Killarney Provincial Park,
September 8th-12th, 2004
Killarney Provincial Park Homepage (opens in a new window)


This is pretty much exclusive content so far, in that I haven't e-mailed
it to anyone, so you can only find it here. All of the pictures in this
writeup were taken by Martina and are used with permission.

STORY BEGINS


Day 1 - Wednesday, September 8th, 2004

Leaving in the wee hours of the morning (10:30), the group of intrepid
explorers began their trek North into, well, extremely charted territory.
Stopping in Barrie to get lunch and pick up some essentials, such as
beer and breakfast cereal, the journey was well under way.

Along the way they learned that gas and extortion went hand in hand,
paying 92.9¢/l to fill up at the only gas bar seen for many miles. Martina's
prediction proved true as 3km's further we saw a gas station with gas at
88¢/l.

Safe in the knowledge that we had been screwed, we continued on our way
to Killarney.

Upon arrival we were told that a better site might be available, and that we
could check it out and switch sites if we would like. Well, we checked out
both sites and switched to #82 immediately. While it was a corner lot, it
looked nicer, would get some sun, and was not immediately across from
the parking lot, but was close to the water tap and the outhouses, although
not within smilling range, thankfully.

Kim and I both noted how nice the site was, and how it was completely free
of garbage - a state we made certain to return it to when we left.

Stopping by the park office to officially switch sites, we also checked out
information about their hiking trails. While we were there, we also saw
their display of what a bear can do to your cooler, and why said cooler
should be locked in your vehicle when you're not at your site.

We went back to our site, set up, and met our neighbours: Patrick and
Linda, and their chocolate lab pup Charlie. Charlie, a very outgoing and
friendly 6-month-old puppy, was a frequent, welcome visitor to our site
over the next day or so, often followed by Linda, worried he was bothering
us. From them we learned of the house in Killarney that sold good, well-
aged firewood (as opposed to the ultra-dense hardwood sold by the park).

They were good neighbours, and we were saddened to see them go on
Thursday.

That evening, we made a meal of hot dogs (veggie ones in my case), had
a couple of Sleemans', and made plans for the rest of the week.

Thursday, we decided, would be the Cranberry Bog Trail and a trip for some
firewood, Friday would be Sudbury, for Science North and Dynamic Earth,
while Saturday we would rent a canoe and take it for a spin about some
of the lakes and portages, while Sunday would find us making an early start
back to the city, to avoid the type of traffic we'd encountered on the July
1st long weekend. Kim and Martina began roasting some marshmallows,
we chatted into the night, let the fire die out, and went to bed.

That first night, as I lay somewhat chilled in my sleeping bag on the hard,
flat ground, I decided I seriously need to get a better sleeping bag, and a
self-inflating mat. It wasn't because of stones, or grooves in the earth, but
because I could only sleep on my back without doing some damage to my
hips and shoulders. On future nights, the chill was solved by coccooning
myself in the flannel sheet, inside the sleeping bag, but it still needs
replacing.


Thursday, September 9th, 2004 - Killarney Day 2 - Cranberry Bog


Friday, September 10th, 2004 - Killarney Day 3 - Sudbury


Saturday, September 11th, 2004 - Killarney Day 4 - Hiking the ridge


Sunday, September 12th, 2004 - Killarney Day 5 - The journey home


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