Eight of us continued on with an unexpected 2020 season (thank you COVID-19) on August 12th in Killarney.

August Route Overview

Killarney Provincial Park was booked solid this summer. Rather than do one of our typical Bell Lake access point trips, we had to go in from the Highway 6 access point at Widgawa Lodge.

We took a shuttle from the lodge to the decrepit docks before Howry Creek and then paddled our way into Little Bear Lake. It was a very long day: 11 kilometers of paddling, 1,712 meters of portaging times two or three trips each time, and the only site close by and available was good for 1 tent. We were more than that (again, thanks to COVID).

We continued on and stayed a night on a huge island site without a thunderbox on Van Winkle Lake on Night 2, a lovely site (pictured above) on Leech Lake for Night 3, and back to Little Bear Lake and the tiny site for Night 4. We then had the same monster day on the way out that we had on the way in, but after four plus days together paddling and portaging ran smoothly.

Weather and Bugs

Temperatures ranged between 24ºC and 27ºC during the day, normal for August. We lucked out and didn’t see a ton of rain on our trip…until the last day. The skies opened up and poured for much of our trip back to Widgawa Lodge. The mosquitoes were fierce after sunset but we avoided most of the deer and horse flies.

Wildlife

This was primarily a bird listening trip. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife, possibly because we were a big group or possibly because the park was full.

Managing COVID-19

As with the last trip, we had to work to stay out of one another’s space especially once we arrived in camp. What wasn’t hard to remember to do though: frequent handwashing, lots of hand sanitizer, a decanter water bottle, and personal toilet kits. You can read more about our COVID-19 practices here.

Want to Join Us on Trip?

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