Day 7 - Norway to Carlyle

Left Norway at around noon, nice easy paddle across Norway, beautiful colour the whole way across. Powered across the 1420m portage in one shot, felt great. New boardwalks built by the Warden and Rangers near Norway. Thought for sure I'd meet up with them working somewhere on that trail but no such luck. Wonder what else they've been up to these past couple days. Pretty excited to see where we're headed to when we go back out on trip tomorrow.
Another relaxing paddle across Kakakise, bugs pretty bad near the end of the portage. Another power portage from Kakakise to Carlyle, sure do love those boardwalks. Lunch at the old Milne lunch spot in Hidden Bay and then a tailwind paddle down the lake to Mary's camp. One can of Carling Black Ice knocked me out once i got back. Real nice sauna. Kheema, baked beans, zuchinni curry, rice and butter pecan cake for supper and dessert. Great dinner to end a great trip.

Day 6 - Norway L.

Up a little earlier this morning, had a relax in the hammock before anyone else was up. Then pulled a solo mission to go have a shower in the cataract waterfall. Incredible collection of rose quartz in the creek bed, waterfall itself is a series of of drops and long, thin, deep and extremely cold pools hidden way down deep inside a big fissure. Awesome swimming, once again though, extremely cold! Great way to wake up though.
Practiced balancing on the tumblehome while paddle back. Definetely makes for a smoother ride. Cooked up the rest of the pancakes. Oil works better than butter. The last one I made looked like it could've been on a Denny's billboard.
Loon popped up not ten feet away from me while I was doing the dishes, thinking that it was going to be my best chance to get a shot of a loon swimming underwater so i took a dive with the camera; but i missed it.
Had a visit with a watersnake while I was down there too. Went back to the waterfall with Corrine, Kyle and Erica. Too cold for Corrine and Erica to go in. Kyle took off through the woods for a walk and to collect trap fixings. Collected some rock tripe for sushi dinner tonight. Made it up to the top most pool this time and took the plunge with goggles, very neato. Waterfall's cold enough that just sitting under it gave me an ice cream headache. Spent some time with Corrine looking at rocks and building inukshuks in the stream bed on the way back. Picked some cucumber root with numb fingers for Kyle and Erica to try.
Didn't do a whole lot of anything all afternoon, didn't even practice my diving technique. Have definetely switched gears out of work mode by now. Sushi went well. Corrine gave me a new haircut this afternoon, sure cuts down the drag while i'm swimming. Finished the whisky and chocolate tonight. Had a good fire and somehow got into telling everyone the story of Moses (it helps that I had just watched the ten commandments). Great grey owl swooped in and visited the island while we were still sitting around the fire.

Norway Meditations

Day 5 - 3Narrows to Norway

Early morning (relatively) eating breakfast by 8 am. A little bittersweet to say goodbye to such a great site (#42). West facing point was great for sunsets and moonsets (Fergie was up and saw it, said it looked like a sunrise!). Wind wasn't too strong by the time we set out on the water. 4 canoes on site 51, couldn't get a wave out of them though, maybe it was just too early for socializing.
Took a couple breaks crossing the 3km portage to Killarney L. Ended up duct taping the broken yoke onto my strap pseudo-yoke. It was as if the yoke had never broken!. Beautiful swimming and snack time on the Killarney end of the portage. Gorgeous beach, sitting log and sound of waterfall in the background, full sun. Saw two groups hiking ove the portage, campers from Killarney L. Not tough enough to bother to carry a canoe over as well; pansies.
Red tailed hawk sighting on the way into the Norway creek. From the condition of its tail feather, looked like it was the same one we saw when we left Kirk Creek to head into 3Narrows two day ago. I guess it's not so far as the hawk flies. Saw an immature great blue heron in the creek itself. A lot less blue and no neck ruffles but when it flew looked very close to full grown.
Nice quick jump from the creek into the lake. Maybe we'll be stepping back thataway to check out the waterfall tomorrow. Corrine was ecstatic about all the rocks (gems) on site 13, I was pumped that it was free. Got here at a little after two, portage took an hour and fifteen minutes. Went for a really great swim around the island after getting set up and FINALLY figured out how to even the pressure in my ears on dives (very exciting). Seems to work better when you don't have water in your ears. Had a nap, set up some more, ate falafel, hummus and couscous salad. Had a fire and waited for the moon to rise and illuminate our view of Silver Peak.

Day 4 - 3Narrows

Woke up real late today. Made a huge pile of blueberry pancakes. Two griddles on the go for a quick and ample pancake feed. Clouds cleared off and it turned into a nice, sunny but extremely windy day. After brunch I messed around with the lack of yoke debacle for a while while Corrine slept off the panners.
Eventually got around to packing some lunch and doing a quick recon mission in the direction of Quartzite L. Really cool water falls, big cedar tree, game trails, some really thick moss beds and lots of other stuff to see. The small lake that site 40 is on is much clearer than 3Narrows, and considering it's the next lake down from Quartzite's watershed it really piqued my curiousity about the colour of Quartzite.
Paddling back from site 40 secret lake was a little crazy. Made stir fry and stayed up late with the fire and enjoyed the moonbeams. Great to have a rest day in preparation for tomorrow's travel day.

Day 3 - Fish to 3Narrows

Paddled in the rain from Fish until it broke on Little Mountain, what a lake! Gorgeous blue with big hills on all sides. Two huge cliffs at the tip of Great Mountain's southernmost bay were also quite impressive. Heron flew along the shore, past said cliffs and through the portage gap; showing us our route. Oh and how could I forget to mention: the portaging yoke broke at either end where it attaches to the canoe not even halfway across the first portage from Fish to Grt. Mountain while Corrine was carrying it. Sure does suck but I only have myself to blame since I noticed it was rotten when I picked it up on Saturday morning and fully knowing I had access to a better canoe Scott Canoe still persevered on taking what is now a busted canoe.
Macgyvered some strutural support out of some strapping I had in my lifejacket. Resting the canoe on the height of my canoe pack to portage it. Could be a lot worse but it sure does up the amount of weight i'm carrying on my legs. Try to fashion something more durable tomorrow in preparation for the 3 Narrows to Killarney portage; what a pain.
Kirk Creek was as nice as ever. Corrine navigated while Raven hopped into the canoe by herself for the first time. Red tailed hawk gave us a good scream right as we emerged onto 3 Narrows, great welcome. Lucked out and got island site 42. Burgers and root mash for dinner; greasy, filling and delicious plus chocolate almonds and whiskey for dessert.
Heard a waterfall on the southern shore that comes from a second outlet from Quartzite L. Experienced one of the more unique scenarios I've ever encountered out here: saw a bear and 10 minutes later heard an animals death cry from the same area. Very eerie and very loud. Would've freaked the crap out of me if it had been at night. Could it have been a baby moose the bear took down?

Day 2 - Fish L, Gem L and Back

Took our sweet time waking up this morning. Had a quick breakfast of an orange and a granola bar, couple spoonfuls of some sweet granola, water and lots of Silver Peak blueberries. Made a picnic lunch and headed down the lake into a seious headwind with Corrine steering. Passed some fishermen in from Bear L. Wilderness Camp catching pike.
Quick liftover and into the creek where we got to wade for a while before finally hopping in the boats and cruising with the current down to Gem. Scared up a big flock of geese when we were really close to Gem.
Had some wraps, figs, orange and carrot soup with Hit cookies for lunch. Went for a big swim to see if I could spot the waterfall but to no avail. There was a loon out there diving with me though. Extremely dark and murky lake but managed to spot a rock bass when I first jumped in. Spent a good long time on our "sofa" on the rocks easing back into summer mode and sharing Edgar Cayce; enjoying the view. Much easier paddle on the way back, wind at our backs. Saw the geese again and two painted turtles, one large one that slipped away and one little one that stuck around for a photo op. Also, one huge frog.
Back on Fish, fisherman still floating around, three sandhill cranes flew by overhead. Shish kabobs and rice for dinner. Whiskey and sweet fern tea to follow.

Vacation Trip Aug 1-8

Day 1 - Bell to Fish

On the water by about 11. Bell L parking lot completely full. Saw an old co-intern from Ignatius. Small world sydrome stikes again. Coincedences hinting at us that we're right where we should be. Felt so good to paddle barefoot and in a bathing suit after 2 months of workboots and overalls.
Got a REALLY lucky break on David. Wind was gusting hard but from the E. Paddled for a while and then sailed from site 102 to H34 until the wind switched to come out of the S. Lunch at the beginning of Portage: Hard boiled egg sandwiches with sprouts, pickles, tomato, mustard and cheese. Gourmet compared to pepperettes and cheese of my usual workdays!!
First leg of portage decent enough. Took our time going through the swamp. Made the bad decision of trying to go past the spot where the trail picks back up. Stuck on a lots of logs/mud patches, Corrine fell in twice but quickly recovered her spirits. Saw lots of flowering sundew and found a big heron feather before turning back to the portage. Portage wasn't as much of a chore as it usually is but still really long and moderately painful. Some decent climbs in there too.
Went for a swim at the end of the portage (hooray for vacation time!) before battling a good stiff SW wind across Grt Mountain.
Saw a big red tailed hawk and the awesome old dilapidated cabin. Threatening rain by the time we got a quarter of the way down Fish L. Spitting by the time we got to site 153. Set up tents and tarp double time in order to have some shelter for the downpour that followed. Shared the site with a large abandoned beaver lodge. Stole a stick from it to use on the tarp. TVP, pasta and sauce for dinner. My stove really needs to be cleaned. Nice flame height for simmering though. Rain still coming down hard and continuously all through prep, dinner and cleanup.
Went to bed almost immediately after that (about 9).
Stayed nice and dry all night and got to sleep in this morning to wake up to sunny blue skies (9:30!). Can't wait to see what got packed for breakfast!

Day 10 - Silver Peak, Bell L.

Quick descent from the Peak early in the morning. What a great feeling it is to have been able to spend so much time up there. Mother Moose and twins at the bottom waiting for us!

Day 9 - Johnnie, Silver Peak (to stay!)

Tent site has been picked out, hammock set up 15 feet off the ground in a tree (not the most ideal spot but it's off the ground and out of sight of the day trippers). It's about 5:30 and there's still a bunch of stragglers at the top. Got up here at about 4 (took our sweet time, saw a scarlet tanager and a toad swimming). Laid around in the sun for what felt like a long time after taking a really good and thorough walk about the peak. Cleaned out the GeoCache of all it's garbage and picked up a really sweet purple bat ring for my lady friend. Also saw a green snake when I was collecting rocks for my tent site tonight. It crawled right over my foot, sort of freaked me out until I could take a better look and realize what it was. Went back with the camera but by then it was gone.
That's alright though since i've been trying to conserve the batteries for sunset and sunrise pictures. From my hammock perch I can see W to McGregor Bay and Little Current and E to Byng Inlet. And that's about it since the hammock happens to be nestled into the crown of a dense and gnarly white pine. Even just to see W I have to sit up in here and strain my neck above the branches.
Beef Teriyaki freeze dried food by Mountain House (how fitting is that!?) for supper tonight. Not to mention a double ration of chocolate to follow.
Picked a winning night to be up here (a very small sparrow just came and visited the tree) soakin' it up to the max in shades, no shirt and top and bottom of the work overalls rolled.

7:45 pm (Sitting on top of the World)

Played a little blues harp (tried to play Sitting on Top of the World by the late great Howlin' Wolf but just couldn't find the notes) and practiced Amazing Grace again. Still at least two notes missing.
Mountain House did me good, a Cedar Waxwing came and visited us while we were waiting for the water to boil. Warden walked to the farthest peak in the east while I was hanging out in the tree and came back babbling excitedly about lots of names and dates that have been pounded into the rocks. Lots of first nations names and dates stretching back from the 20's all the way to 1889! Must have come in through Baie Fine and up from Sandy L.
Spending this much time up here is making me rethink how much of this area I've actually seen. It feels like I've seen a lot but from up here it looks pretty negligible. Also making me think of home as I stare out S across the bay.

5:50 AM (From the Peak)

The sunrise is absolutely breathtaking. Ridges are very hazy blue to the west behind us. Tried to sleep last night with the fly on my tent open and just my screen door on. Still just that little bit too chilly, even this late in the summer, albeit we're most definetely camped smack dab in the middle of the windiest spot in the park.
Stayed up fairly late last night looking at the stars and sights. Stars still stop a good distance above the horizon. There's an unbelievable amount of man made lights though. You can see radio towers all the way up and down what must have been HWY 69 from Sudbury to what we decided was Parry Sound. Sudbury was lit up like a circus (which it is, incidentally). Even Little Current was surprisingly bright. No chance of seeing Killarney from here since it's hidden behind the ridges but able to see three cell phone/radio towers down on HWY 637.
Most exciting (and surprising) sight for me up here was the three bright lights and one faint one shining from due S across Georgian Bay. Tobermory, Cape Croker and dare I hope Meaford or is that just wishful thinking? Picked blueberries for over an hour last night. Had to stop once it got dark. Gonna finish of the top third of the tupperware this morning once I stop staring at this sunrise. Shouldn't take too long if I manage to find a good enough patch. 6:08 and the sun has lifted off of the horizon.
There happen to be some puddles up here that we can pump and filter from as well as heat up for oatmeal and tea. Meeting the rangers @ Bell L. access for a ride to the waterhouse at 11:00. Ranger cooking tonight!

Day 8 - Johnnie, Clearsilver, Silver/Beyond and Back

Finished up our little section of trail (other than Bell to Silver Peak with a gap in the middle which we've saved for tomorrow). Got REALLY close to a loon family just near the Clearsilver portage this morning. Snapped what should turn out to be some great shots. I took enough and we were close enough that at least one has got to be a winner, literally: I've been thinking about which pictures could win the Friends of Killarney Park Photo Contest (or contests beyond).
Water levels are way down in Clearsilver. Finally saw the moose carcass that the Outfitters have been talking about for so long. It's above water and all that's left is the hips and backbone.
Meeting up to our hiking turnaround point from the other day took signifigantly longer than I thought it would, added to that was the sizeable amount of brushing that was waiting to be done. And I'll never cast disparaging remarks about Silver L. ever again. It's gorgeous enough to rival Topaz L. Can't compete with Topaz's colour though.
Animal sighting on the way back made it an extra incredible A1 day. For only the second time in my life I saw a Pine Marten. I was coming down the gully towards Silver L., my coworker had stopped for a break a while back so I was all by myself and everything was really quiet so that I was able to hear it before I saw it. Right down near the bottom of a tree that stood maybe only 20 feet away. Got a really good look at it and decent shot too. After that it went further up the tree while I sat down and just had a relax in its presence and savoured the experience. We were definetely each just as curious about the other. Didn't get to see it slaughtering a red squirrel though.
Made Meal-in-a-Mug tonight, definite winner. Silver Peak tomorrow night!!

Day 7 - Carlyle, Johnnie

Slept like a log after all that steak and sauna last night, one of those mornings when all of a sudden you're awake. Packing felt a bit unusual since all my stuff got scattered over the course of my two night stay at Chateau Frying Pan. Real cold cereal (choicer even!) with ridgetop blueberries, bananas and blueberry yoghurt followed by two egg mcmuffins each. Leisurely paddle all the way down Johnnie, into Ruth Roy, back onto Johnnie, all the while the wind was whipping itself up. Managed to make it down Crooked before it got too gnarly though. Was planning on lunch in the Muskoka chairs at the lodge outpost but didn't quite make it.
Bot to campsite 66, realized we had to dig the shitter and made the choice to take lunch then and there. After lunch we both fell asleep on the rocks until we were woken up at 10 to 2 by campers who wanted the site. Oops!
It's a good thing we had lunch when we did because the shitter ended up taking almost two hours to dig. Nice and deep now though, once we axed out all the roots and weaseled our way around all the boulders.
Campsite 65 was taken so no hanging out at the outpost tonight and no climbing the hill for the view. Warden handed out her first ticket tonight, some clowns camped on an undesignated campsite when they're supposed to be on Balsam L. tonight. We finally ended up on 63 with lots of flat spots and some really great swimming off a wide sandy beach. Hopefuly our neighbours won't be too noisy. Supposed to be meeting up with the Rangers tomorrow. Waiting to find out how that's gonna all work out. Hopefully won't slow down our work plans too much. Hoping to get this privy dug, the portages done, Clearsilver clean up tomorrow so we can spend our last night camped out on the Peak!

Day 6 - Carlyle - Almost Silver L. and Back

Went to bed at midnight last night after a wicked awesome sauna. Didn't see my cousin since he stayed in town for Beerfest. Very, very good thing i didn't go since today would have been hellish. Still got to whet my booze appetite though, had a beer with supper and sipped on some Irish Mist while playing a quick round of bid euchre, lost by 10 points.
Made it to Bunnyrabbit in 3 hours and had an early lunch of Mac n' Cheese leftovers, not used to that much for lunch so was feeling extra groggy while trying to walk back up the trail. Almost tripped over myself a couple times. Really enjoyed the walk along the very spine of the ridge between Bunny and Silver lakes, views of Silver Peak and the Norway - Sandy group of lakes. Ran into some hikers on the second day out who tried to give us half of the freeze fried meals, we agreed that that would be a crazy bad idea and said no. On the way back, after pasing the Bunnyrabbit turn off, wandered not even 100 ft off the trail and stumbled onto a view of what must have been Hemlock L. Didn't look at it though so as not to ruin the surprise. While passing by Got cannonballed on the way back around Frying Pan Island and arrived back at camp soaking wet. Felt alright since I was bushleague sweaty, didn't do the boots any good though.
Almost forgot, found a bottle of table syrup on the trail just before Heaven L. and couldn't resist sipping on that all the way back to Carlyle; just flying down that trail! Cookies and milk waiting for us at camp. And then back to work carrying plywood around for the Gazunkie.
Mean steaks off the BBQ and had some red wine with dinner. Holy Luxurious Decadence!
After dishes were done we were put back to work ferrying arrivals from Learns Landing. Then off to the sauna again. Went a lot easier on me even though i stayed longer and was definetely sweating water by the end. I'm chalking that up to drinking more water today than i did yesterday.
Donated the table syrup and blueberries we took some time to pick on the trail to Camp in exchange for the hospitality (and the maple syrup of theirs we used up on the blueberry pancakes) Can't wait to see what they've got up their sleeve for the night of the 7th. Definetely missing the hammock and quiet evenings camping though.

Day 5 - Killarney to Carlyle

Quite a different story tonight! As can be surmised i am indeed at camp (whyever not stop here when we had planned to spend two nights on the lake anyways). Not a lot to report today, made our fourth visit to the French couple this time on Kakakise. Brushed the Kakakise to Norway portage, brushed the Kakakise to Killarney portage. Dug one shitter, site between Terry and Carlyle. Enjoyed the rain (had to keep moving to stay warm though). Especially enjoyed the variations in the colours of the clouds, deep dark blue (yes there was thunder and yes we were on the water) to steel gray to almost brilliant white little wisps of mist rising off the trees. Thought we might take some of our overtime and forget the sites on Carlyle but the rain had pretty much stopped by the time we started the Kak-Car portage so we did a ll except one. Gave my parents a shock to see us cooking away inside (arrived unannounced and unbeknownst to them while they were on road fixing detail).
Some leftovers were pulled from the fridge, made some salad and called it supper for all of us. Beer tasted soo good. Don't think i'll be able to rock Beerfest though, no matter how hard i tried (it's tonight). Getting the Sauna going now, waiting for my cousin to show. Wondering how hard hel'll try to drag me to Beerest, or if he'll just be satisfied with a sauna.

Day 4 - Killarney, Norway, Sandy and back Again

Made another long day of it and had great time, not to mention dug some crapper and came home tired and hungry (spinach noodles with alfredo sauce, veggies and prosciutto and let myself have a double ration of chocolate tonight).
Sites on the eastern end of Killarney L. are absolutely stunning and definetely way more secluded. 15 is especially choice, long sweeping rocks, bonsai trees and little islands reminiscent of Fraser Bay off its western shore. We got steered into a boggy stump flat that took us a while to get through, lots of banging around and poling over logs. Meanwhile there was a navigable passage on the S side of 14 the whole time, which we took on the way back, unbelievable.
The creek to Norway is indeed navigable, VERY oxbowed and meandering but that's alright. Saw a big raptor, creamy white underneath and sort of a sandy golden colour on top. 1/3 smaller than a red tailed, still pretty big. Portage in good shape but must ford a stream. NOTE: next time put down canoe at stream and go check out waterfall, looks and sounds like one you could shower in.
Did the full portage on the way back rather than take the creek. Other than a big patch of Amanita Muscaria that made me feel like i was in a fairy tale, MUDDY and too long; especially when you keep getting glimpses of a perfectly navigable creek through the trees.
Campsite 13 is actually on an island (the map is wrong), honest to goodness outhouse with a roof, freshly dug, firewood stashed away, bladderworts blooming in the hundreds and great swimming, as well as a good view of Silver Peak. Norway campsites in order of desirability 13, 12, 11. Only two get booked per night. Plus Norway is big, whodathunkit?!
Bushwacked with the canoe up a cliff, not exagerrating, right near the creek south of 11 to hook up with the portage saw another snapper on the way and got some more great shots. Bushwacking, however really didn't save all that much time and the portage is easily doable and definetely NOT 1300m. Paddleable directly from the bottom of the first swamp on Sandy all the way to Sandy itself, with two dams in between, one of them big and steep. However taking the second section of the portage into Sandy is actually faster than continuing through the swampy section.
However if we knew that we would have missed seeing Mama Loon sitting on her nest, she was extremely freaked out and this is another good reason not to take the swamp route. Speaking of loons saw 9 swimming and fishing together on Killarney this morning. Seems like a lot to be all together on a lake with no fish.

Day 3 - Killarney, The Crack, Little Superiour and Back

Best news first (and this is tough to call since today was pretty great). Weaseled us into another night on Killarney. I JUST LOVE WAKING UP HERE, and diving to be sure. There was a lot of brushing to do on the trail still left for us so we had a replan session over lunch overlooking Killarney L. (awesome view) and decided to finish the job and worry about campsites and the Norway Loop tomorrow. Feels great to be hiking tired again. Saw the best tree in the park, just east of the Crack; it forms a perfect loop.
2nd best news: Free stuff! Freeze dried food (three each plus instant oatmeal and soup mix), army pants, tank top, t shirt, socks, flashlight, empty fuel canister, pillows, pillow case, sleeping bag!, two cupasoup which we had for lunch and were awesome, a bottle of campsuds each (regular and peppermint scent), candles, condiments, and other stuff that just got thrown out including a full tube of women's shaving cream. It was all stuffed in a big garbage bag on the side of the trail. I haven't hesitated to grab the pillows, sleeping bag and t shirt for myself.
3rd great thing. I made sushi for supper again and it turned out great except the seaweed didn't travel as well this time and had to do sushi first aid. First try and worked like a charm.
4th great occurence, no thunderstorm, yet very light misting for most of the day, had to be extremely careful on the rocks, especially with all that extra crap in the gear bag, can't help being nervous about how my knee is going to hold up this summer. Looked like the weather was going to turn ugly for serious right after swimtime, so i got to work on supper right away but it blew over and we got sun instead.
Enjoying chocolate in the hammock, looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 2 - Killarney to Artist and back Again

Really quiet and serene morning. My first on trip with an alarm clock. Slept like a log last night and was visited by a big ol' owl (Strangely enough we found an owl wind chime on a site today and brought them back with us). 80% chance of rain, 0% showed up. Still calling for thunderstorms and high winds tonight. I have a funny feeling it might just pass to the N of us.
Wow, the colour of OSA is unbelievable and messing about in its islands is pretty unique too. Must remember there are some great cliffs to jump off on Muriel. Still strangely attracted to Artist L. Lots and lots of lilies but no pink ones like I saw on OSA. Can't believe how crowded it really gets down in this part of the park though!
Another highlight of the day was seeing all the frogs on the Artist L pond, biggest one had to be easily eight inches long and the smallest about three, they were everywhere!
While replacing the outhouse on one of the sites on Killarney, the kids there spotted a big snapper, got some good shots of it. Greatly aided by the fact that they were feeding it...until the Warden told them to stop.
Didn't see anything half as exciting on today's snorkel about, crayfish claws and that's about it. Still gunning to catch some fish on film or (althoug quite unlikely) a loon. Maybe I'll get my chance on Norway. Still lots of sites left on Killarney to do tomorrow. And brushing the Crack and the Norway/Sandy group of lakes. Pushing for a two night stay at camp, which will make me the first in the family to work right off the doorstep from Frying Pan Point.
Saw pink Morning Glory blooming on Artist - Muriel portage.

July 21-31 KOSA Loop and More

So I find myself here (ministry site on Killarney looking SW onto the ridges of OSA)@ the beginning of not only my first 10 day trip but at the front end of what will be 27 days of camping; with a night at camp or in the staffhouse here and there. What could possibly have pushed me to these lengths? Was it the prospect of snorkelling in Killarney L. 4 nights in a row? The possibility of getting a shot of ANYTHING underwater? The silence? The chance of seeing something new? By the way, about 10 minutes ago i saw a bumblebee pollinating a very fresh stand of indian pipe, proof positive that they are indeed flowers; but where's the chlorophyll?!
Maybe we'll get back to the subject of what draws me out here later but for now, this definetely does NOT feel like work! And that's even after working overtime today digging thunderboxes (4 in a row).
Campsites on George L. are all really nice, beaches, quartz, honest to goodness tent pads. The easternmost site on the N shore is by far the nicest. Big flat expanse under a towering hardwood canopy. Gravel like what you can find @ the old abandoned mine on Landsdowne Channel. Would be a good one for car campers who don't want to stay in the George Lake Campground.
Stopped for BIG ranger lunch at the waterfall on the Killarney to Freeland Portage. Lots of water and a beautiful swimming hole at the bottom. Got two oreos from the campers on the last site whose privy we dug today, so tasty. Also talked to their two kids about how best to mix rasberry juice and their homemade mahogany plywood kayak (kid size).
The ministry site is on a big grassy expanse, found a nice spot under a low spreading oak but was disappointed to find the mosquitoes here have come back to some extent. Looking forward to OSA and Baie Fine tomorrow.

Day 7 - 3 Narrows return to George

Woke up to a wild misty steel gray morning on the beach (moved my tent last night for a second and final time). No noises from the beaver lodge although it definetely looks as though it's in use. Was awake much earlier than the rest of the crew (5:30 compared to thier 7 am). Made a nice leisurely morning of it and practiced Amazing Grace on the harmonica again. We were gone by about 8 (rangers left @ 6:30!).
Once we got on the water, powered across 3 Narrows to campers waking up, eating and shaking the dew off their gear.
The 3 km portage took 40 mins! Definetely felt longer though (pain!), took some breaks but no bull moose on this trip. Passed the Rangers about halfway across the portage. Killed Killarney L. and saw a loon family up close and hooting at each other. Showed the day trippers on George and Freeland how it's done. Back to the warehouse by 12:30!

Day 6 - Campsite Maintenance 3 Narrows

Got the rangers boated up this AM and shipped 'em all off to Moose Pass. Some to go E and some to go W. We took the motorboat and finished off the campsite rounds.
39 and 41 are in swamps. Campsite 40 is really nice and on its own private (and semi clear) lake. 42 is on an island and pretty nice but heavily used. 51 has lots of space and a nice view S towards the ridge. Right around the corner from a cottage. 45 is exposed but is otherwise a gorgeous, multi-tiered affair. 44 is in a great section of the lake with an abandoned cabin on it but is never used so not a lot of tent pads, space in general, and quite a climb up to the site itself. 43 has slopy tent pads and is also underused. To sum up: 45, 51 and 42 are the tops on 3 Narrows.
Saw another kind of water lily today that i've never seen before. It looks like it might be the bloom of the elliptical, slimy lily pads. Flowers about 1" across with small dark red aster like petals except not as dense and with golden leaves cupping the petals. Couldn't slow down fast enough in order to get a picture.
Went back to the cabin in a light rain and shared lunch with Rascal the Beagle. She looked so sad that we took her out hiking with us for the afternoon. We met the rangers N of site H21 after having a little snooze with a view. Ate lots of blueberries while on the trail but otherwise didn't do much of anything today, especially considering how underused the sites are on this lake. Spaghetti tonight, hot and filling!

Day 5 - York L. - Kirk Creek

Spent the day with some rangers cleaning up portages and the one campsite on York L. (which, by the way, is very small and does not seem to have a privy). The majority of the day was spent tooling about on Kirk Creek (E). We paddled it up to the Little Mountain portage and back down again into 3 Narrows. Looks like there are some really nice campsites on that southeastern arm of the lake, not to mention access to Quartzite L., plus less cottages. AND by going down to that end, rather than through work, if one were camping, you avoid the two 700 m portages in and out of York L. I did both of those with the gear bag and the canoe, what a workout. It was definetely painful (swearing and grunting down the trail) but I'm glad I did it since the rest of the day turned out to be pretty easy.
Another advantage to skipping York L. would be seeing the greater extent of Kirk Creek. Didn't see much wildlife up there though: one heron, saw a beaver splash and a pair of terns once it began to open up into the lake.
Saw a new kind of water lily though. The flowers look like miniature and stubby pickerel weed blooms except vivid pink and the leaves are about 3" long, thin and dark greenish red.
One really nice waterfall right after the 110m portage. Also very interesting to paddle through such thick larch and white spruce stands while still in Killarney. Lots of fun going down the beaver dams, despite the wet feet.
The only real work I did all day, other than the extreme portaging i already mentioned was cutting the cedar to build a corduroy road where some boardwalk had rotted away. Still lots of work to be done on mastering my backcuts and not pinching the saw, although today was not nearly as bad as the big dirty hemlock two days ago.
Tonight i made sushi for the crew. By my standards it was a particularly quick prep sushi meal considering i made 7 rolls. Carrot, red pepper and avocado lasted well. Avocado was hard when i packed it. Nori didn't get cracked during transport and the bag of tuna steak worked out great. I'd still love to try some Pike Maki!! Definite repeat meal.

Day 4 - Moose Pass to Shigaug L. and beyond

Woke up in a fantastic mood this morning, despite not being able to get to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night to take a pee. Breakfast was great, packing went well and we were back at the gear stash within 40 mins. of landing at the mouth of Moose Creek. Scouting out the game trails and following the gulley made all the difference. Just goes to show how much it pays off when you carry a map.
Walked through a huge swathe of Hemlock that be "lupered". Decent density of white pine, unaffected, underbrush growing back with raspberries, bunchberry, maple and vines.
Some really great views to be seen along the trail east of Moose Pass. Shigaug Lake itself is worth the hike in from the trail. Big cliff on one side.
Had a chance to appreciate the scenery a lot more on the way back since I didn't have to weight of the gear pack dragging me down. There are some giant hemlock, silver birch and white pine up there. Took the time to stop and hug one. It felt great, I think the tree might've been into it too.
By the time we got back to the bottom of Moose Pass we were wiped out. I feel like I could fall asleep right now just lying here in my hammock. Smokies over the fire for supper tonight, they were tasty but I could have eaten a whole dozen.
The rangers showed up today with Rascal the dog. Had to move all our stuff out of the bunkhouse and into the boathouse. Moved my tent as well so I don't have to listen to them squealing about mice tonight. On the bright side: they gave me their leftovers, big time lunch tomorrow! Enough writing for now.

Day 3 - Moose Pass, Campsite and Cabin Duty

Forgot to mention the incredible storm that rocked us the first night we were here. Yesterday's entry was hasty since we worked late, supper was a drawn out affair, helped out a windblown camp group that ended up staying the night with us; so i only had a little light left to write in.
Anyhow, the storm was a doozie, came back around twice and was impossible to sleep through. 2 or 3 lightning and thunder combos were instantaneous and made me jump in my sleeping bag. Talking about it the next day, i wasn't the only one wondering if we ran a trial by lightning. All the campers we met yesterday couldn't help commenting on the severity of the storm.
Today was a pretty relaxing day overall but some tought moments here and there. Moose Pass is as captivating as everyone said it was. Maybe more intriguing than captivating since I'm left wondering if the pebbly quartz streambed rises into canyoning waterfalls like the one west of the George-OSA portage. Moose Pass is quite a signifigant cleft in the ridge. Visible from miles away.
Climbed the trail to the east of Moose Pass. Lots of really hairy cutting to do. Warden took care of most of it while I hauled the gear up some daunting climbs. Whoever built that part of the trail definetely wasn't fucking around. As always the quality of the view is directly proportional to the difficulty of the climb. When we got to the top we could see all the way from McGregor Bay to the grassy ridges between David and Boundary. Quite an expanse.
Not much further down the trail we ran into a god awful mess of fallen trees. I did the sawing with some coaching. Must watch out for the angle of my cuts and to keep the bar at a consistent angle. Was blowing some mad smoke for a while and really failed on a backcut because of this issue. In other words, still a lot to learn but glad to be learning it out here where you never know what challenges will be around the next corner.
We ended up having so much to cut that we ran out of gas and only got a km and a half cleared. Stashed our gear and will be back for more tomorrow. Did some strategic mapreading on the way back and avoided all the ascents on the ridge by following a gully that parralels the ridgetop trail before eventually rejoining it. Some more expert routefinding that you'd expect from backcountry staff meant avoiding the thick brush, slippery rocks and fallen tangles of trees at the bottom of the pass in favour of a high game trail that parralelled the creek. Lots of scat, deer hair caught on a twig before eventually catching up with the real thing.
Campsite 50 really nice, good swimming, great view, wide, ascending tentpads.
My turn on dinner tonight, stirfry turned out well but could have made more of it. Looking forward to fishing sometime soon. Pike Maki?
Also scored a great fleece combo yesterday from a campsite for fall and winter adventures and just all around comfort, wish i had my wash kit with me so i could clean them and wear them right now. Very cold last night.

Day 2 - 3 Narrows all day

Saw six deer today. First a doe and a faun. Then three full grown deer together and then one by itself , very close to us on the trail. I've never remembered the deer being as red as they are this year. They are really easy to pick out from far away. All in all, seems to be quite a healthy herd.
Cleared the pig. That hill feels interminable. Also cleared the trail from the Pig to the old H8. Saw some bricks, could they have been from the old Chicago's mayor cabin? Kirk Creek itself is really nice but really, only to paddle. There should be a bridge across the dam. Scenic detour from 3 Narrows to McGregor and Baie Fine instead of doing a 3 km portage i can understand but not a four km muddy wet hike when you could easily cross the creek.
Campsite 46 is really nice.

July 9-16 On the Job Again

From here on it's just tripping, tripping and tripping. This time around we're spending 4 nights @ the ranger cabin on three narrows and the last two nights we'll spend on Great Mountain. Really excited to check out Gail and Little Mountain and to get a better look at what all the hype is about with regards to that little trigrouping of lakes. Also really curious about this place nicknamed the Toboganning Hill on the Silhouette Trail W of Little Mountain. Winter trip?? Not looking forward to Great M. to David Portage.
As for today: Killarney to 3 Narrows portage wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. After some decent hills at either end it levels out and from there it's smooth sailing. Was especially nervous about tackling that portage due to the sheer excess of shotgunning I got into last night.
Saw one moose on Freeland and got right up close and personal with a big bull moose on the long portage. Also came across a winter moose kill on the shore of 3 Narrows that I can only hope wolves took down.
3 Narrows itself is gorgeous. Lots of winding paddleways interspersed with spectacular vistas of the ridges that contain the lake and that we'll be hiking in the coming days. Well worth the extra effort on the portage to get to the "heart" of the park. Stay tuned for site recon.