OSA and Killarney Lake Canoe Trip Sept. 2012

Day 1: Ottawa to Killarney Drive

What else to say: It takes the majority of a day to drive from Ottawa to Killarney (> 600km). We arrived in the evening at the Roche Rouge campground. The campground is located right at the Georgian Bay and quite scenic. 

Georgian Bay Scene: Pink Granite Beach

 Afterwards we made it to dinner at the Killarney harbour.

Trip Map

Above is the map of the entire canoe trip we did.

 

Day 2: George Lake to OSA Lake

We rented our Canoes at Killarney Outfitters. The canoes were in top-notch condition (light-weight and very comfortable on our shoulders to portage). We launched at George Lake.

George Lake Start and End Point

 The weather was beautiful and the scenery right after the start even better.

First Trip Impressions on George Lake: Huge pink Granite Rocks

After some easy portages we arrived mid-afternoon at OSA Lake and looked for a campground. We ended up at the northern side of the lake. While not its nicest it did have a definite advantage the next day. OSA Lake is exciting. It was the first lake I ever saw in Canada with crystal clear water. When paddling across it one can see the ground 10m lower (or whatever the depth was) without problems. Next time I bring diving goggles along.

 

Day 3: Hiking and Canoeing to Muriel Lake

In the morning we hiked up to the top of a Quartzite Hill on the northern side of OSA Lake right from our camp-ground. The views from above were simply stunning.

OSA Lake: View from one of its Northern Hills

The hike up requires good shoes. Afterwards we paddled further to Muriel Lake (one portage and some minor paddling). I only managed a 1-day permit on OSA despite booking off-season post Labor day. Muriel is a nice lake for swimming while not as scenic as OSA. The campground was decent.

Morning Impression on Muriel Lake

 

3. Day: Paddling back to Killarney Lake 

We paddled back to Killarney Lake via OSA Lake. On OSA we had a lengthy swimming break. Swimming and jumping from a rock into the crystal clear water was simply gorgeous.

OSA Lake: View towards its Northern Quartzite Hills. We went up on the one in the middle of the Picture a Day earlier.

OSA Lake: Swimming in its crystal clear Waters

The weather was again very good. Killarney Lake is as scenic as OSA Lake.

 

4. Day: Trip to the Crack and paddling back to George Lake

Killarney Lake morning Impression.

Above a morning impression from our campground at Killarney Lake (no wind yet). After we started paddling back towards the Freeland Lake portage it became quite windy.

Killarney Lake: Some of its northern Quartzite Hills in the Background.

Before portaging to Freeland Lake we stopped at a portage trail towards Kakakise Lake and headed up to "The Crack". This side trip was definitely worthwhile (again it requires sturdy shoes). I let the pictures speak for themselves.

Last Stretch towards "The Crack"

View from "The Crack". Killarney Lake in the front and OSA Lake in the back.

"The Crack" itself was surprisingly crowded (with people hiking in from the border of the provincial park). Given the views from the top this is understandable.

George Lake Wind Funnel at the portage to/from Freeland Lake. The wind blowed heavy.

We faced serious head-winds on George Lake and Freeland Lake on our way back. George Lake is like a massive jet funnel with rockwalls on both sides guiding the wind towards the George Lake Freeland Lake portage. We had to rope 2 of the 3 canoes together because myself and the kids weren't strong enough and not balanced properly to paddle against the head-wind (the various guides did warn about the possibility of strong wind on George Lake).

We made it back.

But everyone made it back and was happy. Paddling in Killarney is terrific. The scenery, the hills with their different rock types, the diversity of lakes (crystal clear ones and lakes with lots of plants and bogs) and the wildlife (we saw water snakes, big snapping turtles, vultures) was simply superb.

We made it back to Ottawa several hours after mid-night.