Since Sunday was our last day and we wouldn’t have to make camp that night I had hoped that we’d be able to do some more hiking before leaving Grace Lake, but the rain continued to threaten all morning. We cooked up the last of our food for breakfast. We were at the bottom of the food bag, so we ended up eating porridge and chilli for breakfast while we watched the skies hoping for a break in the clouds. We watched for quite a while, but rain didn’t completely stop until we were almost ready to leave.
On the whole I can’t really complain about the weather, even though it did rain for most of the last two days of the trip. I was a bit disappointed that we weren’t able to do more exploring in the hills surrounding Grace Lake, but the rain and mist do complement the landscape well. And after six days of spectacular weather the rain was just another aspect of life outdoors. I would have been much more disappointed if our entire trip had been rained out, so I hope that the people we met camping for the Labour Day weekend managed to enjoy their wet backcountry experiences.
The portage from Grace Lake back down to Frood Lake is another very scenic trail. Normally it crosses the creek in a couple of places where strategically placed rocks and logs make it possible (if not prudent) to cross with dry feet. Today the runoff from the rain had transformed the path into a mudslide. The creek that gurgles next to the trail was now fed by a torrent of water running down the middle of the trail. One of the water crossings had me almost up to my knees in cool rainwater, which did at least help to wash the mud off of my sandals.
Alex was trying to stay out of the water, but with one pack on the back and another on the front he couldn’t see the ground so he had to keep putting one bag down in order to choose his footing. In one particularly tricky section he slipped while jumping on a log and almost had a nasty accident.
I had to put the canoe and pack down a couple of times on the way down to give my shoulders a break, and the last stretch of trail seemed agonizingly long, but we finally made it to the bottom and the long paddle back to the car. For once the weather was on our side and there was no wind on Frood Lake. At times it can be pretty strong through here making the paddling difficult. It still took us a few hours to make it back to the car, but it was easy paddling past the cottages and lodges outside the park.
Tips
- There are multiple challenges on this trip including long portages and some areas that are difficult to navigate. It isn’t a trip for novice canoeists.
- Some of the portages are long and quite steep. Distribute your gear wisely keeping the portages in mind. The perfect combination for us was three light packs (25lb, 25lb and 35lb) and one ultralight canoe for two people.
- While the northern lakes see less traffic much of this trip passes through some very popular areas, so make sure that you book early to get the sites that you want.
- We didn’t see many people on some portions of the trip, but we did encounter at least one group on every day of the trip.
- Consider a water taxi to shorten the paddle on the first day.
- Leave time in the schedule to account for fluctuating water levels, but if possible avoid booking the less scenic northern lakes.
- There will be some motorboat traffic on the northern border lakes, and many of the interior lakes will have cottages and some traffic as well. Even if Killarney truly becomes a wilderness park, the western portion of this route outside of the park through McGregor bay does pass by quite a few cottages.
- Doing this trip clockwise like we did is much easier than doing the reverse. Not only are more of the portages downhill, the worst portages don’t come until near the end of the trip when the load is lighter.