Canoeing in Killarney

Last week Tom and I spent six days and five nights in Killarney Provincial Park. We bought a second canoe on the Saturday and by the Monday we had it in the water ready for our holiday exploring what some call the jewel of Ontario.

Day 1 - Put in at George Lake

Our first day on the water started at George Lake, through Freeland Lake and Killarney Lake, and we made camp on a small island that we had all to ourselves on Ontario Society of Artists Lake (O.S.A). A.Y. Jackson, a member of the Group of Seven helped to establish Killarney as a provincial park. In the 50's and 60's many of the lakes in Killarney and surrounding area were impacted by acid rain. Most of the lake we paddled on were 'dead' lakes meaning their ph levels were too low to sustain life. This makes the lakes amazingly clear in a eerie way. Thankfully some of the lakes are slowly recovering.

Day 1 - We saw an impressively large snapping turtle in Freeland Lake

Day 1 - Unique water flowers I have never seen before

Day 1 - A large and colourful tree fungus specimen that would go for a lot of money in China and Japan

Day 1 - Our first night of the journey

We spent two nights on our private little island, which allowed us to also explore Killarney's quartzite and granite landscape by foot. We canoed back to Killarney Lake and hiked the Crack. This gave us a great view of the lake system and the white quartzite that surrounds O.S.A.

Day 2 - Tom making his way into the Crack. We both came out just fine at the other end.

Day 2 - Looking back towards Killarney Lake and O.S.A.

Day 2 - We're looking rather cheery here, but our paddle back to camp was strenuous as we bucked the wind and rain.