August 5, 2023 Killarney

A beautiful last day in Killarney. We enjoyed a swim at our campsite before the long paddle back to our van.

The kids enjoyed the steep dropoff.

And the paddling begins. It certainly was a long section of lilies to go through, a sort of nameless spot between two lakes. I certainly prefer lily pads over portaging, so I'm not complaining!

We took a break for lunch.

We almost missed the little gap to the stream which took us to the very last portage. We were not all happy campers at the last portage, but we all made it in the end.

The van, at last! Never has it looked so wonderful!

We spent our Saturday and Sunday with family. Nathan and Melanie drove up to join us in Owen Sound. It was so lovely to see the church there and experience what our family is settling in to. We really enjoyed our time there. So very very thrilled to have some of my family living close. :)

August 4, 2023 Killarney

It's just about breakfast time, everyone. Get camp packed up, we have things to do and places to go. This is a holiday, so get to it!

The canoes get loaded...we are off to Carlisle lake today. It's not too far from here, not much for portages, but a lot of paddling.

First the awkward place to start our portage...

And then the paddling

And more paddling. It's really beautiful!

Camp is set up and food hung safely

And by 2pm I have made another dumb decision. Why don't we take two canoes and paddles like crazy to the trail to "The Crack" so that we can "enjoy" yet another hike?? Why not? Wouldn't resting for the rest of the day just be too boring?

We paddle like mad and we hoof it along the trail. Some of the markers are easy to spot, some are trickier. There are a lot of hikers along the last open stretch of trail.

The trail gets very steep.

The Crack. Totally worth seeing, right???

After we are through the crack and off just a tiny bit further, we have some views. Of a lot of trees. And some lakes.

And then we have to head all the way back down again.

And paddle all the way back again. And do those "bonus" portages again.

We made it back to camp at 7pm. Some of us were just plain exhausted.

Is it worth the energy to make a campfire? The kids chill while I cook up a delicious dinner. And clean the dishes. After all, it was my idea to go do a hike we've already done before. When we're all tired, and didn't even need to do it. We are all happy to hit the sack after dinner. So tired.

August 3, 2023 Killarney

Today we leave David Lake and head to Ruth Roy. We have a lot of portages, so everyone has to help us get packed up and "on the road".

We are on our way by 10:30. Not bad!

It's super hot today, and muggy. We've been hearing the thunder rumble ominously as we crossed the lake. But we want to zip across a small pond to our second portage before the storm breaks out and we need to hunker down.

We made it! The kids were pretty nervous over the open water, though. I don't blame them. I also took some time, when the kids were portaging ahead, to have a talk with the camp wardens that we bumped into...the same two as before. Don't worry, I was polite. ;)

We had a break under the tarp. When we had cheered up, we took a selfie.

We had to take a second (or was it third??) break later, and Jennifer was so cold from being wet and standing around, that she did some jumping jacks to warm up.

Eventually we decided that the clouds and rumbles were probably past us, and we were ok to move on again.

We had another big lake to paddle over, and we kept a nervous eye on the clouds.

Finally, our last portage! It was a short and steep one, with very awkward access to Ruth Roy Lake.

Such a pretty lake though. And we are the only ones on it. Yay!

We saw a few mergansers swim by.

And we hung up our things to dry.

It was hard to find places to set up the tents (except close to the thunder box). It had lots of fun places to climb and explore, though.

 

Gorgeous shoreline

And a beautiful view across the lake.

Aug 2, 2023 Killarney

Our new go-to camping breakfast now involves eggs. They are one or two days old (from our chickens) and dehydrated. They get rehydrated and fried in the morning.

And dehydrated hash brown potatoes with bacon bits. Usually I buy the potatoes...but I've been experimenting with dehydrating them myself, too. But not the bacon. I will just keep buying that. It's a really tasty breakfast.

We had the option of staying at our campsite all day, or heading off to Silver Peak. Philip wasn't feeling well, but I was dumb and said let's go anyways!

We went in two canoes, so we'd have more paddling power on the way back.

Off we headed into the bush. I thought I packed lots of water. All of our bottles full, this time.

I love the open rock we have to travel through on the way across...it's sooo beautiful. Pretty hot today though.

We have to kind of go around this lake, and up to the top of the hill on the other side.

We found lots of ripe blueberries there. So delicious!

Matthew chipped in extra by carrying the day pack...it's not a small matter to carry all that water, plus lunch...and odds and ends of things we may need during the day.

Daniel Matthew and I went on ahead, determined to make it to the peak while Jennifer and Evelyn, who had been complaining (a lot) stayed behind with Philip...who was going fairly slowly...still not feeling super amazing. We hiked hard and fast, stopping for some short breaks, drinking water but trying to save a little for the way back.

We made it!

At a cost. Daniel was overheating at the top. Some other hikers donated half a liter of water to me, which I used to wipe Daniel down with every minute or so, and sat him in the shade. Heat exhaustion. Eventually he turned a more normal colour and gained some energy back.

After about ten minutes the other the girls and Philip showed up. Apparently slow and steady does win the race. We all took our time going down again, limping along with hardly any water, using it sparingly.

We came near a pitiful stream...but it was too dirty so the filter would not cooperate. We had to just keep going all the way to the canoes to filter the lake water...then we all made sure to have a nice long drink!

At last! We all made it safely back to our campsite. Tired out. So happy to be back.