Summiting The Crack

During our stay in Killarney Provincial Park we hiked each day on a different trail.  Our most challenging hike was called The Crack and it is part of the La Cloche Silhouette Trail that is 78 kms long and takes on average 7-9 days to hike. The trail is dedicated to the memory of Franklin Carmichel , one of the founding members of the now famous Group of Seven.  The trail is named after his painting "La Cloche Silhouette" which was completed in 1939.   The area around The Crack is some of the trickiest part of the trail as one has to negotiate through huge boulders that have fallen through the crack.   At the top there are spectacular views of Killarney lake, O.S.A. Lake, and Baie Fine as well as Georgian Bay and Manitoulin Island.

Some of the large boulders looked like they could tumble down the side of the cliff at any moment.

How many millions of years did it take for this crack to develop?

We were ready to sit down for lunch once we made it to the top.

This is Killarney Lake and O.S.A.(Ontario Society of Artists) Lake in the distance.  What a spectacular day we had for our climb.

The sign says it all.... a difficult trail but well worth the effort.

Elvie's Land Adventure in Killarney Provincial Park

The campsite at Killarney Provincial Park was very private.   One neighbour that we could see and they were tenting 50 metres away from us.  The first evening we heard a deer coming through the bush and followed it down to the bog near our site.

Just like the fish in the protected park in The Bahamas, the  wildlife in the park seem to know that humans will do them no harm.

The park campsites are situated near Lake George. 

Notice the pink granite in the foreground and the white quartzite in the distance.

Everywhere we hiked the scenes were beautiful.

The rock faces were amazing in places.  This picture was taken on one of our hikes and this is A.Y. Jackson Lake, named after one of the famous group of seven painters who loved to visit and paint in the park.

Each day we would do a different hike.  It was interesting to see all the beaver houses in this one marshy area.

We called this beaver dam Heaver Dam, named similarly to the famous Hoover Dam in Nevada.

Notice me on top of the cliff.

After a long day of hiking it was back to home sweet van.

One evening we had a small raccoon walk through our camp; however on most evenings it was Chippie, the chipmunk and Bossy, the red squirrel who were vying for favours.   Of course it didn't help that we were eating peanuts in the shell and the park doesn't want campers to feed the wildlife.   

 

Sailboats are Magic

A still morning in Beaverstone Bay.

Free Spirit at anchor in Bear Bay.

Cyrano in the late day sunlight of Bear Bay.

Beaverstone Bay

Mill Lake

Cyrano under sail

One of the magicians

and the magic machine

After two weeks of incredible weather, beautiful anchorages and great fun with our friends Doug and Jane it was time to become dirt dwellers once again.  Free Spirit was hoisted back onto her trailer and it was time for Elvie's land adventure in Killarney Provincial Park.

 

 

Northern Georgian Bay...A Treasure to Explore

The morning reflection in Beaverstone Bay.

The granite is sculpted by water over thousands and thousands of years.  We thought the picture at the left looked like dinosaur feet?  Notice how smooth the rock is and the different layers.

Most of the lily pads were finished flowering; however this one was still open.  The roots of the lily pads are a favourite nutrient rich food for deer and moose. 



 

The later afternoon sun is stunning on the granite rocks.

 

Miles and miles of pink granite provide shelter for adventurous sailboats.  Notice Cyrano tucked way back in in West Desjardins Bay.

We saw evidence of Bucky Beaver in many areas that we paddled.  This lodge is occupied because you can see fresh sticks piled on the side.

We think that this was an otter lodge.  It looked like the otters had built up sticks over a rocky cave area.  We did see an otter family but as with most nature photography it was difficult to catch them playing at the surface of the water.

 

In our anchorage along Collin's Inlet we spotted a tree that a busy beaver had decided was good for his lodge.  Notice the teeth marks on one of the limbs.  I paddled over to get a picture and unknowingly snagged one of the limbs on the kayak.  Rob asked me how I liked paddling the double kayak on my own and I responded by saying it was a bit sluggish.  I couldn't figure out why Rob was laughing at me.  We decided that I needed to make amends to Bucky and  we returned his limb to his stash.

I don't think that there was a day that went by that we didn't hear the haunting call of the loon.  They are marvels at diving and sometimes will swim a hundred metres underwater.

 

We were also lucky to spot a few water snakes in our travels.  They are harmless and just want to get away from people. 

 

The end of another beautiful day but also a time to get below decks as the mosquitos were still around in late August.    Notice Cyrano tucked in close to the island.

Elvie and Free Spirit's Adventure to Killarney

After many hours of preparation Elvie (Land Vessel) and Free Spirit (Sailing Vessel)and crew are ready for their first trailer sailing/ camping adventure.

Camp Walmart in Parry Sound is our first camping spot.  Walmart allows campers to stay in their parking lot overnight. Before the evening was over there were two other RVs with us, one of which was another Roadtrek.

 

After another night camping in the church parking lot in Killarney it was time to launch Free Spirit.  We had hoped that the local marina could back our trailer down the ramp; however the water levels were so low at the launch ramp that they were unable to help us out.  Fortunately Mattie, a local rigger and marina operator was available to launch us using his home made travel lift. 



Mattie uses his tailor made mast hoist to lift the weight while Doug and Rob watch the rigging and set the mast step.  Free Spirit was floating for the first time.

Our first anchorage after leaving Killarney was Winakaching Bay, a bay that is off the charts but worth sneaking into.  This was Doug and Jane's first experience with Cyrano at gunk holing and they followed Free Spirit in through the rocks and pink granite.  We kept our keel down to four feet to make sure that the coast was clear for Cyrano.  Free Spirit has a swing keel which allows her a draft of two feet.  This will come in handy in the future particularly if the lake levels remain so low. 

The pink granite on Philip Edward Island is stunning especially in the late day sunlight.

The only people we saw in Winakaching were travelling by kayak and canoe.  Free Spirit and Cyrano had the whole anchorage to themselves.  It wasn't until the last couple of nights in Thomas Bay near Killarney that we shared an anchorage with another boat.

Doug and Jane got to try out their new inflatable kayaks and soon learned to love paddling in Georgian Bay among the pink granite boulders.

We paddled our double inflatable affectionately known as banana boat....our 17 foot tender.    What we lack in speed we make up for in carrying ability.  Most days we paddled for several hours and had picnics ashore.  Some days the girls even did an exercise class!?

We moved anchorages every couple of days.  The next post will show highlights of West Desjardins and Bear Bay on Philip Edward Island.