Join Rob and friends as they embark on an eight day trip in Killarney adventure! This Episode 3 concludes the trip in Ontario’s Killarney Provincial Park, with reflections on the good and the lessons learned (never bad)!
In the first episode, the trip started at the Bell lake put in. In the second episode, we saw Rob made the hike up to the iconic white cliffs of Killarney, Silver Peak.
In the third episode, it starts off on beautiful morning on Day 7 with mirrored lakes, classic of the Ontario interior. With blue berries collected from yesterday’s hike up to Silver Peak, they were able to make wild blue berry pancakes. They cooked over the GSI bugaboo camp set, which Rob has also reviewed.
However, needing to cut the trip short, the group decided to bail on day 8 instead of staying the full 9 days. It was forecasted for torrential rain for the whole day 9. Camping, portaging, breaking camp, all sucks in torrential downpour. They also still a week long car camping at Grundy Provincial Park and setting up in the rain would also suck. So, they decided to enjoy paddle out instead of being miserable. You, too, can create your happiness!
This last day would consist of 6 to 7 kilometers of paddling, with some decent portage, which would have to be done 3 times. A bit of a slog, but would have been worse in the rain.
On day 8, high cirrus clouds came rolling in, indicative of pro-longed rain to come in the next few days. Luckily the decision to leave was a good one. On their way out, they would pass by old logging camp, largely an empty field now, where nature grew over to see any evidence. Sets of nice little rapids, dammed by beavers. To which, carry overs on the canoe were essential. The ABS canoes are worth the extra weight!
In the end, the trip was a success with lots of beautiful views, blue berries, learning of the quartzite rocks and how to avoid being soaked. This concludes the 8 day Killarney adventure!
Join Rob and friends as they embark on an eight day trip in Killarney backcountry paddling! This Episode 2 showcases Killarney Silver Peak in Ontario’s Killarney Provincial Park.
In the first episode, the trip started at the Bell lake put in. Typical of an Ontario summer, and especially more so during COVID, lots of people are looking to get out and about. The put in for the lake is super busy, with cars lined down the parking lot. We left it off the episode at the increasingly dire situation of rain pooling under the tent and draining through, where it was possible to make ripples on the tent floor.
We begin this second episode on Day 4, which is looking to be a nice day, clouds passed, and good day to dry out gear. Hanging everything up, it resembles the enchanted forest of wet items, clothes, foot print of tent, all billowing in the wind.
Exploring the lake and the park, and quintessentially Canadian shorelines, you’ll encounter loon calls, muskegs old dock, beaver dams or even some old foundation of what used to be the lumber industry.
Portaging 600m with food barrels 3 times because of gear. Keep number of back and forth in planning trips. The goal is always one trip, but that is hardly the case. Especially with kids. Rob here gives a brief gear run down, but check out our video here for more in depth gear packing!
Finally, on day 6 we reach Killarney Silver Peak. This is the highest point in Killarney Provincial Park, which is a 5 km hike up and down. At the peak, you can see all the way to Sudbury in the East, and in the West the body of water of Georgian Bay.
Silver peak is part of the La Cloche range, mountain/hill range. La Cloche is made of quartzite, which gives it the iconic white look. If you ever wondered why the rocks have been so bright, it’s because of the high quantities of quartzite. According to Wikipedia, Quartzite is a hard, non-foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. And over Canada, and specifically in Ontario and the Killarney region, there was 2km thick of ice, creating this pressure, during the ice age.
Along the way, you’ll find wild black, blue and rasp-berries! Be sure you’re confident with your plant identification, before picking!
All this and more, with the episode, below!
If you enjoyed Killarney Backcountry Paddling, check out these videos!
Join Rob and friends as they embark on an eight day trip in Killarney backcountry paddling! This is in Ontario’s Killarney Provincial Park. This is Episode 1 of a video diary day paddle trip!
The trip started at the Bell lake put in. Typical of an Ontario summer, and especially more so during COVID, lots of people are looking to get out and about. The put in for the lake is super busy, with cars lined down the parking lot.
Luckily, the first campsite is 150m out and so despite the crowds it’s an easy enough paddle into the site. The is a very rocky tent set ups with guying out and staking to be creative. This tends to be reflective of the shorelines of Ontario for the most part. You have rocky shores of the boreal shield that years of growth of flora has decomposed over the ground to create an uneven ground of dirty over rock.
The one about this particular site is that there is a terribly placed thunder box; everyone can see it from campsite. Hope you’re close with your friends! Regardless, it’s a super beautiful site on the lake.
Over the next couple of days, Rob makes the portages through Balsam lake and David lake, with more in the coming episodes! Encountering also very typical weather patterns of Ontario and micro-climates. Loving the weather, with threats of rain and then no rain. That has been largely the feeling of weather these days in Ontario, when it has been forecasted to be raining all week and then it doesn’t. However, have no fear, you can still make fire when it’s wet!
With the threat of rain, it’s usually accompanied by some wind. While out paddling, it’s so helpful to have the wind at your back and running the wind in a canoe. Makes for easy paddling!
Finally when the rain comes, Rob realizes there’s a leaking fly. At least the floor is fine with the help of a foot print, and the hydrostatic pressure of the tent floor has held up over the years. Admittedly the tent is 8 years old, so it’s holding up considering the usage!
All this and more in the video diary, below! Enjoy!
If you enjoyed Killarney Backcountry Paddling, check out these videos!
Follow Rob paddling the Pickerel River over a weekend long trip, to an unknown campsite down stream, toward the Georgian Bay. Pickerel River is an arm of the larger French River, which also has a Provincial Park in it’s won right, that drains into the Georgian Bay to the West and St. Lawrence in the east. There are several connection other rivers and lakes through this area and was a well known route back in the “olden times” for logging.
Rob paddled through some windy days and especially rough through narrow sections of the river. In setting up the campsite, it resulted in windblown tents into thickets and trees. This is exacerbated by shallow dirt which, ultimately, you have to use rocks and ropes to guy out your tent. Camping on rock islands, sometimes it’s difficult to stake tent poles. To overcome this, using rocks to guy out the tent tied to ropes is the trick. If you watch the video, there are more tips and tricks on the guying and staking tent poles.
Typical of beautiful back country camping areas, Rob made some friends with woodpeckers along the way. Exploring some other sections of the river, bays, and lakes. Even though it’s windy, they made good use of their paddling time and navigating. Some fun tricks to employ on windy days, include using your paddle as a sail as your run the wind! Enjoying some Peller Estates dry red, as tasted in our Red Wine Video. Of course what’s exploring an area if you don’t find some magical dock appearances. Don’t really know what I mean? That’s ok, watch the video to find out!
Check out Rob paddling the Pickerel River!
Enjoyed this post? Check out more back country paddling videos here!
If you watched our Amateur Hour you’ll learn about where our love for nature came from. It’s only natural to share my thoughts on the best paddling guidebooks! Simply, stemming from the connection through camping, portaging and paddling. It is one of the most tranquil, sometimes rough, ways to ground yourself and just busy yourself with your day to day living. No phones (ok, admittedly I do bring the phone and use it for our Explorations photos, video and blog), no wifi, no constant bombardment of social media. It’s a time to disconnected and just… be. Just. Pure. Bliss.
The guides are to the very best canoeing regions for specifically Central and South Eastern Ontario, Canada. Frankly speaking, it’s just really one author I trust the most when it comes to the most detailed hand-drawn map guidebook, with historical explanation to the region. Light is shed to the First Nations in the regions, before the settlers came, punctuated by little pro tips and gems in the area where you’re looking to paddle.
But more importantly, the information details exactly what you need to know, what to expect and straight to the point with no over the top superfluous writing that is irrelevant.
The author is Hap Wilson and his several paddling guide books, with regions including Temagami, Upper Ottawa River, Muskoka and several more regions. He sells it through his website, link below, along with his art and literary books!
The first book I bought from Hap Wilson was over 20 years ago for the Muskoka region in Ontario. It immediately became my best paddling guidebooks that I kept on hand. It included regions like Moon River, where Rob had gone to explore. I discovered some of the best back country camping and paddling decades before the Toronto crowds descended upon my once favourite camping spot. As trails and best-kept secret places become increasingly exposed by newer technology such as Alltrails and the likes, time honoured writing, illustration and the spirit of solace in the woods become loss to quick searches and instant gratification.
However, technology like this has it’s pros and cons. It provides accessibility for many who are otherwise unable to acquire these types of guide books. But with accessibility also brings people who have no respect for the space, portage in outboard engines into non-motorized lakes, and partying all night long. Com’on folks – it’s no wonder spaces are becoming more pressured and less people are even willing to talk about where they go to their secret spot to go camp!
On a 2 week trip through Temagami and down the Ottawa river, dodging in between Ontario and Quebec
During the pandemic, my favourite camping spot just 1.5 hours away from Toronto exploded with Torontonians and the small parking lot became over flowing through onto the cottage country roads. New “No Parking” signs are put up and the police now more frequently patrol. Just the nature of everything happening, the pandemic, lock-down and the need for outdoor spaces; and not blaming anyone. As a consequence, I don’t plan on going back to that spot and on the hunt for new, quieter, less accessible areas, pushing me deeper into the woods, which is not a bad thing, but difficult time-investment wise for a weekend trip.
The hand drawn maps of Hap Wilson’s guide books
But I digress and back to the best paddling guidebooks! In the hunt for more areas, I had previously gone on a 2 week trip, over 10 years ago now, through Temagami and down the Ottawa river, dodging in and out of Quebec province. One of the biggest trips I ever did, and one of the best and most beautiful places too. Remembering this, and also remembering Hap Wilson’s books to the region, I ordered, the guidebook for those regions. Hap Wilson, with his personal and traditional touch, signed the books.
Check out his store, with several more books! https://hapwilson.com/shop/ What’s more, he has a cabin, Cabin Falls Ecolodge in Temagami, in a remote area far from civilization that you may visit! I should mention, I’m not in anyway associated with the lodge or Hap Wilson’s shop, just merely a fan of his and his wife’s work.
If you’re looking for an idea of paddling trip gear required, in this video below I give a paddling gear run down. Everyone will have different needs and preferences for gear, but when it comes down to it, you will need some gear that is cross cutting for paddling.
Over the years, I’ve gone from really roughing it in the back country with no camp chairs, heavy front country tents, sleeping on the ground, to saying, “screw it, I like some luxury” and portaging in solar radios, fancier sleeping pads, lighter weight tents, gravity filters and other “glamping” items.
However, your base gear essentially will consist of:
Canoe or kayak (and associated items to be legal, ie life jackets, bail bucket, signaling device, whistle, tow line, etc…)
Map and compass (or some sort of navigational device)
Water filtration device (mechanical filter, tablets, etc)
First aid kit
Anything on top of this is going to be, in a way, luxury. Could you cut out anything from this list? Sure, but I wouldn’t recommend it! There are a few items I would add to the list for additional comfort:
Sleeping mat (some would even argue this should be in the first list)
Chairs (doesn’t have to be those big clunky camp chairs. There are a lot of stuff out there now!)
Cards or some sort of game
Tarp (you’ll thank me when it rains and there’s no communal sitting area)
Mosquito repellent and/or net
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and again, everyone will have different wants and needs depending also on their comfort level.
In the video, I go through a few pieces that I believe are essentials that I think can be really helpful for your knowledge of getting ready for your adventure! Take a gander below for a paddling gear run down!
Welcome to our first episode of Amateur Hour where we discuss things with a bit more knowledge than the general person, but not as professionals. Our common denominator is back country paddling and what about the ruggedness of the back country caught our love for adventure. In this episode, we discuss why we camp, how we got into it all our adventuring and what we’ve learned through our years. More than that, we discuss our gear, stoves, food packing, water purification and a lot of other topics.
It’s a jammed pack topic that we love to discuss and have so much more to say! Over the years of knowing each other (at least 2 decades and counting…), and having some amazing trips together as 3 besties, we have a lot to share on tips and tricks! We all started off differently in where we gained our camping experiences. Using camping as a starting point to discuss and introduce our passion for other outdoor adventures seem only natural. As camping is the basis of most activities that we do and the knowledge base in which have transferable skill sets (ie reading the weather), it’s easy to apply it to other activities. Gear is a big part, but also knowledge base, and personal comfort level are crucial to enjoying the back country as well.
Follow us as we also learn more skill sets and set out to complete more adventure projects. We have a lot of ideas of what we want to do in the future and places to explore, discuss, recommend! It’ll be super fun to share it with you!
Enjoy learning more about us, from us, and our perspective on adventure on back country paddling, and of course, why we camp!
If you’re curious to learn more about us, visit our about page here!
Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival always comes up when I think of Moon River. But, au contraire, Moon River can be anything but bad times. Moon River paddling is an easy paddle for novices to get introduced to portaging and enjoying the outdoors with relative closeness to civilization.
Ian has gone there in the past and had a great blast, for the actual camping part. He went over a long weekend and with ill-mannered cottagers and campers at the put in and along the portage. It left Ian with a bad taste in going back. There was a weird paid parking encounter incident with a very angry man… Yes, the post started off with Moon River can be anything but bad times.
Enter, Rob’s adventure to Moon River! His experience was very different and phenomenal. Rob went on a separate time without Ian over a weekend. With an easy portage you’ll be able to check out some waterfalls, the beautiful river, dotted with your classic Canadian rocky shorelines. Just North of Toronto, it would be a fun little get away for a weekend paddle trip.
While still an easy area to navigate and portage, it’s still recommended to go with someone with some experience in the back country. Things can turn really quickly and it is still pretty rugged terrain, out near the Georgian Bay Coast.
Check out Rob’s Moon River Paddling video below!
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