Our Killarney winter hike was postponed so many times this year that I was starting to worry there wouldn’t be any snow. Fortunately, while the roads were bare in Southern Ontario, after a white knuckled drive up highway 69 through a snowstorm we found plenty of white stuff on the ground. When we arrived at the campground we discovered that the underground sewer main had frozen and put the toilets were out of commission. The recent cold wasn’t enough to make the lakes completely safe however. After giving us the standard warning about walking on the ice, the park staff added that someone had recently fallen through on George Lake near one of the shoals. We did find a thin layer of slush on top of some of the smaller lakes, and narrow gaps of open water near the shore of George Lake, but these were easily avoided.
We followed the Silhouhette Trail to Little Sheguiandah Lake, where we crossed over to George Lake. The ups and downs of the trail served as a good warm up for the hike. As we started to cross the ice we spotted something moving in the distance. It was a fox, crossing from the north side of the lake to the south. We thought that we’d seen the last of it when it disappeared into the trees, but after a few minutes it re-emerged and crossed back to the north side.
We followed the fox across the ice. It was bounding playfully through the snow, but was still very far from us. We were headed for the ‘lost’ portage to OSA Lake. The last time we hiked this part of the ridge I failed to find the old portage, but armed with Jeff’s map it was easy. The start of the trail is marked with an old fashioned blaze chopped into a tree. The trail itself was relatively easy to follow thanks to occasional strips of flagging tape. We weren’t the first visitors this winter, most of the trail was packed down by a wide set of snowshoe tracks. We still managed to lose the trail a couple of times, but it was easy to find again using the map.
Our ultimate destination was the eastern peak of the ridge that separates George and OSA Lakes, but I had decided to cross the portage to OSA Lake to climb the north side of the hill which wasn’t as steep as the south side. As we crossed the saddle between the two hills I was keeping a lookout for a shortcut so that we wouldn’t have to descend all the way down to OSA before starting to climb. I spotted a promising looking gash that cut diagonally into the rocks on the right side of the trail, and after some discussion we decided to try climbing up there.
We had to clamber over a pile of large boulders that had fractured off of the cliff face above just to get to the base of the hill. The crack that we were climbing was broken into a series of vertical steps. We had to remove our snowshoes to climb over these steps, and progress was slow since a tumble at this point would have been pretty devastating. We were only 20m from the top when the trail ended. The crack we had been following cut into the hill and ended in a small cave. We stopped to have a snack and enjoy the view before we turned around and headed back down the hill.
We tried to skirt the base of the hill without descending into the valley below, but the rocks continued to loom high on our right, so we eventually had to descend almost all of the way to OSA Lake before we found a way to climb the rocks. It was a challenging climb here as well, and I had to scramble on my knees several times. As we rose out of the trees again the snow got thinner. At one point I tried to plant my snowshoes into the snow to climb a steep slope and I heard a loud scraping sound as the crampons cut right through the snow and slid across the polished quartzite underneath. We decided to skirt around the mound of rock rather than trying to climb it with no snow to give us purchase.
The mound of rock we were climbing wasn’t that large on the map, even though it’s one of the prominent peaks when viewed from OSA Lake. We were rewarded with a great view from the top, but we were also stranded on a local peak. My original plan had us ascending through the valley to the east, and I realized that we’d started to climb to soon. After looking at it for a while we decided that it would be easiest to descend into the valley and proceed as originally planned.
The snow was deeper in this valley, and for the first time our snowshoes started to break through the crust on every step, making progress much more difficult. We were heading for a pass between two small peaks, which eventually led us to the south face of the hill where we had to wind our way along the ridge. The face was cut with many small valleys which made it necessary to climb up and down several times as we made our way along the edge of the hill.
We finally reached the small beaver pond between the two peaks of the hill. I honestly don’t know what prompts a beaver to climb a mountain in order to build a dam, but then again I’m not even sure what prompts software developers to make the same climb. From the pond the second peak is quite steep, and it took us a little while to decide on the best path for the final ascent. We finally settled on a steep diagonal walk up the far slope. The hill was well treed which gave us lots purchase, but it was steep enough that it was slow going.
The peak was a bit disappointing. The trees are so thick that there isn’t much of a view from the top. It didn’t help that the snow had started again and reduced what little visibility we did have to just a few kilometres. In retrospect I wish we’d also climbed the first peak that we circled around on the way up. It’s slightly shorter on the map, but had a better opportunity for a view since it overlooks OSA Lake.
Getting off the mountain was significantly easier than getting up. We returned to the pond and then followed some deer tracks down the hill from there. The pond drains down the other side of the hill, so we didn’t have an easy valley to follow to the bottom, but we were able to pick our way between the rocks until we reached a ridge that was too steep to cross. We followed the edge to a spot where the map showed the slope flattening out. From there it was a matter of scrambling down one large pile of rubble after another. The north face is very steep, but I was surprised at the number of places where we were able to find footholds. We could have ascended this face instead of circling all the way around to the north side of the hill. It would have been shorter, but also much harder.
We were almost at the bottom when we started to encounter more animal tracks. They were very fresh, particularly in light of the snowfall we had that morning. The prints were so distinct that it soon became evident that two or three fairly large wolves had passed through here that morning. We followed them for a while before turning away and descending the final distance to the lake below.
Our trip had been shorter than on previous years, and thanks to the spring sunset we were able to walk back across George Lake in the sun for the first time. It started to snow again, reducing our visibility significantly. We were able to get moving much faster on the flat ice and I had to stop to catch my breath several times, but we soon found ourselves in view of the campground. We were very careful in the narrows and steered clear of the hole in the ice where someone had fallen through.
Thanks to the frozen toilet we had to change in the parking lot, but it wasn’t so cold that this was onerous, just a bit uncomfortable. After that we just had to stay awake for the four hour drive home.
Tips
- If you do this as a day trip you’ll have to purchase a day pass from the park office for parking your vehicle.
- This climb could be easily done as a day trip in the summer while camping at the car campground by canoeing to the start of the portage. It would also make a fine day trip while backcountry camping on OSA Lake.
- If you do the trip in the winter you can rent snowshoes from The Friends Of Killarney Park at the camp office where you pick up your permit.
- Killarney almost never disappoints, but it often punishes. The scenery is unique and incredible, but a considerable amount of effort is required to make this trip. Make sure that you know how to navigate off trail because it can be quite challenging in areas even with a GPSr and a map.