La Cloche Sillouette

The weather was beautiful as we set out on the La Cloche Silhouette trail Monday morning and we made some good time in the early going. Before too many kilometres though the trail began to earn it's reputation as difficult and the hubris of doing a 7-10 day trail in 5 days began to look more and more like folly. After lunch, with the Boss' feet covered in a layer of moleskin, we didn't make such good time. At 3 PM we had done about half the planned first day of travel and decided to pack it in.

We both figured another 5 kms was possible but it was pretty obvious we weren't going to do the loop in 5 days. Maybe we'd do two days in and two days out? We had gone about 10 kms most of it over broken rock or through ankle deep mud filled with wet roots. And this is the easy section... At camp that evening we decided that the Boss' flesh eating hiking boots were not going to drag a heavy pack over these mountains and that we would head out in the morning.

The campsite (H7) was difficult to get to and on a sloping hill but gorgeous! Pine forest over looking a glacial looking lake surounded mostly by white quartzite cliffs. A small waterfall on the far side provided a relaxing background noise. I expect it would be a glorious spot in late summer when the lake is warm enough for swimming.

Tuesday morning we headed back out. The new plan was to car camp at Killarney test the camping gear and camp routine while doing the three day hiking trails offered at the park. Another nice day of weather but the trail didn't get any easier and the day did exhaust the moleskin supply. I even had to put some on my heels and I was wearing my New Mountain Lites and they haven't caused me trouble in about 15 years!

I also decided that trekking poles are a good piece of gear to have. They can seem annoying at times but on the descents they are a huge help. Trekking poles = Ken sans knee pain! And yeah, I cheaped out and just bought $10 rubber feet for my $30 snowshoe poles. Imagine what I could do with $200 poles...

Maybe finish the trail?

It will take more than $200 trekking poles.