Philip Edward Island - Part 1

Killarney Provincial Park is located in the northwest corner of Ontario's Georgian Bay. It is a land of contrasting rocks, red granite, white quartzite and grey limsetone all over lain with a scattering of pine and oak forest and crystal lakes. It's one of Canada's paddling paradises. Leaving my car at the campground's put-in located on a small stream leading down to Georgian Bay, I decided to first paddle around Philip Edward Island just east of the Park. The island is about 20 miles or so long and roughly 10 miles across at the widest point.


The boat ramp at the Park's put-in.


The stream to the Bay meanders around a bit alternately revealing banks of alder bushes and pink granite bluffs.


At the mouth of the stream, one is suddenly presented with a maze of islands, some bearly above water, others, like this one, high and topped with wind-blown evergreen tree, the trademark of Georgian Bay.


As the sun was out and the wind was up, I decided to head out into the Bay to play in the waves and warm up the muscles for the 2o mile paddle ahead of me. I was soon lost among the dozens of islets all around! Good map and navigation skills are definitely an asset in this area. Finally oriented once again, I headed into Collins Inlet, the narrow channel which cuts Philip Edward Island off from the mainland.