Our last day was grey and cloudy but the sun peeked out occasionally from between the clouds. I was reluctant to leave, and we had more than enough food to stay another few days, but our booking was done, and the responsibilities of the world beckoned. We were still pretty slow in packing up our site and it was one o’clock before got out on the water.
The paddle across O.S.A. Lake was easy. It can get a bit tough when the wind is up, but it was nice and calm today. The portage to Killarney Lake is nice and flat, and the food bag was now pretty light, so we decided to do a single carry. I took the canoe and the food bag while Xander took both of the other packs. This was our only single carry of the trip, and it was more just to say that we did one than to save any time or effort. That said, It was nice to be able to just drop the canoe in the lake and keep going at the other end.
Killarney Lake is very scenic, but it can also be a bit tricky to navigate. I had the map folded the wrong way so that I couldn’t see the relevant area and I was determined to find the portage without looking at the GPSr. The last time we were here I steered us into a dead end, but this time I managed it without mishap.
We saw one couple camped on Killarney Lake and there were several groups of people on the portage to Freeland. We’d been encountering more and more people as we got closer to George Lake, and we even encountered some day trippers when we reached the last portage from Freeland to George. Once we arrived at Freeland Lake we’d officially completed our loop, and we just had an easy paddle across George to return to my car.
I’d left a fresh change of clothes in my car for the trip home, but I’d neglected to bring a towel, and it never even occurred to me to pack some soap or shampoo in the car. I still availed myself of the showers at the George Lake campground. While the shower was refreshing and made the drive back to Sudbury more comfortable, it came with a pretty heavy price. I’m pretty sure that the infestation of athlete’s foot I came down with was thanks to this shower, and not something I contracted in the backcountry.