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La Clouche Silhouette Trail, Killarney
27-30 October 2024
77km – 3.5 Days
Overall Thoughts:
Hiking Killarney’s La Cloche Silhouette Trail in the late fall with temperatures dropping and weather unpredictable, definitely presented some challenges. However, absolutely worth it to have the opportunity to enjoy this trail in the off season in relative solitude compared to the busy summer months.
There is a long standing debate as to whether it is better to complete this trail clockwise or counter clockwise. Clockwise has less elevation changes at the start and more at the end; accordingly many hikers argue completing La Clouche Silhouette clockwise is better because your pack is lighter when you hit the more challenging elevation changes. However, we choose to hike the trail counterclockwise and we were very happy to get the toughest days crushed out on fresh legs, even if our packs were a bit heavier.
Day 1:
Day (George Lake Campground to H49):
5.5 hours and 13kms.
Lots of water sources
We hit the trail around 11am on a grey cloudy day at a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius.
Before we hit the rocky inclines and the Crack it had begun to snow, making the rocks extremely slippery dramatically slowing the speed at which we were travelling.
Night (H49 – Little Superior)
Little Superior: Insanely deep blue lake, incredibly beautiful. Definitely going back to experience in the summer!
We were reasonably dried and still fresh after this short day of hiking.
The night was cold with a wind chill of -7 degree Celsius. Brrrr!
Lesson Learned
When I was packing I struggle with the decision of whether or not to bring a winter sleeping bag, but opted to supplement my sleep system in other ways to save weight and bulk. I wore the extra cloths I needed for around camp in the evenings to bed and added a 10oz Nemo sleeping mat (R2) to my Sea to Summit air mattress (R3.5) giving me extra insulation from the cold damp ground. This was a great decision and worked perfectly!
Day 2:
Day (H49 – H35):
7.0 hours and 20km
Lots of water source
We hit the trail about 3omin before sunrise, it was slightly warmer at about 5 degrees Celsius.
It drizzled on/off throughout the day, but we managed to stay reasonably dry.
The terrain was similar to the first day with lots of steep ascents and descents.
Knowing that this was going to be a tough day with lots of elevation gains/losses, we opted out of hiking the Silver Peak side trail (we had all hiked it past day trips). However, we did enjoy the very fast and flat section of the trail leading up to the Silver Peak side trail.
I sprained my knee near the end of the day, which made for a very painful and slow last couple of kilometers.
Night (H35 – Boundary Lake):
The 800m side trail to H35 was very overgrown and difficult to find.
This campsite had a beautiful firepit right on the water. However, it was windy and being at the base of the lake we took the brunt of the wind all night.
Lesson Learned:
I was quite worried about being able to continue the hike the next day. Although some NSAIDs did the trick, in the future I will be packing something stronger to ensure I can push through, if needed.
Day 3:
Day (H35 – H22):
5.5 hours and 14km
Lots of water sources
We were treated to an insanely beautiful pre-sunrise purple/pink sky over Boundary lake before we headed out.
We hit the trail about 30min before sunrise once again, a couple of degrees warmer about around 10 degrees Celsius.
It drizzled on/off again throughout the day, but the foliage was was very wet from the day before and we got very wet very quickly, especially our feet.
The terrain was similar to the first day with lots of steep ascents followed by descends into the valleys.
With regular NSAIDs my knee held up very well though.
Night (H22 – Moose Pass)
A bit of a different campsite, open, right beside the trail and water was a short trail down to the water.
We were very wet by the end of the day and a heavy fog had settled in, everything was wet or damp.
Lesson Learned:
I should have put more effort into drying my wet cloths over the fire as I ended up carrying about two extra pounds in water the next day.
Day 4:
Day (H22 – George Lake Campground)
11 hours and 30km
Lots of water sources
Left 1.5 hours before sunrise, still in a light fog. Although not ideal, we did successfully navigate a waterfall crossing before sunrise.
The weather was warm at 15 degrees Celsius and finally we had a dry day with zero precipitation.
The trail had numerous water crossings, lots of minimal up/downs, but no huge elevation gains/losses and only a few look out points by the afternoon.
The intent was to stay at H16, but with the promise of heavy rain overnight and the entire next day, we opted to hike right out.
The last 10km was very flat and fast and we managed to complete the 30km trip before the sun set.
We stopped at McDonald's in Parry Sound on route home. Never could I have ever imagined McDonald's tasting so good!
Lessons Learned:
As a group knowing that we wanted to put on some huge kilometers this last day we challenged each other to really increase their water and caloric intake. This really seemed to improve our energy and pace. In the future I need to pay more attention to water and caloric intake on multi-day hikes.
Next Challenge on the La Clouche Silhouette Trail:
We have challenged ourselves to hike La Clouche Silhouette trail straight through in one day next year. Tentative date is August 2025. Stay tuned.
I am so happy that we decided to complete this late fall hike in Killarney Provincial Park. The La Cloche Silhouette trail is one of the most challenging, but rewarding trails to hike in Ontario. We can't wait to return next year.
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Absolutely awesome... live the trekking and thanks for sharing!