# Luc backpacking the La Cloche Silhouette in Killarney Park



## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

From my external blog, with pictures added back in....

This trip had lots of changes. 

First, we were supposed to go backpacking to Topaz Lake in Killarney in July, but there is a family wedding that weekend, so we switched it to May 7-8th heading up to Killarney to the campground on the 6th. 

Then, Toby's back went. It was bad. He only missed one day of work, but I had to drive him to our RMT which is MAYBE 700m away from our house because he couldn't walk. Physio, massage, and muscle relaxants helped but he wasn't in a position to backpack, carrying a pack, or even car camp and sleep on an air mattress and day hike.

I decided to go anyways. When I switched our reservation to May I reserved Cave Lake, H5, but with Toby not coming I decided to go to H48, Proulx Lake. Which is one of the prettier sites on the trail. 

Watching the weather leading up it was supposed to rain on Saturday, but be nice Sunday.

I worked a half day Friday and then headed up. I knew I'd be arriving after the office closed (it closed at 3:30pm) so I called and asked if they could sit aside some firewood for me. I arrived and - no wood. Bah. The next day when I checked in I mentioned it as I thought maybe they forgot to put it out, but no, someone else took it, despite it being clearly marked for campsite 8. Jerks. 

Anyways.

I had initially been planning to take both dogs, but Toby said he didn't think I would be able to get both dogs up the Crack by myself. I thought about it, and agreed with him. We agreed that he would stay with Neb and Luc and I would go on a buddies trip. After all, Luc turns 13 in July and we don't know how much longer he'll be able to do this sort of thing.

The drive up was uneventful, though on Hwy. 69 there was a turtle (I think snapping) crossing the highway - myself and the cars behind me swerved to avoid it but traffic was busy and I'm not sure it made it. I just felt sick that it would get hit, but I couldn't safely stop and get it. Still, it cast a pall for awhile. 

On Hwy. 637 I saw what I think was a marten dashing across the road followed shortly by a black bear on the side of the road. The car behind me stopped and they got out! Honestly, leave the bear alone, don't habituate it to people. Sheesh. Dumb people. 

Friday night was uneventful. 



Saturday I woke up to a light rain. Packed up and went to the office, checked in, charged my phone for a bit then hit the trail about 10am. It was raining but not overly hard. I was wearing my rainpants and rain jacket, then quickly decided I was way too warm and took off my rain jacket so I was just in my merino tshirt - after all, merino is warm when wet. 

Shortly after we crested the first hill, we saw two day hikers with a dog on leash, so I put Luc back on leash. They said they'd seen a bear (the other side of the A.Y. Jackson Lake) so after we passed by I elected to keep Luc on leash for awhile. I didn't want a bear to spook him or him to spook a bear. No signs of it though. 



This weekend was the spring clean up weekend that the Friends of Killarney Park puts on, and at Wagon Road Lake crossing the beaver dam I came across two women and a girl who were engaged in cleaning up backcountry campsites. The girl fell in crossing the dam. The lead woman was using a shovel as a hiking pole, which I thought was incredibly strange, until she explained they were cleaning campsites...ahh, that makes sense. 

The rest of the way to where the La Cloche Silhouette intersects with the Crack trail was unremarkable, though Luc did experience some doubt crossing a swollen stream and eventually had to run through it much to his horror. I was very impressed at his bravery though.

It did really start to pour in this section, and I was cursing the thought of having to go up the Crack (which Luc does not enjoy) and onto the ridges in the rain. Those rocks are s-l-i-p-p-e-r-y when wet. 
Shortly after the La Cloche intersects with the Crack trail, I saw two trail runners on their way to Silver Peak, so we had a nice quick conversation about running. 

Once onto the ridges below the Crack we ran into some people with their dog coming down from the Crack. Heading up the ridge was fine, though it was wet, as Luc can attest to:







Then we got the Crack - Luc's nemesis. I was dreading taking him up it in slippery rocks. 







Yes the picture above is the trail. You can imagine how much fun it is to take a geriatric German Shepherd up that!

But he did good. We got up to the top and two people said 'Wow, we were just wondering if our dogs would be able to make it up here! Hey, he's on old timer, a grey beard!' and I was like 'Aww, well, yes, but he's ageless really'. 

I'd been making okay time until the hills before the Crack, but once hitting the wet exposed rock and route finding I slowed down. I fell twice. Sigh. The first time Luc was like 'What are you doing?' Thanks Luc. 











We saw some early spring flowers!



It was just under 13k to Proulx Lake and I took under 4:20hrs to get there - I'm not sure exactly because I forgot to stop my GPS when I got to the campsite.

When I got there the three guys and their German Shepherd mix who had stayed their the night before were still there! They'd decided to wait out the rain before heading out. Their dog got in Luc's face but like a good boy he just ignored it. I was unimpressed. 

They decided to do a last minute site check for garbage - how nice! The volunteers I'd seen early said they were at Proulx Lake and that it was in great shape.

I feel like the volunteers probably would've removed the copious amounts of pistachio shells that were around the campfire. That were undoubtedly from the guys who had stayed there Friday night (but oh yeah, they checked for garbage...idiots). 

Anyways, I set up camp, got the bear rope hung, did a terrible job with the tarp (I just kept the pack under it, it was clearing by then). I was reading my Kobo on a log around the campsire when I saw orange out of the corner of my eye, looked over, and saw a guy heading towards the site! 

I went over to say hello, Luc barked in his best German Shepherd style - the man was tired and couldn't make his campsite for the night, he asked if he could camp below my site and I said sure, not a problem. 

I went back to reading then felt bad - he might want a fire! I'd been too lazy to gather wood, but he might enjoy it. I went over to tell him that he was welcome to come up and use the fire pit. He said he was having some trouble finding a flat site for his tent, so I said there was one next to the tent pad he was welcome to. He came up, Luc barked some more, but then calmed down. 

We introduced ourselves - Atanu was his name - he'd come in from Bell Lake bushwhacking and was heading the Crack parking lot. I was jealous, I've always wanted to do the Bell Lake bushwhacking route. 

Anyways, after he was all set up we got to chatting. Turns out he is also an Outdoor Club member (the club I used to volunteer for and that I was president of). We discussed mutual people we know and agreed that Jesse makes the best chai tea on winter backpacking trips! 

Atanu unlike me wasn't lazy and gathered firewood, so we had a fire:



We had a nice night talking and Luc enjoyed himself.









The evening sun was beautiful.



I had a good sleep. It was forecasted to go down to 0C and that seems pretty accurate, at least, so I was glad for my big Big Agnes sleeping pad and -10C sleeping bag. The world's coldest sleeper slept comfortably. 

I woke up when Luc wanted to get up. We got out and it was SNOWING!!! On May 8th! Incredible! What the heck....

We had a quick time breaking camp and then started hiking together. Luc did good getting up the ridge by Little Superior though needed some help in places. 



Don't believe me when I said it was snowing? Check out these pics, including snow caught in a bush and on a spider web. Of course this meant that rocks on the ridges were once again wet and slippery thanks to the snow. Sigh. 







We got down the Crack okay - Luc finds it easier to go down then up, probably because he can actually see the route easier. He's short enough he can't see where he's going when he goes out. I'm taller than him (obviously) and I find going down easier for the same reason.



Atanu had offered if I wanted to go the Crack parking lot with him (which is closer than George Lake) and give me a ride back to my car at George Lake. I could feel a hot spot/blister developing on my big toe and the snow had changed to rain so I decided to take him up on it. We did just over 7.5k on the day.

It was great to make a new friend in Atanu! After some initial barking Luc really took to him too, which was great. 

Gear - I used my Granite Gear Vapor Ki pack, as I was carrying more weight, my Big Agnes Fly Creek 2, my Big Agnes Double Z sleeping pad (I think that's it) and Luc had my Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol sleeping pad. I brought my Western Mountaineering -10C sleeping bag so my pack was HUGE. Heh. But all worked well, it's just a better workout I guess.

Note not from my external blog, because Atanu saw my external blog...but I called Toby (my husband) when I had reception and told him about letting Atanu stay at my site and he was furious - a solo woman - but I was like I had Luc (fat lotta good he'd do, but a deterrent) and if Atanu had really wanted to hurt me telling him he couldn't stay at my site wouldn't have stopped that. And trail kindness to other hikers is important!


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## WIBackpacker (Jan 9, 2014)

Awesome trip log. I think it's fantastic that you get that old man out there. 

My husband and I have also had conversations about my love of solo tripping.... To which I always respond, "I'm NEVER alone, I have her/them." 

PS - The 3/4 length Thermarests in my inventory have been permanently claimed by the dogs.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

Thanks! Yeah, I think it keeps him young. As long as he's capable, I'd like to keep doing trips with him, though what he's doing has slowed down.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Sounds like a fun trip and nice scenery too, very different than us, though it looks like you guys have as much rock as we do. We also see snow late in the season, on one trip we woke up to 2-3" in later June.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

Nigel said:


> Sounds like a fun trip and nice scenery too, very different than us, though it looks like you guys have as much rock as we do. We also see snow late in the season, on one trip we woke up to 2-3" in later June.


I hope you were at elevation when you had snow in June! Yikes! We were slow to get summer this year but once it arrived it hit with a vengeance.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

jarn said:


> I hope you were at elevation when you had snow in June! Yikes! We were slow to get summer this year but once it arrived it hit with a vengeance.


The lake where we camped is about 4,000 ft, but we've had it in town too (1,800ft) though that is rare. 

What do the blue and red "trail markers" represent? Noticed them in a few pics?


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

Nigel said:


> The lake where we camped is about 4,000 ft, but we've had it in town too (1,800ft) though that is rare.
> 
> What do the blue and red "trail markers" represent? Noticed them in a few pics?


The blue markers are for the backpacking trail - the La Cloche Silhouette - and the red are for day or side trails. The Crack is part of the La Cloche but there is also day trail access to it from another point so it's got red and blue markers in spots. There's also cairns to mark the trail on the ridges.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Thanks for the explanation. It's nice that at his age Luc is still able to join you on your trips and that you have access to such beautiful areas. I was able to travel around some parts of Quebec when we lived in upstate NY, but not much of eastern Ontario.


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## FarNorthTess (Jul 29, 2016)

Nice pics. 

I was told that dogs couldn't make it up there but nice to see that they can. I had orginally wanted to but scrapped that idea becuase I was told dogs couldn't go up the crack. I may just have to put it back on my list :wink2:


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

FarNorthTess said:


> Nice pics.
> 
> I was told that dogs couldn't make it up there but nice to see that they can. I had orginally wanted to but scrapped that idea becuase I was told dogs couldn't go up the crack. I may just have to put it back on my list :wink2:


A GSD would be fine. A Yorkie might find it difficult but I suppose you could carry them heh. But a GSD should have no problem. There are a couple of steep places that your dog(s) might need assistance with, but both Luc and Neb have done the whole trail (Luc in 2 days and 4 days, Neb in 4 days) and there was no issue. Plus they've done several shorter trips on the trail that were out and backs.


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## astrovan2487 (May 29, 2014)

That's amazing that your old guy could make it on such a long, steep hike, and looks like he really enjoyed it too! Congrats to you two, that looks like a lot of fun. How does he do around steep rocks/cliffs, is he very aware of them or do you have to keep an eye on him? I'm wondering because I'm taking my GSD camping in Colorado in October and it's very steep in places, I think the elevation is between 6000-9000ft, cliffs and drop offs in many areas, not at all like the terrain she is used to


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

astrovan2487 said:


> That's amazing that your old guy could make it on such a long, steep hike, and looks like he really enjoyed it too! Congrats to you two, that looks like a lot of fun. How does he do around steep rocks/cliffs, is he very aware of them or do you have to keep an eye on him? I'm wondering because I'm taking my GSD camping in Colorado in October and it's very steep in places, I think the elevation is between 6000-9000ft, cliffs and drop offs in many areas, not at all like the terrain she is used to


Luc stays very close - my husband laughs when we hike together because Luc quite literally follows me. Every once in awhile he'll explore a bit but he is very good about staying close, and if we're near edges/cliffs I watch him closely. If we stop near a lookout and are near the edge I put him on leash. 

It probably depends how much your girl explores. Luc is not a 'run all over the place back and forth' hiker, he never has been, even when he was younger. His chiropractor once said 'You did a 14k hike, just imagine how far he went!' and I was like 'Yeah, he did 14k too'. 

Luc sometimes will go out in front but only for short distances. As he's gotten older he will stop to sniff stuff sometimes but once we hit a hiking rhythm his focus on hiking is pretty good.


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## ksotto333 (Aug 3, 2011)

Great pictures and camping stories..


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Great to see a dog get to be a dog. Do you leash? Or is he free? 
As amazing all of the dogs being obedient pictures are, a dog being free in nature is better.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

ksotto333 said:


> Great pictures and camping stories..


Thanks! The pictures are easy because it's a beautiful place.



cloudpump said:


> Great to see a dog get to be a dog. Do you leash? Or is he free?
> As amazing all of the dogs being obedient pictures are, a dog being free in nature is better.


We hike with Luc off leash, unless there is a reason to put him on...for this trip, I leashed him when we ran into a leash dog at the start and the owners told me they'd just seen a bear - I didn't want him to spook the bear or the bear to spook him (though he's seen bears before and just barked, but still). Other than that, and climbing the Crack where he needs help, he was off leash.

But he really doesn't wander. He follows me pretty closely. In camp he wanders off a bit more but I call him and then he figures out the area I want him to stay in. I do bring a tie out just in case (a trip last year he found some human poop and kept going over to eat it UGH so I put him on the tie out during breakfast before we left which is when he had discovered it).

He's a good boy though, but it's easy, because he has very little prey drive so doesn't hunt/chase stuff. 

Neb, our Husky mix, hunts and has 'typical Husky recall' (read: it's terrible under distraction). I used to hike with him off leash but he's quick to kill things and doesn't recall well all the time. In the winter time we go up north and hike with him and he's allowed off leash then when there's snow on the ground. 

But I do tend to let them, even when they're on leash, be out front/behind/to the side - I used to make Luc heel but I figure he wants to enjoy his walks too. Plus we go for long hikes and walks around the city and I can't see him enjoying heeling for that long. Especially Neb, I figure he should have what freedom he gets. We live close to a very large park in Toronto so Luc gets to go off leash on the trails there and on one of the off leash paths as well. He can sniff stuff and explore a bit.


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