Hiking part of the La Cloche Silhouette Trail up 543 m to Silver Peak, Killarney Provincial Park
Everyone seemed happy and content to lay undisturbed in their respective sleeping quarters. The group of us woke lazily on the Friday morning at around 9:30.
We got up and started making preparations for our climb up Silver Peak.
Our gear...
hiking poles, hiking boots, sandals, sweat towel (me!), bear bell, cameras, hat, bandana, paddles, life jackets...
Our fuel...
We prepared peanut butter and jam bagels....some with banana slices and others without. We packed our snacks knowing that we would need to have constant energy for the big hike ahead. Everyone had their water bottles filled up with Gatorade powder.
All of us were ready to roll so we hopped into our canoes and paddled for 20 minutes on David Lake before we arrived at the Silver Peak hike entry point. We docked our canoes, had a quick snack & quickly changed into our hiking boots. With the compass and map in tow, our fearless navigator, Lee, began our journey up to Silver Peak. It was 30-45 mins. into the hike before we encountered an abundance of wild blueberry bushes. After stuffing our faces with blueberries, we were ready to head on. We traversed a few hills managing to climb up and across some serious rocks! It must have been around 45 mins. to an hour when we descended into the forest...
An Unexpected Visitor
While in the forest, we realized that something wasn't quite right with the trail that we were following. We were lost! As we began to orient ourselves in the forest, Sue, took a few steps to take a look around. I was trying to catch my bearings and take a look at the surroundings. Lee was looking at the map, and Katy and Jubette (I'm guessing) were chilling....then from the corner of my eye, I see Sue crouch down like she's looking for some toad or some other small insect...then, after a minute of her being absolutely quiet...she comes up to us and whispers, "there's a bear there" & motions a "shhh" expression with her face. With that, she gave this look of urgency, "like we need to evacuate and turn around now!" Upon hearing this, I was so internally freaked out but still had the faculties to understand that I shouldn't scream but maintain control of myself! Better keep it together Yee! In my own way, I was freaking out, albeit, contained in my body! The others were scared too and we all walked at a more vigorous speed and immediately took out our bear bells and attached them to our bodies to trigger the most noise (I hoped & prayed!), so that it would keep the bear from coming near us. Lee had also taken a look at the Black Bear and told us that it was within very close range (20-25 ft.) of us from where it was chomping away at something. When I think of it, when we had hit a wrong turn when we did and all stopped to catch our bearings and to reassess our location and the direction of the right trail, I know that God was watching over us in a timely matter and taking care of our group! Bonus to that effect was that particular bear was eating and preoccupied when we spotted it! As we proceeded to hike, (I could only speak for myself as we were all relatively "silent"), I had conjured up in my mind creepy images of that bear coming out and attacking us! This thought plagued my mind constantly as we motored on...even as I transferred more thoughts on carefully negotiating my steps and prayerfully hoping that the end would be reached soon, that mere image was still etched in the back of my brain! And so regardless of what was on the forefront of my mind, I still had my senses reserved for an "at-a-moments notice" visitor...Not that I would be able to do anything about it anyways!
The Are-We-There-Yet? Hike
For what seemed like an eternity and a seemingly endless hike (in many of our minds), we must have climbed some serious ascents and descents that at times it required the use of all 4 of our limbs! I kept thinking to myself, "when are we finally going to get to the peak!?! Enough already!...In truth, that thought came to my mind maybe 6 times! [NB. That thought came to my mind about 100x when I was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro!]. The eternal optimist in me says, we're almost there...just one more peak & we're there......Sadly, that eternal optimism does not make me immune you to sweat, pain, and fatigue! Without careful maneuvering and placement of your hands and feet, it was totally conceivable that you could twist, turn or break your ankle(s)! The terrain was an eclectic combination of mossy, muddy (both dry and wet), bush/forest, rocky and at times with tree roots that jetted out of the ground (that if you weren't paying attention, could cause you to trip and propel you into the bush!). The quartzite boulders & ridges were uniquely beautiful! By far, the most glorious and uniquely Killarney features were those quartzite ridges that represented the vast La Cloche Mountain range system.
Hello Silver Peak....we finally made it!
After close to 3 hrs. of exhausting hiking, we crossed paths with other various hikers who were descending their climb. They encouraged us by saying that the peak was within reach and that we were close. I didn't have a mirror to see how my facial expression was, but trust me when I say that my body was joyful to hear of such good news! After 40 mins. of my "eternal optimism" spurring me on, we finally reached the highest peak in Killarney! We were all so elated that we gave each other high fives and took some celebratory photos! The panoramic vistas that we were able to view from the peak were sensational and we quickly understood the hoopla around climbing this peak. One could easily spend a good amount of time up there contemplating and soaking in the beauty. We must have spent half an hour to 40 mins. doing exactly that while enjoying our packed lunch of peanut butter and jam with banana bagels. The wind was terribly strong that day and we were afraid that our things would be blown off the peak! After getting a bit of rest, relaxing, refueling, & further rationing our water, we decided that we needed to start heading back down. It was around 3-4pm. The climb back down was not a walk in the park, as we had to again, carefully negotiate our steps to avoid falling or causing injury. By the time we made our way back down countless steep valleys and up countless high ascents, we were exhausted, yet very thrilled at finding the trail that led to the final steps to our parked canoes! In order for one to climb Silver Peak, you had to conquer other small peaks in order to do so. The task was not so easy as each of us could attest to. The opening site of our canoes among David Lake was a welcome one. The hike down totaled to about 3 or so hours. Without a minute to waste, Sue needed to jump into the lake to get relief from the heat and our climb! The rest of us sat down to rest and downed some much needed water! As we sat there to rest, I think that we were all quietly reflecting on how proud we were of scaling Silver Peak.....and making it out unscathed of Black Bears!!! We sat for a mere 15-20 mins. before we changed into our sandals and ventured back to our campsite.
Hindsight is always 20/20...
For several of us who were quite experienced in hiking, we had some serious flaws in our overall preparations. First, we lacked enough water for the hike and not being well hydrated could have left us in serious trouble especially as you factor in the sun beaming down hard on us as we perspired and exerted our energy and strength to climb Silver Peak. That was a close one because once we did finish our hike and happily...and finally returned to our docked canoes, we quickly made a desperate run to drink the "extra" water that we had left there and which we did not carry with us!
Second, we didn't prepare any sort of light sources in case we had to return to our docked canoes in the dark! We didn't anticipate the fact that we could get lost or disoriented on our hike. Or, if some emergency had occurred, we may have been stuck or delayed on the trail for an extended amount of time into the evening darkness. We didn't bring our flashlights or headlamps!
Third, we didn't bring the First Aid kit! Thankfully, no one got hurt or even close to it BUT the "what if's?" would've nipped us in the butt if someone did get hurt and it required the need of basic first aid supplies! Whew! *Note to self: Put on checklist for next hiking exploration!
...Still, hindsight is 20/20 & upon reflection, we contemplate for the future and make more careful preparations so as not to bust too many amateur moves!
All in all, the 3 nights and 4 day adventures in Killarney were an amazing time to enjoy the blessings of God's gift of the outdoors to us....everything from the nuances of the ever annoying (or unique) woodpecker pecking the tree, the loon singing, birds chirping, the refreshing smell of pine trees, the softness felt below the feet as we walked through the forest, the splendid view of quartzite boulders and ridges, the sunrise and the glorious sunsets, to the serene and calming lake...if you really engage and experience nature and everything that it embodies...okay, okay...even big fat ants, toads, and black bears, we could grasp the amazing beauty that surrounds us. The five of us set out on journeying through interior backcountry camping and we successfully completed that feat!
We roughed it by not showering for 3 days, showed our strength while carrying gear and portaging, championed solidarity while going together to the Thunder Box in night in the pitch black ~ I couldn't even see my own hand waving! trips to the the thunder box despite the threat of having our backside bitten off[!] [My personal fav. was hearing the pine wood lid slam down..the sound..haha...], drank filtered lake water, hiked for roughly 6 hrs. up and down Silver Peak, & just plain lived in the woods without having anyone get terribly lost, sick or hurt! I totally enjoyed our adventures and give serious props to the crew: LW, KW, jUBES, & SYH! For a group of adventure seekers who never camped together before (and for 2 Yee sisters who managed not to ring each other's neck!!! Just playin'), we played hard (our BIG hike & portaging), looked out for each other (Visiting Thunder Box in the pitch darkness; "Jubette, stop moving, let me see if that works!" ~KW asking jUBES to stop swimming to see if her life jacket worked before feeling confident enough to jump into the water! Seriously hahahaa) took care of one another (cooked tasty meals & set up camp) & had a while lot of fun! I'd go camping with you guys anytime!
Until our next wilderness adventure...
