Killarney Provincial Park - Day 3

Today we decided to hike the George Island Wilderness trail which is not actually in the park. The beginning of this 7 Km trail is a two minute boat ride across the narrow strait between the mainland shore, 2 minutes walk from the lodge,  and George Island. The trail is a loop crossing the eastern portion of George Island to the southerly high point then along a bit of the western shoreline on the return. It begins in a fairly open and level grassy wetland area before passing into a forest of pine and deciduous trees.

The relatively flat part of the walk soon changes to, guess what, uphill with lots of climbing on and over rocks. And here on the island the rocks are pink granite as we saw on the Cranberry Bog trail in the first Killarney blog post. One hundred years ago the island was bare of trees as a result of logging operations which provided wood for fuel for local residents and logs for the mill at Collins Inlet just east of Killarney. Over the years the forest has returned to a fairly typical Great Lakes forest ecosystem with white and red pines trees mixed with maple and aspen.

Throughout the wooded sections there are frequent open spaces with expanses of large pink rock outcroppings characteristic of Canadian Shield topography. Also characteristic is the presence of lichen and plants tenacious enough to find and sustain a foot hold in the smallest cracks in the rocks as well as in small depressions where water and bits of soil collect.

After a substantial climb through the increasingly rocky areas we reached this high point where we were able to see the water of Georgian Bay and a glimpse of Manitoulin Island. We learned that Manitoulin, the largest freshwater island in the world, is part of the Niagara Escarpment, a glacial limestone deposit which, according to the brochure, extends for about 1000 Km.

From the above high point of land we began the descent, again through fairly rocky forested terrain, on our way to the portion of the trail that follows the island shoreline for close to one Km.

Above is the rocky beach we encountered when we reached the shoreline. The water is Georgian Bay and in this image we have a better view of the flat shelf-like outline of Manitoulin Island.

As George Island is in the southern part of the Killarney region, the rock which dominates the shore line is the pink granite which we found in our earlier walk in the Cranberry Bog area.

The large areas of smooth rock provide both a fascinating and relatively easily negotiable walking surface. The one downside of this portion of the trail is that the absence of trees limits the vertical structures available for trail markers. As a consequence many of the markers were on the surface of the rocks which made them difficult to locate from a distance. Hence, several moments of frustration while we searched for the next marker. This was the most poorly marked area of the hike.

In some areas we found rocks which, by virtue of their color and characteristics, clearly were out of place here. The geologists apparently call these erratic rocks which they suggest were dropped by receding glaciers. The cluster of rocks in this photo - varying from white to a dark gray, is fairly characteristic of these glacial droppings.

Not all of the rocks here are smooth or intensely pink. This photo shows some darker brownish and irregular bits along with some small outcroppings which form tiny islands.

In the photo to the right we are at the end of the shoreline portion of the trail so we are heading back into the interior and the last leg of the hike, though still a couple of Km to go before we get to the boat.

This was a much less arduous trail than the climb to the Killarney Ridge, but at the end of this day we were both pretty weary and ready for a beer in the lodge bar, dinner and a good night's sleep before heading back to Dundas tomorrow.

Killarney Provincial Park - Day 2

(Click on any photo to see a larger version)

During our time in the park we stayed at the Killarney Mountain Lodge which is situated close to a small "strait" between George Island and the mainland. This location made it easy to slip out in the early morning while the rising sun was painting an idyllic, peaceful and very photogenic scene. This image looks out toward Georgian Bay and the one below is the town of Killarney's harbour.

My grandson, Drew, had told us that the hike up to the Killarney Ridge through "the Crack" was one we should definitely experience. Since this morning suggested a sunny cool day, we decided that this would be the day to attempt it.

The information about the trail indicated that it was 6 Km and that, as we ascend through the "Crack" climbing over the cascade of huge tumbled boulders, we will be surrounded by the white cliffs of La Cloche mountains. There are ample warnings that the trail is challenging and that we should take our time as some of the huge boulders that have fallen through the Crack "may be unstable and the gaps between them have been known to gulp up stray steps". The reward, once at the top of Killarney ridge "is beautiful panoramic vistas on all sides - the best views in the park".

While the reward was definitely as promised and then some, the descriptions of the hike itself did not prepare me for what we encountered!

The sign at the beginning of the trail also gave clear warning that there is good reason to be attentive to the markers and the route that we choose on the return trip.

The first two thirds, or so, of the trail is flat and tranquil, and the morning sun streaming through the trees tended to lull one into a false sense that the difficulty of the trail might have been overstated.

After possibly an hour of strolling along this horizontal tree lined path we encountered our first wall of boulders. I had trouble believing the red marker that pointed straight up with no actual "trail" to be seen, the first of other similar walls. Wish I had a photo of that first wall, but I was so taken aback by the task at hand, that I put my camera away before making a photo.

After that first clamber we reached a reasonably level area and a place to rest. I doubt you can appreciate the challenge of the climb (this photo looks down to the "trail") we had just completed, but think of a wall of boulders at an angle of 75 degrees or so.

At the top of the photo above you can just see the top of the ridge - our destination.

And this photo is looking up toward the next phase of the climb.

The white rocks in this area of the park (in striking contrast to the pink granite rocks seen in the last blog post) are quartzite, a very hard sedimentary rock composed of 80% quartz. On a Mohs Scale from 1 to 10 where diamond is 10, the quartzite here apparently is 7. It is the hardest rock in the park.

I don't recall how many of these near vertical sections there were but there were enough, each climb followed by a relatively level section that allowed us to catch our breath, rest our leg muscles and have some fluids.

Ready for the next challenge!

In this photo we are dealing with the approach to the Crack and I think this image gives a reasonable perspective on this part of the climb. If you look closely I think you can appreciate, just above Rudy's head, the "Dreamers rock", which appears to be about to tumble from its perch

The next bit was getting though the Crack and finally up to the top of Killarney Ridge and the spectacular panoramas we were promised - and there they were!

Looking from Killarney Ridge south over Kidney Lake toward Georgian Bay.

In this photo you can just see the water of Georgian Bay in the distance, and if you look carefully you can just make out the faint outline of Manitoulin Island (apparently the largest fresh water island in the world) in the upper right.

I chose this view because the tree and it's setting reminded me of A.Y. Jackson's paintings.

In this view from Killarney Ridge you see Killarney Lake nearest and OSA lake in the distance. O.S.A., formerly known as Trout Lake, is the true birthplace of Killarney Provincial Park. "It was here that Group of Seven Painter A.Y. Jackson and a group of environmentalists halted the progress of the Spanish River Lumber Company. This company had plans to cut down the great pines, beloved by Jackson, which grew along the lake’s shores. Due to Jackson’s effective letter writing campaign this area was established as The Trout Lake Forest reserve. In recognition of the efforts of Jackson and other members of the Ontario Society of Artists, the lake was re-named O.S.A. Lake in 1933." Finally in 1964, with the help of lobbying efforts by the Group of Seven, 4,000 square miles (10,000 km²) of Georgian Bay shoreline were set aside as a wilderness reserve, and Killarney became a provincial park.

After a rest, food and fluids it was necessary to retrace our steps, making sure to follow the correct markers, back down the "trail" - arguably as difficult as the climb. But we did make our way to the bottom and back to the broad level trail  and the parking lot.

It was an unforgettable experience and, fortunately, we have lots of photo images to help it remain unforgettable, since I think it unlikely that either of us will repeat this climb.

Back to the lodge to recover and think about dinner and tomorrow's hike on George Island.

Killarney Provincial Park - Day 1

This past week my friend, Rudy Neufeld, and I enjoyed 3 days of hiking in Killarney Provincial Park near Georgian Bay in northern Ontario. The weather guessers had predicted rain for much of the time we planned to be there but, thankfully, they were completely wrong - we had no rain at all and 1 very good day and two excellent couldn't be better days! And, if you luck out with the weather, this is definitely the time of year to visit this spectacular part of the province - cool temperatures, no bugs and amazing fall colours to complement the awesome natural beauty!

We began the venture Sunday in Sudbury with a very enjoyable afternoon and evening visit with my grandson, Drew Marr, and great granddaughter, Julia, before moving on to the park early Monday morning.

On our drive into the park we stopped once to attempt to capture a bit of the brilliant colours along the road. (Click on any photo to view a larger image.)

As this was our first and shortest day we decided to hike the Cranberry Bog trail - a 4 Km trail described as "Moderate".

One of the things we discovered was that descriptions for the trails that we hiked tended to understate the degree of difficulty and the time required to complete the hike, at least for 2 reasonably fit guys in their 70's.

For example, the time suggested to complete the 4 Km Cranberry Bog trail is 2 1/2 hours - at that pace one would have little time for taking photos and enjoying the ambiance of the trail, and there was plenty to enjoy, especially with the fall colours at this time of year. (Contrary to what you might think, I did not put those red leaves there.)

The Cranberry Bog trail is in the southern part of the park and the precambrian rock in this area tends to be granite which it seems contains feldspar and it is this material which gives the rock its strikingly pink colour.

More of this pink rock appears again on the George Island wilderness hike that we covered on our 3rd and last day in the park (photos in a later blog post). And the pink is even more striking when compared to the white quartzite of La Cloche and the Killarney Ridge which we experienced on Day 2.

Unfortunately, the photos do not really do justice to the natural beauty of this or any areas of the park that we visited.

This is the largest wetland area that we saw on this 4 Km walk.

If you look closely you will find Rudy surveying the scene while standing near the A.Y. Jackson-like pine.

The terrain on this trail was not all rock, bogs, marshes and swamps (and beaver dams and lodges) but included abundant woodland areas replete with a variety of woodland plants including an array of ferns and trees with the accompanying web of surface roots to negotiate.

Nearing the end of the trail we came on a second fairly large body of water, again with pink rocks around the shoreline.

I think we completed this trail in about 4 hour having taken lots of time to enjoy the scenery and to take photos and rest breaks.

Then off to register for our B&B at the Killarney Mountain Lodge and to consider our plans for Day 2, about which more in the next blog post.

Anniversary #53

Well, a couple of days ago, on September 5th to be precise, here at Crow Lake Ruth and I celebrated our 53rd wedding anniversary! Who can believe it? Fifty-three years since that sunny Fall-like wedding day in Regina, followed by a long-weekend "honeymoon" during which we established ourselves in a basement apartment on University Avenue in Saskatoon.

Including that first home we have lived in 16 different apartments or houses in 9 different cities: 4 in Saskatoon, 2 in Salem, Massachusetts, 1 in Boston, 2 in Minneapolis, 1 in Silver Spring, MD, 2 in Delmar, N.Y., 2 in Halifax, 1 in Albany, N.Y and 1 in Dundas.

We have now resided in Dundas for just under half of our 53 years together.

Of course, if we count Crow Lake, we have had a "home" in 17 locations.

(A couple of images of Crow Lake where we have been for
almost 6 weeks so far this summer; and we look forward to another 10 days.)

Remember to click on any image to see a larger version.


Back to our history.

Over the course of our years together we managed to work through the complexities of each of us establishing and maintaining professional careers in medicine in several institutions in two countries.

We have engendered and raised two amazing children and are fortunate to have two wonderful grand-children and an exceptionally fine son-in-law.

And, to add to all of our good fortune, several years ago we discovered my son, from a previous relationship, and his family, so adding a second son, a daughter in-law, 3 terrific adult grand-children, a grand daughter-in-law and one great-grand daughter to our family! Followed, more recently, by the addition of a second grand daughter-in-law.

Family doesn't get better than this.

Along the way we have found so many good friends who have enriched our lives enormously. In our numerous moves we have left many behind but, thankfully, we still live close to several.

And, while in recent years we have managed to develop a few aches and pains, we are both, gratefully, in very good health.

Healthy enough, in fact, to celebrate this anniversary by hiking in Frontenac Provincial Park! And here is where we spent most of our day.

As usual, I include far too many details in my blogs for most but, as we spent our day learning about the environment in this park, some bits are duly recorded for those who might be interested.

One of the things one learns in 53 years is that if someone doesn't want to be in a photo, this is as close as it is reasonable to get.







These photos were taken in Arab Lake Gorge very near the park entrance.This trail is about half boardwalk through a swamp area filled with plants like Button Bush, Winterberry and Silky Dogwood, which are adapted to wet living.

As one moves further up the gorge where it is slightly drier the wetland plants give way to plants like ferns, mosses and jewelweed which seem to thrive in the rich sediment of this part of the gorge.

I believe the plant spilling over onto the boardwalk in this photo is jewelweed.

Our other hike was a 3 Km walk around a small lake, Doe Lake. This one, though not really difficult, required a bit more energy expenditure than the Arab Lake Gorge trail, enough that we were pretty tired at the end of it. But it was an enjoyable walk with lots of ups and downs, through a mix of rocky terrain, some wetland areas as well as woodland open enough for the sunlight to stream through the trees, and lots of shoreline as shown in the images above and just below.

I think the area shown on the right qualifies as a swamp, one of 4 or 5 different types of wetland. A swamp, apparently, is a wetland associated with streams, rivers or lakes which has water flowing through it. Swamps are distinguished by the presence of trees and shrubs and are flooded for most if not all of the growing season. So, I think this looks like a swamp.



Well, there you have a bit of our day. It was a very good day followed by an evening of pizza and a movie (interestingly, "Four Weddings and a Funeral", shown on my 11 inch Macbook Air screen! ) at our cabin on Crow Lake. A great way to end the day!

New Book

I have just completed the second "draft" of my most recent photo book which you can check out by clicking on the book below. To turn the pages just click on the page or the arrow(s) at the bottom of the display. You can view it in full screen by clicking on the full screen icon in the bottom right hand corner of the display, but for some reason many of the photos are quite grainy, at least on my screen, so definitely no where near the quality of the printed photos.

Tofino and Ucluelet, British Columbia by Richard Pickering | Make Your Own Book

Thursday

A brief rain shower early this morning then sunny breaks until just afternoon when skies cleared giving us lots of sun and, no surprise to anyone who has visited this area, lots of wind.

We had a relaxed morning, walked the beach and then went into Tofino and spent some time savouring the art of Roy Vickers in the gallery before dropping Michael off at the surfing place.

Rod and I went back to the Wild Pacific Trail for a short walk on the northern part of the trail where Rod had not been before. Took a few photos but the wind was so strong it was difficult to hold the camera steady on the overlook areas so that part of the walk was aborted.

We came back to the house and Chesterman beach around 4pm hoping to find and get some photos of Michael and his surfing colleagues on our beach. We found the tide extremely low exposing a very wide beach but no surfers! They had gone somewhere else, so there are no photos of Michael skimming over the waves.  :-)

Then, good food and drinks and our second sunset; a great way to close our last day here.

Wednesday

This morning we got up to partial sun! That was good news as we were off to Tofino at 11 am to catch our boat to the Hot Springs Cove in Maquinna Marine Provincial Park in Clayoquot Sound, about an hour and a half north of Tofino. The sea was acceptably quiet (about 1.5 meter swells - which looked and felt like more than that to me!) for us to take the open ocean route, with the potential for seeing a whale or two.

Our first "sighting" was a cluster of Sea Lions, lolling about on several rocks

Remember to click on any photo to see a larger version.

Our sharp eyed driver and guide, Eugene, had been told by another guide that there were 3 grey whales not far from where we were and we were lucky to spot them, or at least their blowhole water spouts which we saw several times.

The boat was rocking relentlessly so it was difficult to get photos, but, though I didn't actually see the whale, my camera did see this whale's back, and duly recorded it! They were really surfacing only to breath so we didn't see much else, but it was exciting to be close to these whales.

 We arrived at the Hot Springs marina (some of us feeling a bit queasy) where we learned that we had a 2 Km hike before getting to the hot springs.

The sign that says it is 2 Km it fails to mention that it is really 4 Km - 2 Km horizontally and 2 Km vertically!

Though pretty vigorous for me, this walk through old growth forest was an unexpected treat, rivalling, though different from, Cathedral Grove. I don't know if there are any 800 year old trees here, but there are lots of very large trees, and some seemed close to the size of tree we saw in Cathedral Grove (see photo below with Michael standing beside one of the larger trees).

The walk was entirely on this boardwalk and there were many ups and downs like the one here.

This is a photo of the hot springs area with some folks enjoying the warmth.

Rod and Michael immersed themselves in the hot springs - I did not. It was rocky and a bit tricky getting into the pools so I decided I would rather postpone my "hot springs" experience until we got back to our hot tub. And because of the rocky area I did not get photos of Rod or Michael in the water.

The trip back was through the endless islands between the park and Tofino and Eugene was confident that we would see and get quite close to bears on the way. We didn't, unfortunately.

 But Eugene's sharp eye spotted a group of sea Otters and was able to get quite close to them, so we got some pretty good photos of them relaxing in the water and seeming to be as curious about us as we were about them.

Near the end of our trip back to Tofino Eugene stopped near an island to show us a large eagle nest. He said that it had been there for about 25 years and that a similar nest near by had been found to weigh around 1200 pounds! There was an eagle in the nest (which I didn't see) and another perched, as you see in the adjacent photo. Not a great photo but I think good enough to be quite sure it is a bald eagle.


A great day, again, and the weather was good to us again - partially sunny and pleasantly warm with no rain at all.

It was such a terrific day that we decided to stay Thursday and return to Abbotsford on Friday, which gave Michael the time to arrange his surfing lesson on Thursday afternoon. The lessons take place just behind our house so there should be some interesting photos in the next post.