After bailing out of Temagami earlier than expected last month we were ready to rock it out on our first backcountry hiking trip with new dry bags, new rain gear, and new boots fore Aaron!
We had 8 days to hike the famous La Cloche Silhouette Trail in Killarney Provincial Park. At approximately 78 kilometres in length, this loop goes over the mountains and beside the lakes that makes this one of the most scenic, and also one of the most strenuous hikes in Ontario. We were stoked, though the extended forecast was less than ideal with rain forecasted almost every single day. Would this affect our inaugural attempts at the La Cloche Silhouette trail? The short answer…yes…yes it did.
Planned Hike
Total Days: 9 days
Total Kilometres: Approx. 78 kilometres
Average Daytime High: Approx. 14 Celsius
Average Nighttime Low: Approx. 9 Celsius
Sites Booked: Ste #1 George Lake Campground, H7 (Topaz Lake), H19 (Threenarrows Lake), H23 (Moose Pass), H33 (Little Mountain Lake), H35 (Boundary Lake), H46 (Bunnyrabbit Lake), H48 (Proulx Lake).
Actual Hike
Total Days: 4 days
Total Kilometres: Approx. 18 kilometres
Sites: Site #1 George Lake Campground, H7 (Topaz Lake), flat spot on trail leading to Topaz Lake
Average Daytime High: 7.5 Celsius
Average Nighttime Low: 3 Celsius
Maps Used: Ontario Parks Killarney Provincial Park Backcountry Hiking and Canoe Route Map (2014). Jeff’s Map Killarney and the Georgian Bay Coast (Version 2.0)
Day #1: George Lake Campground
Weather: Mainly cloudy skies. Breezy with a rain shower in the late afternoon. Party cloudy in the evening. High: 8 Celsius Low: 4 Celsius
We arrived at Killarney Provincial Park around 3:30pm and picked up our permits for both the George Lake campground where we will stay tonight, as well as for the backcountry. It’s cloudy and the fall colours were past peak with some leaf fall already. Our car camping site at George Lake was Site #1, a pretty mediocre site with other sites right beside us, as well as a trail to the comfort station. We have become backcountry snobs now so even staying somewhere within view of another person is too crowded for us.
Because of the continuing coronavirus Covid-19 Ontario Parks has closed all of the showers, but luckily the washrooms are still open with flush toilets. We were a very short walk from the facilities to use the flush toilets and brush our teeth.
After setting up the tent we went for a walk down to George Lake, a lake we have launched from and paddled its’ length more than once. It was a bit chilly in the late afternoon as we went for a walk to the La Cloche Silhouette trailhead, crossed the bridge over George Lake, and climbed up a rock to stretch our legs after the long drive. On our walk back we noticed a dark cloud approaching. We had on and off rain showers on the drive up in the French River area so we figured this cloud also had a descent shower in it. We arrived back to the tent just in time before the rain fell. Luckily it was brief and we got a second chance to go for a walk and grabbed a few last things from the car. After dark our immediate neighbours arrived including one with a guitar. Big day tomorrow for us so lights out at 9:15pm with hopes of a good nights sleep!
Wildlife Sightings: Eastern Chipmunk, Red Squirrel, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Raven, American Crow, People
Remember to: Find out which setting on our headlamps uses the least amount of battery.
Day # 2: George Lake to Topaz Lake
Weather: Partly sunny with graupel briefly in the morning, rain and wind by evening. High: 7 Celsius Low: 3 Celsius
We woke up before the alarm went off at 6 am. Unfortunately we had restless sleep last night. There was a group of guys near our site last night that were yelling, laughing, and probably puking. While Marianne gathered up the items in the tent, Aaron prepared breakfast, only to come back to the tent with a message “I think we forgot the morale tea”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….what?
How could this have happend?! Morale Tea (Twinning’s Irish Breakfast Tea) is what it says it is, a morale booster especially on those cold chilly mornings. Instead, we had to resort with a cup of hot water to drink with our cold muesli cereal. It was okay.
We reached the trailhead for the La Cloche Silhouette Trail just after 8:00 am. The first stretch of the hike was easy going. Though a lot of leaves have fallen, the yellows of both birch and maple lit up the area as a grey cloak of a sky hung overhead. White quartzite from the South La Cloche Range flanked us for a while and we had a few streams to negotiate.
The most interesting event of the day was crossing a bridge underwater at Acid Lake, most likely due to the beaver dam nearby. Aaron was able to straddle the railing while going across, but Marianne had to take off her boots and walk across the bridge and the very cold water.
We had a few uphill sections with great views from the top before descending again. We met a few people enjoying the trail today, including those out for a few days, while others were just out for a day hike. While descending the South La Cloche Range the clouds rolled in and it started to rain graupel. I guess graupel is better than rain because the pellets just bounce off.
We took a short break close to Artist Lake before arriving at the section where the portage meets the trail. We probably should’ve taken a longer break here because we were beginning to feel a little sore. While along the portage/trail section we saw that someone put up a sign warning of a paper wasp nest hanging right beside the portage. That would have been exciting if someone hit that with their canoe while portaging! We did see the wasp nest but no one appeared to be home.
We took a detour to check out the cottage for sale at Baie Fine. The view at the lake is incredible, however the cottage, or at least from what we saw, needed some work. By this point we were starting to feel tired and sore as we began the hike up “The Pig” portage/trail. This section of the La Cloche Silhouette trail crosses into the Blue Ridge. “The Pig” section of the trail used to be a logging tote road and today it is left with some loose rocks that require you to pay attention to where you are walking.
Thankfully it wasn’t long before we saw the yellow arrows on the trees that would lead us to the campsite at Topaz Lake. As we slowly hiked up we eventually found an exposed area of flat quartzite where there was a fire pit. We actually unpacked a bit as we thought we had arrived at our site but then Marianne found more yellow arrows that lead you even further into the trees. We packed up our stuff and began the descent to the real site at Topaz Lake around 2:45pm.
The site was pretty decent though we’ve seen better here in Killarney. There was a flat spot for a tent, a good seating area at the fire pit, but no good spot to easily get in to bath in the lake. The view of white quartzite ridges is excellent! The lake is incredibly clear, though this due to a history of acid rain.
High levels of pH or not we needed water so we plopped our water filter into the lake and got everything all sorted out with our gear before it rained. As we hid in the tent it was nice to take off our hiking boots and just lay flat on our backs. We hiked around 9 kilometres today and Aaron in particular was sore. Tomorrow we have a scheduled 13 kilometre hike. Besides hiking the rest of The Pig it should be a lot flatter as we enter the Kirk Creek section. Both rain and wind is forecasted for tomorrow with tonight being especially windy. Hope we have a good sleep.
Wildlife Sightings: Red Squirrel, Ruffed Grouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Common Raven, Dark-eyed Junco, Swamp Sparrow, 10 people.
Remember to: Double check food items (we forgot our tea!! Our morale!)
Day # 2: Topaz Lake
Weather: Rain and wind in the morning with rain for most of the day. High: 8 Celsius Low: 5 Celsius
During the night we woke up to strong winds and some rain. We were very lucky that our site was completely sheltered down in our little hole at Topaz Lake. In the early morning we even heard a tree fall far in the distance. Anyone camping at an exposed site must’ve had one hell of a sleepless night!
When the alarm went off at 6:00 am we were warm and snuggled in our sleeping bags. It was still breezy but nothing like it was hours earlier and it began to rain again. Aaron’s knee was still hurting and he said he wasn’t having any fun. Rain and wind was in the forecast and listening to the weather band there was rain pretty much in the forecast for the rest of our trip. It was decision making time. Marianne wanted to keep going but would Aaron’s knee get worse? Would it be fun to hike in the constant rain, have no fire, always keep our raingear on, watching every step we take so as not to slip on the white quartzite? Would it be all worth it just to say that we completed the La Cloche Silhouette Trail even though it may not be fun?
In the end Marianne came up with a compromise. We couldn’t/shouldn’t hike out today with Aaron’s knee hurting, plus the wind and rain would make it a miserable hike. We would pack up around noon, hike up to that spot we thought was our site the day before, and try to find a flat sheltered area to set up the tent. There was no way we could stay here for another day as we knew the site was booked for another group coming in. After today we were to hike out…defeated yet again. Man 2020 can you crap on us anymore than you already have?
For breakfast we had a big bowl of oatmeal with rehydrated apples, strawberries, and walnuts and brown sugar on top. Because we had no morale tea we had hot water with a dash of brown sugar, which wasn’t bad though nothing to brag about. Luckily the rain stopped long enough for us to enjoy our breakfast outside and continued that way for most of the morning as we chilled around the seating area at the fire pit. For lunch we tried a new freeze-dried meal, Alpine Aire Sweet Potato with Chicken and Rice. It was an okay meal, at best getting a 6.5 out of 10 on the “Aaron and Marianne Tasty metre.”
Around noon it began to rain as we broke camp and hiked out until we arrived at a flat spot of quartzite to set up the tent. Though the area was more exposed we did manage to find somewhat of a shelter spot with a rock behind us. We set up the tent in the rain, threw our stuff inside, and hid in the tent. Around 3:00 pm the expected individuals that reserved the Topaz Lake site hiked by our tent. We didn’t even bother to get out and say hello as it was still raining. They probably weren’t up for a visit either being so close to arriving at the site.
No fire or even the use of our camp stove for supper tonight. When the rain let up a bit we went out of the tent and grabbed some snacks out of our packs such as a Meat Bar, GORP and a Honey Stinger Cracker Bar. As dark approached we hung our headlamps up in the tent and played cards (war) while listening to CBC radio. No point in listening to the weather band….We already knew a chance of rain was in the forecast for tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day….
Wildlife Sightings: Red Squirrel, Bald Eagle, Black-capped Chickadee, People.
Remember to: Waterproof the corners of the tent. A tiny bit of water is getting in.
Day # 3: Topaz Lake to George Lake Campground
Weather: Sunny in the morning giving way to mostly cloudy with light mist in the afternoon. High: 7 Celsius Low: 0 Celsius
We slept okay for the most part last night on the trail to to Topaz Lake. We also must have camped on the trail used by the local wildlife as we heard critters walk beside the tent last night. The most thrilling of these visitors was just after 6:00 am. It was still dark and Marianne heard something large go by the tent. It definitely wasn’t a bear as it sounded light on it’s feet. Perhaps a deer? This was proceeded by a low howl and what sounded like two more visitors arriving shortly there after who whimpered and even growled….Wolves! This made us freeze while our hearts were pounding wildly!! As quickly as they arrived to see what was up with this thing on their trail, they were gone. We probably set up our tent along their nightly route leaving them baffled as to why there was a tent with a weird smell coming out of it. After about 15 minutes or so we turned on our head lamps, got dressed, and got out of the tent to grab food for breakfast. It was a bit cloudy out and there was even frost on the nearby trees. What was neat was that we appeared to be above the clouds, or rather the fog that was below us on the nearby lake.
Breakfast was a hearty meal of oatmeal with apples and strawberries, along with walnuts and brown sugar on top. Hot water to drink was an added bonus as well….but morale tea woulda been a lot better!
We packed up and began our hike out but not without one last gaze from the lookout overlooking Topaz Lake. The sun came out as well which felt great on your face.
Hiking down The Pig we took the detour to check out Baie Fine again and the cottage for sale.
While approaching Artist Lake we saw that someone knocked down the wasp nest and we heard the distant call of a moose. Hiking up the South La Cloche Range we began to shed layers and had an early lunch off the trail on a rock while taking in the sun. In the distance the clouds were beginning to roll in.
A brief misty rain met us towards the later half of our hike and we saw that the strong winds from a few days ago shed a lot of birch leaves, now a light carpet on the forest floor. We saw groups of people out today including a couple who were just starting their own adventure of completing the La Cloche Silhouette Trail in just 5 days. It will be a wet hike.
When we could hear car traffic we knew that we were approaching the end of the trail, and our trip, which left us a bit depressed. Both our trips this fall have been cut short. I guess the year of 2020 can be written off as an all around crappy year. Around 3:00 pm we arrived back at the George Lake campground, loaded our gear in the car, and drove to Sudbury for the night. We planned to stop off at a few parks on the way home, maybe even do some day hikes, though with many Provincial Parks now closed for the season along with Covid-19, we just decided to drive straight home the next day.
Though we left early we did check the weather radar daily to see if the forecast was true to it’s word calling for rain in Killarney almost every day. Well it did in fact stay true to the forecast, with even a rainfall warning and light snow flurries one night. Maybe it was best to bail out early this time?
Wildlife Sightings: White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Raven, Ruffed grouse, Wolf (Algonquin Wolf?), Moose (heard near Artist Lake), People, Red Squirrel.
Remember to: Hike the La Cloche Silhouette Trail again. Next time add a few more days to the itinerary while taking longer breaks during the day..
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