Thursday, August 27, 2015 – Muriel Lake to George Lake – 15.3 km
Our route on day ten took us through Muriel, O. S. A., Killarney, Freeland and George Lakes. We had been expecting quite a chilly night. The forecast was for a low of eight degrees, but it didn’t seem that cold. There was a slight chill in the air, when we got up in the morning, but it was actually a beautiful, clear morning! We lazed around and went through our morning routines more slowly than we usually did. I don’t know if we were taking our time, because the weather was much improved, or because it was our last day and we were just enjoying our final morning in Killarney. I made a fire, and we sat and talked, as we drank tea and ate oatmeal, with lots of raisins and brown sugar. It was after 10 am, when we left our beautiful camp-site.
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Muriel is a small lake, so it did not take us very long to paddles across it. We enjoyed the warm sun in the cool morning air. The 595 metre portage to O. S. A. Lake is on the north-east bank of the lake. The portage landing was mucky, but the portage itself, was fairly flat, with only small inclines and declines. When I booked the trip, I had tried to book our last night on O. S. A., but it had already been booked solid. O. S. A. is an absolutely stunning lake! We enjoyed paddling across it.
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There is a portage that leads directly back to George Lake, but it is 1285 metres and quite steep. We decided to paddle a little farther, and do less portaging. There are two portages on the east end of O. S. A. Both lead to Killarney Lake. The one in the north-east corner is 455 metres long. The one in the south-east corner is only 120 metres, so we decided to take it. It might not have been a great decision. The portage itself, was quite easy, but it led to a very mucky bay in Killarney Lake. We had a little trouble paddling through the shallows, and we were happy when we got to deeper water.
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Killarney Lake is a large, very picturesque lake. We had to stick near the south shore to get to our portage to Freeland Lake. We had to paddle around a large peninsula and skip over a couple of bays. I should have gotten my compass out, but didn’t. because it looked pretty straightforward on the map. I accidentally had us paddle into one of the bays. We soon, figured out my mistake and were back on course. The portage from Killarney Lake to Freeland Lake was incredibly busy. We were a little shocked to see so many people, after so many days away. The portage was crazy! Quite a few of the paddlers were newbies and weren’t following typical etiquette. Some people had a big lunch spread out, blocking the portage. Some other people had left gear blocking the trail. We were glad to push off into Freeland Lake, although, I did take time to stop and get a nice picture of a cascading creek. We paddled Freeland Lake earlier in the trip. It’s a narrow, shallow, plant-filled lake. It was far too busy to see any wildlife.
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We did the short portage back into George Lake. It was also busy. When I was bringing the food barrel to the dock, I noticed Charlotte talking with a young couple who were about to land. She was giving them paddling lessons! It was their first time in a canoe, and they were glad to get some advice. They were just out for a day trip and had made it across George Lake. After watching them paddle for a bit, I got a little concerned about them getting back. They had the wind helping them get to the portage, but would have to paddle against it, the get back to the campground.
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A couple of the above pictures clearly show the pink granite of the south shore, as well as the white La Cloche Range. I am amazed by these to beautifully contrasting rock formations.
We were tired, as we paddled across George Lake, into a slight head-wind. We certainly had a sense of accomplishment, but I was also a little reluctant to see the trip end. The prospect of a cold beer and fish and chips on the dock, in the town of Killarney helped our tired muscles get us to the beach on George Lake!
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Adventures, Wanderings and Musings 