It was an early morning on the 1st of July of 2002, at the Roche Rouge campground. We were deciding during a late breakfast where to go, since we had not made our decision the day before due to unknown weather conditions. We put a Killarney Provincial Park map on the table and started to compare different alternatives for a one-day loop trip. Finally we came to a conclusion. To make the George Lake – Freeland Lake – Killarney Lake – Threenarrows Lake - Artist Lake – Muriel Lake – O.S.A. Lake – Killarney Lake – Freeland Lake – George Lake loop. Even though we noticed that the portage between Threenarrows and Killarney is pretty long (3160 m), and the other one between Threenarrows and Artist (1320 + 700 m) could be steep one (we did not know that this one is considered the steepest one in the park. We also made a wrong assumption due to primitive ‘map delusion’ that we would go all the way down if we come from Threenarrows to Artist Lake) we decided to give it a try. We had all the necessary and sufficient conditions: promising weather, two 16’ Kevlar canoes, four paddles, four life jackets, Killarney Provincial Park map, a few sandwiches, some fruits and water. It was a beautiful sunny morning and after a half an hour discussion we drew our conclusion based on the last strong argument: “If not today, then when?”
Route Description:
Start at George Lake - main campground around 10AM
East on George Lake ~ 40min
P 80 m L around dam
East on Freeland Lake ~ 30min
P 455 m to Killarney
North then east through Killarney Lake ~ 1hr
Until this point it was a quite usual and familiar route.
P 3160 m to small-unnamed lake
After this portage it became clear to us that no matter what we would not go back through this portage again today.
P 395 m to Threenarrows Lake
North then southwest on Threenarrows Lake
Swim and lunch at beginning of portage
P 540 m on Threenarrows Lake (Old portage not shown on the new map, difficult to find, no clear path)
Southwest on Threenarrows Lake
P 1320+700m to Artist Lake
East on Artist Lake
East on “Venice” Lake
P 210 m to Muriel Lake
East on Muriel Lake
P 595 m to O.S.A Lake
We finished the portage and continued on. However, it was getting late and the sky was beginning to darken.
East on O.S.A Lake ~ 1hr
(Sunset)
P 455 m to Killarney Lake
East then South on Killarney Lake
P 455 m to Freeland Lake
West through Freeland Lake
We could feel our tired shoulders ache under the weight of the heavy canoe. We were extremely tired now and took a short break to drink some water and rest. We enjoyed lots of fire worms flying across the water and showing us the way home.
At 10:30 we came to the last short portage that we needed to cross.
P 80 m to George Lake
West on George Lake to finish at park around 11:30PM.
At that point we realized that our trip was over and we could relax and take a final swim before going to the camp. We were awfully tired and extremely happy…
Members:
Mrs. Valentina Aganov
Mrs. Maria Kusina
Mr. Alex Aganov
Mr. David Shneider
Comments
A FOUR-DAY TRIP IN ONE DAY.
It was an early morning on the 1st of July of 2002, at the Roche Rouge campground. We were deciding during a late breakfast where to go, since we had not made our decision the day before due to unknown weather conditions. We put a Killarney Provincial Park map on the table and started to compare different alternatives for a one-day loop trip. Finally we came to a conclusion. To make the George Lake – Freeland Lake – Killarney Lake – Threenarrows Lake - Artist Lake – Muriel Lake – O.S.A. Lake – Killarney Lake – Freeland Lake – George Lake loop. Even though we noticed that the portage between Threenarrows and Killarney is pretty long (3160 m), and the other one between Threenarrows and Artist (1320 + 700 m) could be steep one (we did not know that this one is considered the steepest one in the park. We also made a wrong assumption due to primitive ‘map delusion’ that we would go all the way down if we come from Threenarrows to Artist Lake) we decided to give it a try. We had all the necessary and sufficient conditions: promising weather, two 16’ Kevlar canoes, four paddles, four life jackets, Killarney Provincial Park map, a few sandwiches, some fruits and water. It was a beautiful sunny morning and after a half an hour discussion we drew our conclusion based on the last strong argument: “If not today, then when?”
Route Description:
Start at George Lake - main campground around 10AM
East on George Lake ~ 40min
P 80 m L around dam
East on Freeland Lake ~ 30min
P 455 m to Killarney
North then east through Killarney Lake ~ 1hr
Until this point it was a quite usual and familiar route.
P 3160 m to small-unnamed lake
After this portage it became clear to us that no matter what we would not go back through this portage again today.
P 395 m to Threenarrows Lake
North then southwest on Threenarrows Lake
Swim and lunch at beginning of portage
P 540 m on Threenarrows Lake (Old portage not shown on the new map, difficult to find, no clear path)
Southwest on Threenarrows Lake
P 1320+700m to Artist Lake
East on Artist Lake
East on “Venice” Lake
P 210 m to Muriel Lake
East on Muriel Lake
P 595 m to O.S.A Lake
We finished the portage and continued on. However, it was getting late and the sky was beginning to darken.
East on O.S.A Lake ~ 1hr
(Sunset)
P 455 m to Killarney Lake
East then South on Killarney Lake
P 455 m to Freeland Lake
West through Freeland Lake
We could feel our tired shoulders ache under the weight of the heavy canoe. We were extremely tired now and took a short break to drink some water and rest. We enjoyed lots of fire worms flying across the water and showing us the way home.
At 10:30 we came to the last short portage that we needed to cross.
P 80 m to George Lake
West on George Lake to finish at park around 11:30PM.
At that point we realized that our trip was over and we could relax and take a final swim before going to the camp. We were awfully tired and extremely happy…
Members:
Mrs. Valentina Aganov
Mrs. Maria Kusina
Mr. Alex Aganov
Mr. David Shneider