There is no such island in Killarney, but in my daughter’s mind we were on Mosquito Island for the duration of our shortest canoe trip to date.
We drove up to the park for the weekend to host a film screening of Wilderness Trails at the park amphitheatre. Scott (co-creator of the film) and his family joined us for lunch (fish & chips) in the town of Killarney before we headed to the park to set up our camp sites. After supper we headed over to the amphitheatre to set up equipment and do a sound check. What a perfect setting to watch the film we made of our hike on the La Cloche Silhouette Trail. Thank you to Rachelle from K.P.P. and the Friends of Killarney Park for bringing us up to show our film!
Since we were already in the park we thought why not a short canoe trip. The following morning we set off to the Bell Lake access point to canoe to the only lake we could reserve (last minute planning) that was close enough for our ‘one nighter’ – Grey Lake.
This was to be the kids (ages 3 & 5) first experience with a portage – 595M from the east side of Bell Lake into Grey Lake. They were excited about the hike because each of them had been allowed to bring their own backpacks. So off they went, down the path, deeper into the forest as I walked close behind them, weighted down with a pack on both my back and front and a camera in one hand. Thankfully I had one free hand because the mosquitos did not take very long to zone in on the two inexperienced mosquito swatters. So with that free hand I swatted mosquitos away from my son and daughter while they walked as fast as their little legs could go. When we finally arrived at the end of the portage, I dropped all my gear and quickly retrieved the bug spray while I listened to my daughter confidently announce, “I do not like Mosquito Island, this is the worst day of my life!”
Site 239 on Grey Lake is a fantastic spot to camp! Nice views down the lake to the east, a couple of good tent pads and a few different options for swimming. We swam for an hour or so that afternoon, enjoyed a supper of salad, steak and potatoes, the kids wandered all over the site, looked for frogs, climbed rocks and later we all enjoyed a warm fire & conversation on a cool summer night with good friends. I know that my daughter had earlier said that it was the worst day of her life, but from the looks of the activities from the rest of the day (watch the film), I think it might have been one of the best days of her life – even though she seems to mostly recall the mosquitos.