Killarney Provincial Park - winter hike and overnight camp

Now I usually don't, but I did this time - I bought some raffle tickets. While registering in the George Lake office at Killarney Provincial Park last September, there was a nice canoe hanging from the ceiling with a sign, "Ask how you can win me." So I asked, and discovered it was a raffle prize. Long story made short, I bought tickets for the raffle supporting the Friends of Killarney Park and won second prize - a beautiful, acrylic landscape painting by Jim Morlock.

There were two options: I could either pick up the painting myself, or wait to see if one of the volunteers from my area could bring it back with them sometime in the late winter or spring. After waiting a couple months, I decided I would make the drive myself, making it worthwhile by camping in the park for one night. A few weeks prior to this, I had had my first winter camping experience, jumping right in with a -16°C night in my hammock. Although I lasted the night and was not terribly cold, I realized that the gear I had was not really suited for cold winter camping. However I thought I'd give it another try with a few changes. The overnight forecast was only for -8°C; I used my tent for better wind protection; and I brought an additional, heavy sleeping bag for between me and the ground.

With a later start than planned, I didn't make it to Killarney until about 3pm. One of the staff suggested that the hike to the sites on Lumsden Lake would be reasonable in the time I still had. Upon registering, I packed up my sled and backpack and started hiking clock-wise for the second time along the La Cloche Silhouette Trail. Although the trail is "groomed" in some fashion for snowshoeing, because of several weeks of mild weather the snow was so hard that snowshoes were not really needed on the trail. The sled took a bit to get used to, both in pulling it and tying my gear down to it well. After shedding my coat when I warmed up, I wedged it in the other gear on the sled, but promptly lost it a short ways down the trail. Re-tying the load, I thought all was well, only to discover when I got to camp that the pair of boots I had brought to change into had been separated along the way and I was left with only a single boot, of little use to me (thankfully, I did find the boot again along the way back).

The portion of the trail I hiked was primarily in the forest, unfortunately not providing much in the way of scenery. There were a few creeks, dark and cold, but softened by the white snow they cut through. The trail was good most of the way, but in several spots it was muddy, or even flowing with shallow water. Several of these sections were fairly challenging to navigate and my feet did end up getting a little damp. Despite these obstacles, I made it to a site on Lumsden Lake in about an hour and a half. Since the park asks that you camp off the regular summer sites to prevent negative impact, I had to spend a little while scouting for a good spot, but after finding one it didn't take too long to get the tent set up, and my sleep setup ready.

By the time I finished cutting some firewood, getting my food and cooking gear out, and getting a fire started, it was about 6:15pm, and pitch dark outside! While setting up as dusk was falling, I had put on my headlamp and kept it on ever since; once I was able to sit down and relax by the fire, I thought I'd turn off the headlamp and enjoy the light of the fire. I quickly changed my mind when I was completely enveloped by the thick blackness of the night. I wasn't afraid, but it was slightly creepy, especially since my eyes had not had the chance to adjust during dusk - there was the nice glow of the fire and past that there was blackness, nothing between.

Dinner was not as good as expected, especially since for some reason my stomach was unhappy to start with, so I chose to go to bed early. I was able to stay relatively warm, in spite of the wind which picked up. The night was not very comfortable though, reminding me of at least one reason why I've switched to sleeping in a hammock - I don't really have to worry about level ground. When morning arrived, I'm afraid I was mostly just looking forward to getting back to my car. I had some oatmeal for breakfast, packed up my gear, and hiked back along the trail, arriving at the car around noon. Upon collecting the painting I had won, and having an excellent fish lunch at the Sportsman's Inn restaurant/pub in the town of Killarney, I made the drive back home.

After two winter camping experiences, I can't say it's something I'm eager to keep trying. Having another person along would have made the trip more enjoyable, but overall I still think I'll limit my camping to the three warmer seasons. The constant presence of the cold, the amount of extra gear needed to stay warm, the effort of trying to keep snow out of tent, backpack, shoes, etc., the extra care needed to deal with sweat and condensation, and the fact that everything is done with a big jacket and mitts or gloves all adds up to make it seem not worth it for me. However, on this subject - to each his own; I know some people really enjoy winter camping.

Bruce Trail - Lion's Head - hiking trip

With fall approaching, a friend from work asked me if I’d like to go on a short overnight hike and camp on the Bruce Peninsula. There’s a small park on the eastern side called Lion’s Head Provincial Park, through which the Bruce Trail passes and in which there is a small camping area for hikers to overnight camp. We planned to leave work early on Friday as we were able and to hike together or independently and meet each other at the campsite in the late afternoon or evening. A couple of his friends were also planning to come to meet us.

I was unable to get off work until later than planned, so I had to hike in on my own. By the time I got ready and started hiking, it was close to getting dark. I started into a dusky forest, trees almost bare, and the forest floor littered with their leaves. It was actually quite scenic, with a somber look. The trail was rocky and challenging at first, and I was glad that as it got darker the trail became a little easier when it entered a cedar forest. Fortunately I had recently purchased a headlamp, which was very helpful for seeing the trail and the blazes. At a couple places along the trail, there were small outlooks over the escarpment edge. These were a little unsettling to go to the edge in the dark, but they were far enough off the trail that I was not concerned about wandering off the trail and coming to an unfortunate end!

Hiking at night did prove challenging, but in time I neared the point on the map which my coworker had indicated as the camp site. When I was still a ways off from that spot, I noticed a campfire in the woods off the trail. I was a little confused, since I hadn't yet reached the agreed upon spot. I tentatively walked toward the fire and called my friend's name. It was indeed the site, and he was there along with one of his friends. When I arrived, they were a little concerned since the other friend who was expected had not yet arrived. After pointing out that we were not actually at the spot on the map that we had agreed upon, we looked over to where the actual site was and noticed a spot of light bobbing around. One of us went and found the missing friend there, with his tent already set up. He had given up on trying to find us and decided that it was more important for him to get set up than to find us. Once we were all united, we gathered at the main site and had supper together. After supper and some time around the fire for a while, it was getting quite windy and cool so we packed it in for the night. This camping trip was my first trip with a new 1-man tent (Teton Sports Mountain Ultra 1) and also with a new warmer down sleeping bag (Marmot Sawtooth 15). I enjoyed having a smaller, lighter tent for carrying on the hike. Having a warm sleeping bag was definitely necessary, since it was cold enough that we had a mix of sleet and snow through the night. I woke in the morning having stayed warm through the night.

In the morning, we had a leisurely breakfast, enjoyed roasting chunks of the pork belly that one of the guys had brought along, and chatting together. Soon we packed up and began the trip back. One of the guys had not hiked into a campsite before, so he didn't have a clear idea how to pack. As a result, he had brought a very large and heavy sleeping bag, along with a cooler with food and drinks! In order to help him out on the hike back, we split up some of his gear among the rest of us. It was nice to hike back along the trail during the day and see the sights I had missed during the night. The daytime view over the cliffs at the various lookout points was beautiful, especially with the fall colours from the leaves that still clung to the trees. After making it back to the cars, we traveled to a nearby restaurant, had lunch together, and then headed off to our respective homes.

 

It was a fun trip to do together, as well as being able to enjoy camping in a different season than I had previously done. Thanks for inviting me Brett!

QE2WPP - Head Lake to Smudge Lake - canoe trip

Having discovered this new park for wilderness camping, there was plenty of new territory to explore. When my cousin Greg and I wanted to do a weekend canoe trip, this was a good place to try. Once again consulting the map from Explorethebackcountry.com, we decided on the route from Head Lake to Smudge Lake. The route starts on Head Lake, travels upstream on the Head River, and then takes a right turn to go upstream on Smudge Creek until reaching Smudge Lake.

After finding a place to park near the north west corner of Head Lake, we loaded and launched the canoe to begin our journey. The plan for the first day was to make it as far as a campsite that was marked on the map, about a quarter of the way up Smudge Creek. The small portion of Head Lake we traversed had several cottages, and then as we entered the Head River the cottages started to dwindle away. Traveling up the first part of the river, we passed the remains of a few cottages, and quite a few abandoned boats on the river banks. Things looked a little messy and forlorn. As we got a little further, the river entered a very large area of marshy wetlands. Head River at this point is quite wide and deep, but very slow moving. We saw quite a bit of fish activity on the surface, and I was a little sad that I had not brought anything along for fishing, even though I'm not much of a fisherman anyway. It seemed like it would have been a good place to fish. On the trip back, I saw quite a large fish of unknown type, resting near the surface until we surprised it with our canoe and paddles. After what seemed much longer than it probably really was, rocks and trees started showing up and the geography started to change into what seemed more promising for camping. We were starting to get concerned, so this was a welcome sight. The sides of the river rose, and there were proper riverbanks again with proper forest on each side. After a quick stop for lunch, we soon reached a small set of rapids. I found it quite surprising how small the rapids were for the size of the river we had been traveling upon, however I suppose it explains why the river is so slow moving. A quick portage around the rapids, and we soon reached the junction of the Head River and Smudge Creek. The entrance to Smudge Creek was somewhat concerning; it was difficult to find being only a small opening in thick growth of alder bushes, and it was not long before we reached a beaver dam which we had to lift over. I suppose at this point I wasn't too concerned yet. The map had stated that there would be alder bushes for the first 40 metres or so but then it opened up, and it also stated that there were several beaver dams. Actually, it said "numerous beaver dams are encountered on Smudge Creek", and this turned out to be quite accurate. First though, after traveling 40 metres or so, there was no sign of the channel opening up, and it never really did. The creek remained a narrow channel not much more than 8-10 feet wide and in the middle of bushes and reeds, winding back and forth with sharp turns. This turned out to be quite difficult with the canoe we were using. Our trusty old family canoe is long and flat with a substantial keel along the bottom. This made sharp turns challenging, with much ruddering and back paddling involved. And then there were the beaver dams! It didn't take long to reach the next one...and then the next...and the next!! On the way back, I counted 9 beaver dams, not counting ones that were part of other portages.

The scenery however was quite lovely, with ridges of rock rising on either side of the creek against a bright blue sky and the green forests in between. As we reached the portage on which our planned camp site was located, Greg mentioned that it would be nice to camp by a lake rather than by the creek. There were several lakes nearby according to my GPS, but after some exploring, we discovered they were either more swamp than lake or very difficult to reach. After a few tries and some evaluation of our progress so far for the day, we decided we would attempt to make the trip all the way to Smudge Lake. The rest of the trip up the creek was more of the same: narrow, winding channels with sharp turns, beaver dams, and a couple more portages. The beaver dams became trying, especially since we had no idea how many we would actually be encountering. They weren't really that difficult though. As we approached, whoever was in the front would keep watch and then step out of the canoe as close to the dam as possible - right on it usually. Then, after the first person had pulled the canoe as close to the dam as possible, the person in the back would crawl up the canoe and get out as well. Together, we would then lift and slide the canoe up and over the dam, getting back in at the top. The whole process took under two minutes most times, and only a few times did it involve getting wet feet if branches prevented us from getting right up against the dam to get out. But without knowing how many times we would have to do this...! By the time we were nearing Smudge Lake, if it had turned out to be another lily-covered, second class lake, we would have been very disappointed! Finally, we could see the creek opening up ahead and we knew we must be close to Smudge Lake. What a welcome sight it was when we paddled out into the open water of a beautiful lake - stretching out to the left and right, and a narrower, rock-walled channel ahead to another section of the lake. And then what a surprise as we got a little further into the lake and there on the shore to the left were....people!! Totally unexpected and not even on my mind, though I should have known there was at least a possibility. The whole journey after leaving Head Lake and the first short section of Head River seemed so remote and barren that the thought of other people had completely left my mind. The map does show several hunting or fishing camps and 4-wheeling trails to the lake, and one of these is where the people were staying. As surprising as it was, we passed with a brief greeting and inquiry about any good campsites. They suggested a site just through the narrow channel, looking over the other section of the lake. Since there wasn't a lot of daylight remaining, we found the site and started setting up right away.

The next day, Sunday, was a restful day for us. Since it was the Lord's day and we were away from our respective churches, we listened to a sermon on an MP3 player. In the afternoon, we did some leisurely paddling around the lake, exploring the different sections of it, including a swampy area at the one end. Though there were no spectacular sights, it was a beautiful lake to be on. It was a little unfortunate that there were several cabins on the lake, since it takes away from the remote feeling of the location. The people we had seen were very quiet and we barely noticed them.

 

On Monday we broke camp and traveled back. At least this time we knew what we were in for! At one point we noticed a blown out beaver dam we had not seen on the way up. It seems like it must have been quite a sudden break, since there was a lot of debris from it quite far downstream. We stopped for a short swim at one of the portages, but mostly made steady progress back to the car. We arrived there in due time and safely returned home.

 

I'm really glad we pressed on with this trip, even when the going was slow and a bit discouraging. The sight and experience of the lake at the end was a huge reward and relief! I suppose that's a lesson for life too. Sometimes the difficult or the mundane makes us want to quit our current course, but often there is great and unexpected blessings at the end. God also teaches in the Bible that for people who believe in Jesus, this applies even more: heaven is waiting and it far outweighs the troubles we have during our lives!

QE2WPP - Montgomery Creek Loop Trail - hiking trip

Canada Day weekend was approaching and I had thought to do another hike, this time for two nights instead of just one. Part of me wanted the challenge and novelty of doing a solo hike again, but I also figured it would be wiser, and possibly more enjoyable, to have at least one more person along. Just recently I had come across a new possibility for some camping trips; I discovered a non-operating provincial park named Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park (referred to as QE2WPP from here on). Although there are restrictions on what activities are permitted in each one, non-operating parks are undeveloped parks that are free to use. From information and an excellent map I found on explorethebackcountry.com this looked like a park I wanted to try out: relatively nearby, quite large, and quite wild and barren. I asked several of the guys at church about coming along, but none were able to make it, so I thought I'd be going alone. However, my brother asked me if I'd be interested in having my 13-year-old nephew, Josh, come along. It sounded fine to me, so we decided to go together.

Photo credit: clipped from explorethebackcountry.com map

The route I chose was the Montgomery Creek loop section of the Ganaraska Trail within QE2WPP. I got off work early on Thursday, picked up Josh and his gear and we made the two and a half hour drive up to the start of the trail. As we neared the park, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to pick up bread or buns which we were going to use for both our first supper and breakfast; unfortunately the only nearby store was closed, so we were out of luck. Josh was very easy-going about my mistake; this helped me, as I was feeling pretty bad about forgetting this big component of our food.

The drive into the park and subsequently finding a place to park was fun. Since I had never been before, I wasn't sure what to look for. We ended up driving through some fairly deep mud puddles, because of which I was again thankful for my Forester's all-wheel drive (I may have intentionally driven through some of the puddles!). After a later start then expected, the unsuccessful trip to the store, and figuring out where to park, we started hiking much later than planned. As a result, we had to move quickly to find a campsite before it was too dark. The first campsite that appeared on the map turned out to be less than satisfactory, so we took the risk and made for the next one. Reaching this site as darkness was really settling in, we didn't have much choice, but it did seem promising. We were on top of a small cliff of sorts, with a good size flat area for the tent, and an outcropping of rock that was well-suited for a campfire. A short descent led to what appeared to be a former beaver pond that was now drained quite low. After scouting out the site, we split up the tasks: Josh collected some firewood and got a fire going over which to cook our supper (sausages), while I set up the tent. The mosquitoes were quite numerous, but once the fire was burning well, they seemed to stay away for the most part. After eating our slightly burnt, bun-less sausages and sitting around the fire for a short time enjoying the night sounds, we strung up the food and turned in for the night.

photo credit: Josh

photo credit: Josh

photo credit: Josh

 

 
We got up the next morning to the sun and the sounds of the wild after a fairly chilly night. Thankfully we had decided to leave the fly on the tent and were able to close it part way through, or we would have been quite cold. After breakfast, we explored the area around the campsite a bit. Then we packed up and started hiking for the day. We had started in on the lower portion of the loop which is a branch off the Ganaraska Trail. This was reasonably well marked, following many rugged ridges of rock and traveling through somewhat sparse forest. Though it is just to the south of Montgomery Creek, the creek is rarely visible from the trail. Just before Otter Junction, where this branch trail meets the main trail, we went down a small side trail which led to Otter Lake, a small, scenic lake (probably another nice place to camp sometime).

 
Shortly after Otter Junction we had two creek crossings. The first was very small, more of a stream really, and easy to step across on stones. However, before the next crossing we passed a sign warning of high water conditions and a dangerous crossing, so we were a little uncertain of what to expect! While this creek, Montgomery Creek, was a little larger and more difficult to cross, the high water conditions must be seasonal, since the water was not high or dangerous at all. Here we stopped to cook a meal for lunch. It was fun to take a break and wander around the banks and the small rapids.

This crossing was also the turning point where the trail turned sharply and we began traveling back along the north side of the creek toward the car. The trail was of very mixed conditions. The first portion was lower down and close to the creek; although it was incredibly well marked, it was very overgrown with grasses and other thick vegetation. Travel became somewhat difficult, and Josh, who was in shorts and chose not to change into his pants, got a good number of scratches on his lower legs. Finally we started climbing up and away from the creek, back on to the open, rocky ridges from which we caught the occasional glimpse of the creek a long ways below. Unfortunately, the trail was not very well marked here, and being mainly rock, it was not very visible in many spots. In addition, the sun and rocks also brought deer flies. This combination of swatting bugs and struggling to follow the trail became tiresome, especially the flies which bit hard on any open skin. After suffering through the bugs, the heat, and the poor trail for a good part of the afternoon, neither Josh nor I really wanted to go through another day of it. Since we were making pretty good progress, we decided to just keep pressing on until we reached the car, instead of camping out the second night.

 
When we did reach the car, there was a pleasant ending for us. When hiking the night before, we had been a little rushed and it was dusk, so we had not really be able to enjoy Victoria Falls as we hiked right past them. Now we were able to enjoy them fully in the daylight. An impressive series of small and large rapids and chutes, I would not want to fall into the flow of water coming through here. The sheer volume of water and the way it flows through the channel of rock makes for an awe-inspiring display of water that God has setup there. We both spent some time taking pictures and enjoying the sights.

 
Finally we got into the car, tired and ready to go home for a good night of sleep! I was very impressed with Josh's endurance and willingness to bear with some of the less pleasant parts of the trip. I don't remember him complaining once!