We had passed through this location a number of times over the years
I always liked what I saw.
Therefore I finally said lets plan a trip to photograph the that location.
We were always passing through in the middle of the day, onward to other locations.
We set up camp close by .
Here we were on a beautiful evening to capture the landscape.
OSA Lake, Killarney Provincial Park
A beautiful Fall evening
The Fall colors contrasting with the quartz of the LA Cloche Mountains
A short hike from the main campground at Killarney Provincial Park.
I have made a number of hikes into the Cranberry Bog.
Killarney Provincial Park.
George Lake, West end
Pick up the trail at the west end of George Lake
Cross the bridge and hike.
When you can see the lake on your right
Head towards the shore.
You will then see a rock structure on the left.
A beautiful spot to photograph in the waning light of evening
AY Jackson Lake
Killarney Provincial Park
This is a favorite lake that I enjoyed exploring
Many a early morning I walked into this lake to photograph
Some days I was awarded for my efforts
Some days not so lucky
This is an early morning scene on OSA Lake, Killarney Provincial Park.
Think of yourself sitting at your campsite, coffee in hand. A cool crisp morning.
Calm and peaceful
The La Cloche Mountains in Fall colors
Borne upon the wind
As windblown seeds
To settle upon a ridge
One a Juniper tree
The other a white pine
In time they spread roots
Emerging into the world
To peer over the grass
The view before them
Of clear sapphire waters
Set among the ancient hills
Of gleaming white quartz ridges
Renown as the La Cloche Mountains
Summer turned to fall
A north wind blew
Causing a chill to blanket
The changing wilderness
The hills once aglow
With the colors of fall
The hills now stand bare
As the last leaves descend
To the forest floor
An early winter snowfall
Blankets the barren land
Two little brothers submerged
In the fresh fallen snow
Dark clouds roll overhead
Ice begins to form
On the darken waters
The nights are cold
With the temperature dropping
Two little brothers lying dormant
In the fresh fallen snow
Not to awaken till
The coming of spring
It is now winter
The land buried in snow
The cold raw and dry
Prevails over the land
The sound of snapping branches
Echoes through the forest
On bone cold mornings
There is a raw beauty
Looking over the landscape
The nights are long
The days are short
In the grips of winter
Two little brothers lay
Dormant beneath the snow
A warm freshen breeze
Blows from the south
The temperatures turn mild
The coming of spring
Just around the corner
The snow in turn
Begins to melt
The dripping of water
Commences to flow
But the coming of darkness
Lends a chill
Through the awakening forest
Each morning brings another
Warming spring day
The grip of winter eroding
Before long the little brothers
Poke through the receding snow
To refresh in the clear spring air
The cleansing spring rains
Invade the awakening hinterlands
A touch of green
Soon appears on the forest floor
Then a sudden snowfall
Blankets the changing vista
But the snow is gone
By the next day
The warmth of the sun
Soon prevails over the landscape
Melting away the fresh snow
The sound of running water
Is heard everywhere
Under the relentless sun
A once icebound lake
Is now open water
The sound of waterfowl
Splashing and feeding
The haunting call of the loon
Echoes over the lake
The sounds of spring
Carries in the air
Patches of color push
Through the dead leaves
Spring flowers soon dot
The woodland floor
The returning song birds
A splash of color
Darting among the trees
Give joy to spring
With their graceful melodies
A sea of green splashes
The far quartz hills
The two little brothers
Rejoice in new found growth
The wind is calm
The air being crisp
A clear blue sky
The exposed hills aglow
With the morning sunlight
A touch of color
Decorates the ancient hillside
Shadows are opening up
A light mist roams
The quiet lake waters
The grass filled shallows
Resplendent in rusty brown
A stray beam of light
Filtering throw shadowy trees
Casts a lustrous glow
On the sunlit grass
There is a stirring
Of a north wind
From over the hills
Rustling through the trees
The morning mist dispersed
The lake’s surface ruffled
By the strengthening wind
I arose at 6:00 a.m. last Thursday morning. Finally the weather has cleared. Packed my grub and camera gear for a trip to Killarney Provincial Park. As I drove down the Killarney Road, the first thing I noticed was how bare the trees were. Entering the park I parked at the East end. George Lake was calm with a fair amount of moving mist. I proceeded to capture various scenes around me. George Lake is a beautiful lake with the La Cloche Mountains to the North. Now it was time to pick up the trail to A Y Jackson Lake. It was time to hike over the ridge. Now this is a steep and long ridge. If you think you are in shape this little climb will tell you. By the time I got to the top my legs are aching, breathing hard. Must be my age I guess. So over the top I went and descended back down. A few minutes later I was at A Y Jaqckson Lake. One of my favorite locations in the park. There was mist on the lake, reflections before me. I composed a number of compositions before heading back to George Lake.
Finishing my morning shot I headed for Killarney. I had spoke to Pierre AJ Sabourin and informed him that I was coming for a visit. Pierre is a well known professional en plein air landscape painter, following the Canadian School of Painting in spirit, philosophy, and practice. You can follow Pierre on his blog.
https://pierreajsabourin.wordpress.com/
Pierra is a very passionate man who loves his work. He is very knowledgeable about the Group of Severn and above all a great guy to visit. Arriving at Pierre’s Sunset Rock Studio in Killarney, I was immediately offered a hot cup of coffee. It was much appreciated. Pierre and I had a good visit.
It was soon time to head back to Killarney Provincial Park. I parked at the West end parking lots. I manage to capture a few more photos at this end of the lake. But the wind was picking up a bit. It being noon I enjoyed a lunch. Pretty quiet in the park at this time of year. Loading up I picked up the hiking trail across the bridge at West end of George Lake. There is something to be said about walking in a Maple bush with the leaves all on the ground. The trees bare with a few leaves still falling. The forest floor covered in a thick carpet of leaves, slowly molding into the ground creating fresh nutrients for the forest come Spring. I love to stop and admire these mature trees in all there grandeur. Magnificent in their size. Ferns dot the forest floor. Still a vivid green against a brown background. The small streams running high from all the rain. As I traversed over the ridges it was just a wonderful place to be on a warm sunny autumn day.
The trail was wet and muddy in the low areas.Thus I had to negotiate around these areas. I finally came to the trail into Lumsden Lake. In a few minutes I arrived at Lumsden Lake. Following the shoreline I came upon the campsite. A beautiful place to set camp. Walking onto the rocks, the first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of bare trees here. There were a couple interesting scenarios here for a photos. The best thing here would to camp for a couple days next year. I found a good spot on the rocks to rest my butt and lean my back against. Put my Tilly hat over my face and had me a short nap. Meanwhile the wind had picked up. There was a coolness on the face from the wind. A reminder that winter is coming.
Time to hit the trail again. It was late afternoon. Traversing through the Maple trees, crossing the small streams and topping the ridges I was soon back at George Lake. A beautiful fall day. A lovely hike. A wonderful way to spend a day.
Well that is it for now. Happy trails.
Saturday dawned as another beautiful day. Tim and I enjoyed a leisure breakfast of bagels and coffee. The lake was fairly calm. The past evening I had explored a small stream flowing a couple hundred feet from Norway Lake. It crossed the portage. The water was clear and cool as it flowed over gravel and stones. This was were we obtained our drinking water by filtrating it into our drinking bottles.
Tim and I canoed over to the portage. We walked along the stream until a steep slopping rock ridge appeared. Here the water flowed down through a crevice in the rock structure as a series of very small waterfalls. The crevice was no more than four feet across. The tiny pools were clear and colorful. There was a green tinge to everything in the crevice. One of the problems I had here was very low light. I would say that there was very little sunlight appearing here. Thus I was shooting with very low shutter speeds. I used the small rocks in the foreground to give the sense of depth. The little waterfalls in the background added to the magic allure to the scene. You can see how the rock face on both sides are slanted.
Tim and I had agreed to portage back over to Killarney Lake the next morning. This would eliminate the hardest portage on Monday. Sunday morning on another beautiful calm day we packed up our gear. We soon had our gear over the portage, leaving the bloodthirsty bugs behind. A short paddle brought us to the first island at the East end of Killarney Lake. I had camped here two years ago. The campsite has a beautiful view looking West. Minnows were present along the shore. We observed one of about four inches long. It was deep bodied like a bass. But then we saw a flash of silver like you see on a shiner.
Monday morning at dawn we did our morning shoot. The wind was very light. Just enough to mess up the photographing. It was not long before we were on our way out. The winds again were good, making for relaxing canoeing. As we approached the last narrows to the portage landing a yearling black bear was walking the shoreline. Letting the canoe drift, Tim took a few shots of the bear. As we passed the bear, it came down off the rock structure and swam across to the other side, disappearing into the woods. The trek across the portage was uneventful and we were soon paddling on Freeman Lake. As the next portage over to George Lake appeared, a yearling doe was spotted in the water feeding on underwater vegetation. There was a pair of loons to the South of us. The female climbed up on a small mud island followed by the male. The male mounted his mate. This to me is late as I have seen eggs in there nest by late May.
It was not long before The vehicle was loaded and another wonderful trip over. Tim and I bid farewell until the next trip and we headed off on our separate ways. Well that is it for now. Until next time happy trails.
Ken Bennison's Photography 