Sea Kayaking near Killarney

Kayak stash
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Google "jewel of Ontario parks" and your screen will be filled with glowing descriptions of Killarney Provincial Park.

There's a lot on offer:

• The ancient La Cloche-Silhouette Range - a spine of white quartzite that was once as high as the Rocky Mountains. (This fact never fails to impress me: just imagine, towering peaks of white rock!);

• smooth, pink granite - exposed bedrock etched by glacial advance and retreat;

• clear, blue lakes like the tiny, perfect Lake Topaz or beloved O.S.A (Ontario Society of Artists lake);

• wind-blown jack pines eking out a stunted existence in unlikely places - the classic tree images made famous by Group of Seven paintings;

• blueberry bushes thriving in the shallow, acidic soil.... and the inevitable bears that come out for their favourite local fruit;

• and a Georgian Bay coastline dotted with thousands of rocky islands and islets.

Georgian Bay view
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It's that last one that gets our attention for this trip. "Our" meaning the three of us: Andrea is an experienced Outward Bound guide and life-long Killarney tripper; Aidan is the all-around wilderness type; and myself - more of a dabbler, but no less enthusiastic.

All of us had been back-country camping in Killarney before, and were ready to venture forth by sea kayaks, to explore the "most beautiful stretch of coastline along Georgian Bay".

Though only Aidan had been sea kayaking before, we counted on our canoeing skills to get us through a four-day, intermediate-level trip, that could be easily modified if weather turned rough. The plan was to depart from the Chikanishing River Access Point in Killarney Park, explore the south shore of Philip Edward Island for a few days and then make our way back again. In more ambitious moments, there were thoughts of making it as far as French River Provincial Park.

Killarney view
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One small snag: the notoriously unpredictable Georgian Bay....