Ice-out Canoe Trip, Killarney Ontario May 2019

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Well, not quite ice out. The ice broke on Friday and we entered the park on Sunday. We still managed to bang our way through some surface film from the cool Saturday evening but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing.

This was the first time my wife Becky paddled Killarney. It was also her first exposure to a classic Killarney portage: "In Killarney, all the portages point upwards" --Andy Baxter of recreational barrel works. However, given it was the first canoe trip of the season and cold at that, this trip was an easy one. Our total route was only 36 km, camping at O.S.A. on night 1, Killarney on Night 2 and Norway on Night 3. Day 4 had us paddling back from Norway to the George Lake put in.

Small 45m liftover at Freeland to George

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Rapids next to portage trail along 410 m port from Freeland to Killarney

O.S.A. and Norway are among my favorite lakes for their scenery perhaps only bested by Little Mountain which we did not visit on this trip.

Still, early spring can be brisk when the wind comes up...

Small stream located after the small 120 m portage from O.S.A. back to Killarney

 

[kgd]

Behind our campsite at Killarney Lake there is a footpath that leads up the mountainside and to a set of three ponds in the hills. We hiked up part way the first night after the rains and then again the next morning after packing up to visit the ponds.

Norway Lake - its higher elevation meant it still had a lot of ice along its shorelines as well as a big slab of melty iceburg in the middle of the lake.

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Western campsite on Norway is incredibly scenic and [almost] has a flat tent pad!

Our one largish portage from Norway to Kakakise...We got held up at the stump area on the west side of the Island at lower end of Killarney and ended up backtracking the otherway unable to find a path through the wood.

Part of the 1425 m portage trail

If it were a little less cold, we probably would have took the hike to Heaven Lake which takes off 2/3 way into the portage, but we decided to walk on then take a little rest. I gotta hand it to my wife and her ability to get shut eye in virtually any setting.

On Kakakise there was this creepy Ice "Skull-pture" on the hillside. We see it there every spring when we go in, but I liked its shape this time...Reminded me of The Punisher logo.

This is the mud laden area just after the foot bridge used by folks walking towards the Crack trail.

I wanted to visit the Crack again, but Becky wasn't in the mood and we had a long day's paddle that last day moving from Norway back to George. Besides, I didn't have my pipe along with me [joking]...

Kakakise Creek was pretty muddy and low but still easily paddled this time of year.

Overall, it was a great trip. Killarney is never a disappointment!

Sharps - I took with me a Brian Andrew's Briarpatch knife he made for me a while back. Its a great 4", lighter weight blade used mainly for camp. I wear a spyderco Enuff Salt version on my PDF and Becky wears an Izula. Other than that we only took a Silky Pocketboy saw for fires and it was plenty for a trip of this length. We didn't know if the ice would actually be out when we drove to the park so I through in a basecamp duffle that had a Snow and Neely axe and Koyote custom Machete that stayed in the truck.

Oh...lol when I load my canoe onto my truck, I like to tie down the front thawart of canoe to the front cross bar of my roof rack via the sunroof. After untying the canoe I left the damn sunroof open. It poured rain a sold night and day during the trip. Also a racoon came in through the roof and rifled through the car stirring up old wrappers from under the seat but fortunately no damage done. I couldn't believe that the interior was dried (amid muddy paw prints everywhere) and thank the hemlock trees in the parking lot for buffering wet damage. Note to self, next time close the damn sunroof!

Here is the video:

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Excellent post

Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[ilten]

Thanks a lot for taking us along. Excellent pictures, but I want to see the muddy paw prints in your truck : )
You should be thankful that the little bugger didn't hotwire your truck

 

[lambertiana]

Very nice country, looks like a great trip!

 

[315]

Looks like an incredible trip. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mikel_24]

Great trip and great scennery! I would love to do something like that. However I am somewhat of a newby arround canoes.

Actually, I am going to pick up my first kayak (plastic, sit-on-top, impossible to sik, sea type) this very same weekend. I hope to take my gf and daugther along in short shore trips and use it alone for spearfishing.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Looks like a great trip.

 

[Brian Andrews]

Hey Ken,

Nice pictures and nice trip!

Can you provide some information on that tent setup? It looks interesting, and I would like to know more.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Sled]

Great read and photo's. I miss the old days when we did this stuff.

 

[theobetts]

Looks like a great trip! Thanks for sharing.