Backpacking Killarney - Day 4

Turns out I had nothing to worry about when it came to needing an alarm clock. By morning the wind was not howling anymore, but you could definitely hear the birds. We were woken up at about 6:30 a.m. by the chorus of Canadian Geese. Then came the sounds of a flock of crows, followed by the sounds of herons and then after that some other unidentified birds. It was a bird alarm clock!  We packed up the campsite and and headed back to Killarney Provincial Park so that we could be first in line to get one of the 5 available campsites. 

We arrived at 7:50 a.m. and when we did there was already a line up in front of us. The ranger had told us the day before that 8 a.m. would be guaranteed to be early enough to get a site. But we should have come to the gate even earlier than we did because it was looking dicey as to whether or not we would be getting a campsite.

At 8 a.m. the doors opened and we all went in single file. While we were waiting in line we started talking to the people we were in line with. There was a young couple behind us who were just there for the day and were going to run the 25 km trail to Silver Peak.

After a few moments a second ranger opened up another cash register and called out "can I help who's next? " The next couple in line went  ahead. There were two other people in line ahead of Heather by this point. No one else moved to go to the second line so Heather did. Just when Heather was about to go next an angry voice from behind us growled "Hey! I was next! There is only one line not two!" He made a big production about how we had cut in line and how he was entitled to be next. We had no problems with him going next and we tried to explain to him what happened but he was not having any of it.  If he had stopped to think about it he would have realized that no matter which line he was standing in he was already next in line because the guy in front of him was finished. So instead of walking up to the counter in the line he was already in, he loudly pushed his way forward to be next in line in our line instead. Then after all that, it turns out that he was only there to claim a site that he had already reserved. So he was already guaranteed a site and had no competition and didn't even have to worry about if he would get a site or not. After the big commotion we figured we had better be extra careful as to who goes next. Some people are apparently not morning people as we had witnessed first hand.

So we made sure that the one other couple that had been in line before us got to go next. By that point there were only 2 sites left in the whole campground. The couple in front of us were super nice people. They did not know what the sites were like so Heather explained the pros and cons to him of both sites and they made their decision.. That meant we got the very last site in the whole campground. It was site number 111 in Red Deer Ridge section. However, the current occupants had until 2 pm to vacate the campsite which meant we had to find something to do until 2 p.m. (or earlier if the current occupants left earlier). 

To pass the time while we waited we drove a few kilometers down the road to the Killarney Outfitters. This place is a campers dream store. They had everything you could possibly want for camping, canoeing and backpacking. This is also the place where you rent canoes and kayaks for the park.  As we were looking around we bumped into and had a nice little chat with the couple that had been in front of us at the gate and had gotten the second last campsite. They were passing time here while they waited for their site to open up too. 

Last year when I was at Killarney with Heather I did not buy a T-shirt because the prices were way too high. But here you can get Killarney Park T-shirts for about half the price they were selling them for at the park. 

At first I had a hard time deciding which T-shirt that I wanted. But then I found the perfect one to represent the hike we just did. It was dark blue with the silhouette of trees making it look like the forest at night. And it had white writing with spots of white that could almost be stars. The words say "Killarney. Into The Wild" and on the back it says "Suck It Up Princess".  I had to have it. I think it has become one of most favourite T-shirts. 

I also had my eye on a pair of Zem Playa Round shoes. They are good for going into the water with and for walking around the campsite with. They claim to be the shoe you want to wear if you prefer to walk barefoot. I hummed and hawed about it and decided not to get them. Besides, they looked like Ronald McDonald feet on me. 

We bought out stuff and a couple almost cold drinks and went and sat outside at the picnic tables. We had a bit of a chuckle when we saw a fire extinguisher that had bold letters saying "Keep Clear" and there sitting on top of it was a fallen down post (It used to be sitting attached to the post but the post had fallen over and on top of it). Looks like the post didn't get the memo. 

Killarney Outfitters had plenty of humming bird feeders and red flowers hanging up all around. We were seeing 3 or 4 humming birds at a time at the feeders. 

After Killarney Outfitters we went back to the park and sat down at the beach playing card games like "Squarrels". The whole while a little chipmunk hung out to keep us company.

By 12:30 our site was finally vacant.  We took no time to setup the tents and get ourselves settled. 

Our site was located at the top of a hill and the bathrooms were at the bottom of the hill. Hills were not our friends at this point. The muscles in our legs and feet hurt every time we ascended or descended the hill.  There wasn't much room for parking a vehicle but we managed. Other than those tiny issue, the site was a very nice site.

There was even a bear box on the site. We usually keep our food in the car but since this was available we decided to use it. You can ask for them at the park office, but I think that someone had asked to use this one and it just never got brought back. 

Next on the list of things to do was showers and laundry. My mom found out that the shirt she bought didn't quite fit and she wanted to exchange it for a different size. So while Heather looked after the laundry I drove my mom back to Killarney Outfitters. Once I was there I broke down and bought my Ronald NcDonald shoes. They were very comfortable and I figured they would come in handy since all I had with me were my heavy hiking boots.

My mom spotted a "Provincial Parks Trail Guide" book and picked that up. That was the start of more serious thoughts on where and when we were going to backpack next. I was eyeing up the trails at the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park.... but we will see. 

After laundry we headed back to camp for an early supper. We prepared one of our freeze dried meals of Beef and Vegetable Noodles. It was our favourite of the freeze dried meals so far. That was bout the time when the bees started showing up. Not the fuzzy little bumble bee type, but the nasty wasp type. 

Normally, a wasp or two around my food is not a big deal and I can co-exist with them. I go with the idea of if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. Not these guys. This was a pack of about 7 or 8 wasps that were into everything and were more curious than a bunch of cats about to lose their nine lives. They weren't angry bees.... they were just very annoying. Annoying enough that I had to escape to the car from time to time because they just wouldn't stay off of me. 

It had looked like rain off an on all day and combine that with the bees we decided to put up a screened dining tent that I had with me in the car. (No, we did not bring this backpacking with us. I happened to still  have it in the trunk of the car from a sales event I had a booth at a week or two previous).  The screen helped to keep most of the bees at bay. So we stayed in there and played cards for the evening. 

It was about 9 p.m. or so and it was getting dark when we heard noises in the bush. I thought nothing of it because I knew it was just a raccoon. If you want to see a raccoon this is definitely the place to see them. They are everywhere here.  We would have continued to ignore the sounds, but the critter making them refused to be ignored. Right into the screen tent, bold as brass tacks waddled this big ole raccoon. She had no fear. In no time she was sniffing around at our feet and then to my surprise I felt her little paws digging through my pockets!  

​When she found nothing there, she climbed up onto the bench beside me and started checking to see what was on the table. 

We had long since put all the food away, but that didn't stop her from checking every bag and container she came across. 

She even got her nose right up to the lens of my camera as I was taking her picture. She was not shy at all. 

When she was satisfied that there was nothing for her to eat here, she eventually moved on to the next campsite and we went back to our card games. As we finished up our game at about 11 pm, from out of nowhere a wasp showed up and was hanging out on the lantern. I was thinking that this was crazy.... wasps should be sleeping somewhere for the night, not buzzing around in the tent. We finally managed to get rid of the wasp and headed down to the bathrooms. A little later we went to get in the tent and there was yet another wasp hanging out on Heather's hoodie. We just couldn't seem to escape these things. We did a wasp check when we got in the tent, just in case,  and definitely made sure to have the tent door closed before going to sleep.