of branches very close to us. Walking towards us Marianne barely saw the back of a Black Bear so she grabbed her paddle and banged it on the side of the canoe while yelling to scare the bear off. It slowly lumbered away though we could no longer see it, so we quickly grabbed our stuff, threw it into the canoe, and paddle into Nellie Lake. Nellie Lake is another crystal clear lake, with a 28 metre visibility to the bottom. We decided to pump water here and it tasted different from all the other lakes we pumped water from. We wonder if this lake even has any organisms to filter out?
After taking a breather while paddling around the scenic Nellie Lake and viewing the La Cloche range, it was time to head towards Grace Lake. This portage at 2,085 metres was not as steep as our previous portage. It was around here that Aaron’s sunburn was really starting to bother him and we had to make a decision. Our options were should we camp at Grace Lake as his sunburn gets worse, or portage the last 1,745 metres, followed by an almost 12 kilometre paddle out of the park back to the car? After arriving on Grace Lake, which is perhaps the most scenic lake in the whole park, we looked at the time and decided to have lunch on an island and head out. It was a shame looking back on it now that we didn’t spend one more night on a lake that Group of Seven artist A.Y Jackson stayed at while painting such works as “Grace Lake” and “Nellie Lake”. For us, as is the norm when we get close to our car, was visions of real food, a nice long shower and a soft bed. It’s been said that you have to be out in the wilderness for at least three weeks before you loose those wants. We clearly need to take a longer trips.
After completing our last portage of the day, which was a 1,745 metre into Cranberry Bay, it was time to paddle out of the park into Frood Lake. There was a strong head wind and we had no water as we paddled hard all the way back to Willisville, all the while motorboats passed us by with ease.
Arriving back at the launch, we returned our canoe and drove to the Pinewood Inn in Espanola for a real meal as we were thirsty, tired and hungry. We must have been more tired than hungry because we had a hard time finishing our meals. As for falling asleep that night, it was a piece of soft fluffy cake!
This by far was a more epic trip to Killarney over our inaugural trip back in 2007. With improvements to our gear we are beginning to feel more confident as we travel to different locations, while extending the days and kilometres to our routes. Having a digital camera for this trip was nice as well and we could take better photos along with video memories of one of Ontario’s most popular parks! We will be back again Killarney!!
Wildlife Sightings: Common Loon, Black-capped Chickadee, Black Bear, White-tailed Deer, Raven, People.
Remember to: Have more trips to Killarney!
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