Killarney Lake Panorama

I’m high on the crack! And I love it!

Okay, so it’s not quite what you might imagine. Needed a picture of myself, and since no one should be subjected to my hideous mug, I though this picture might do the trick. It’s me in the picture all right, standing atop the Crack in Killarney, drinking in all the awesomeness. One of those truly wondrous moments life has to offer. (photo taken by Jason Irwin.)

Hammock – Killarney

The hammock and tarp encased in the SnakeSkins. I end up pulling both quite a bit tighter. There tends to be a bit of tying and retying before it’s set up correctly.

Closeup of the SnakeSkins. They part in the centre and slide back to the ends to reveal the tarp and hammock.

I always spread a MEC TARN footprint beneath the hammock. Provides me with a dry place to put my stuff and sit down.

My hammock on the right and Jay’s on the left. He has the smaller diamond shaped tarp that comes stock with the HH, whereas I opted for the larger tarp. Heavier of course, but actually makes for a very liveable space underneath. I’ve had four people beneath it for dinner, aperitifs and card games. It’s also a handy place to hang your wetsuit after a swim.

I tend to do a lot of stealth camping, where everything tends to be very contained. It was nice to be able to have everything strewn about as I set up. It all gets repacked, put in a contractor grade garbage bag and stowed under the hammock.

The Inner Space Craft.

Hidden Hammock.

Jay’s Hennessy Hammock.

Killarney – Autumn 2008 – Part 1: George Lake to O.S.A. Lake

After trips to various great spots in Ontario, Jason and I discussed a week long canoe trip to Killarney Provincial Park (another good source of information - The Friends of Killarney). After hearing nothing but good things about the place, we figured we’d be remiss if we didn’t go check it out for ourselves. The park was started in no small part by the efforts of the artists behind the Group of Seven, who captured the parks spectacular scenery in many of their paintings.

To me half the fun of these trips is the lead up to them. Figuring out where to go, copying sections of maps and laminating them, buying ingredients, preparing meals and dehydrating them (I came home from work to unload trays in the dehydrator and saw that the element had melted a huge area in the bottom. It was a crappy Ronco model with no fan and no timer. After getting over the shock of realizing I’d narrowly avoided an electrical fire, my plans to get a better model of dehydrator when I got back were now pushed into overdrive. With only two weeks to go, every hour of drying time was vital. I ended up getting a L’Equip Filter Pro model. It took about a week to get in, but it was so efficient compared to the old one that it made up for the lost time), making various pieces of gear, buying gear, the emails back and forth with questions, suggestions, concerns, ideas.

And then after the enjoyment of the trip, there are weeks of enjoyment from editing and processing all the pictures. I took 1200.

The itinerary for this trip would be one night on Killarney Lake, one night on O.S.A. Lake, three nights on Norway Lake, and then one night on Killarney Lake.

Off we go!

Granite and quartz on George Lake. This is about the last spot where you will see granite, as it gives way to a wide swath of whitish grey quartz.

George Lake panorama.

Looking back at George Lake.

Paddlers on George Lake.

Freeland Lake. Much shallower and marshier than any of the other lakes we were on, and there is also not much a view of the hills here.

The Killarney Lake put in, after portaging around the Chikanishing River.

Entering Killarney Lake panorama.

Heading north on Killarney towards our first destination, site #24.

Pure unadulterated awesomeness. This picture says a lot about life and all that is good about it.

Chilly dip. (photo by Jason Irwin)

I brought a wet suit because I figured the water would be cold on the cusp of September/October, but it was actually quite tenable. (photo by Jason Irwin)

Jay leaping in.

Looking east towards Silver Peak.

Jason watching the beaver swim past.

About to fire up the Bush Buddy for its inaugural burn. I’d been so busy in the weeks leading up to the trip, I hadn’t had the chance to try this beauty out yet. It didn’t disappoint. (photo by Jason Irwin)

The view out my hammock the next morning.

Ready to set off for another glorious day.

Looking northwest across Killarney Lake.

Paddle at rest.

Rock. Water. Trees. My holy triumvirate.

(photo by Jason Irwin)

O.S.A. Lake panorama.

Twin sensors at work. (photos by Jason Irwin)

Topsy-turvy.

Wondering what to photograph next.

Shroomock.

Yet another picturesque spot.

Part 2 can be found here.