Grace and Nellie Lakes in Killarney Provincial Park

July 2003

Barbara, Bill, Lorna, Rich, Mary Anne & John

We had completed two previous trips to Killarney, one to hike the 100 km La Cloche Silhouette Trail, and another to canoe trip the David Lake Loop. This time, at John's suggestion, we wanted to visit the most beautiful lakes in the park, Grace and Nellie. This trip included the long portages of 1.4 km, 2.0 km and 1.7 km and the first of these was particularly steep. We palnned ahead to use each others cooking gear, and so on, to minimize the weight for the carries.

We drove to Willisville via Sudbury, Espanola and south on Hwy 6 and registered at Widgawa Lodge. Rich cooked us a meal there, and we overnighted at the lodge.

In the morning, we got off to an early start. We paddled down the creek to Charleton Lake, then into Howry Creek. We chose the clockwise route direction even though it was not recommended, because of the limited availabilty of campsites on Nellie & Grace.

There was an easy 185m portage into Murray Lake but the 1420m steep portage into Nellie Lake was soon after. We expected a real grunt, but it was not that bad. We paddled over to our campsite where we would spend two days, and quickly went for a refreshing swim.

The next day, we hiked up into the quartzite hills to look for Group of Seven painting sites and to enjoy the views.

Then it was time for some swimming, exploring and down time at our site.

The next day, John cooked breakfast and we were off to the 2010m Grace Lake portage.

We did this one in stages, dropping packs part way along and going back for the canoes. We met another group going the other way, so we would exchange campsites. They would occupy our Nellie site, while we would take their's on Grace. When I returned for my pack, it was missing. One of the strangers had kindly brought it over whle returning for their second load. What a pleasant surprise!

We quickly got set up and went for a swim.

We went for an exploratory paddle and saw some baby Pied-billed Grebes, which immediatly scurried out of sight, never to be seen again.

The next day, after Bill's breakfast, we hiked the hills for views of the spectacular Grace Lake. It truly is one of the most beautiful lakes in Killarney.

The following day, we headed west to the 1660m portage from Grace to Frood Lake. After the other portages, it was not that onerous. Then it was a straight paddle back to Charlton Lake and our cars waiting at Widgawa Lodge. A great trip!