(light mellow music) - [Ken] This week on "Facing Waves", We're continuing the adventure in Killarney Provincial Park, one of the most dramatic parks in eastern North America.

Now that we're deep into the back country, our next mission is to paddle and portage our way to a trail that will lead us to Silver Peak.

The highest point in the park.

Getting there won't be easy though, as we've got miles of water to cover and a whole lot of portaging to do, including a two-mile beast.

(uptempo music) ♪ Hey ♪ Two o'clock, two o'clock ♪ Two o'clock, two ♪ Comes natural (uptempo music) - [Ken] My name's Ken Whiting, and for over 30 years, my life has been guided by the paddle in my hand.

Ooh-wee!

This is my search for the world's most spectacular paddling destinations.

This is "Facing Waves".

♪ Go on and do your thing Funding for facing waves is provided by Discover the World.

Collette offers small group explorations, tours, destinations and local experiences designed especially for small groups.

Explorations by Collette Guided travel since 1918 Postum Instant warm beverage made with wheat, grain and molasses.

It's non-GMO and caffeine free.

Since 1895, all three flavors are available online at Postum.com and by these additional sponsors.

♪♪♪ (uptempo music) ♪ Go on and do your thing (gentle bright music) - Well, the Adventure continues.

Day three in Killarney Provincial Park.

Just had a beautiful night in a lake called Gail Lake.

Super clear water.

Now we're on our way to David Lake and our mission is to hike to Silver Peak, the highest point in Killarney Provincial Park.

But to get there, we've gotta do a heck of a portage.

It's about three kilometers, two miles probably.

Knowing Killarney Park, there's gonna be some ups and downs, but it will be worth it.

(gentle bright music) ♪ Row, row, (laughs) row your boat ♪ ♪ Gently down the stream - [James] You're not really rowing the boat, right?

No.

It's not a boat, it's a canoe.

This is a iconic watercraft.

- [James] It is.

- [Ken] Not just a boat, a canoe.

- [James] Yeah.

They went to the carbon forest and they stripped the carbon bark off the carbon tree.

(laughs) - [Ken] You just don't find those carbon trees.

- [James] (Laughs) You Don't.

- [Ken] Like you used to.

They clear cut them.

Was that like 50 years ago?

- [James] That's why the carbon boats are Expensive, Because the trees are rare.

- The portage should be somewhere around here.

Ah-ha!

- Ta-Da!

Yellow sign.

- Yup, there it is.

- [James] Follow the yellow brick road.

(laughs) - Well, thank you, sir.

- [James] Well, thank you.

You want me to take your hand?

(both laugh) (gentle bright music) - Ah.

- Looks like we got rain coming.

Yeah, it never rains on these adventures.

That's crazy.

Pretty sure he put something in my backpack.

- The first half of the trip here had a lot of portages, and they were a lot of work.

I mean, this is not easy terrain to get around on.

These are mountains.

These are eastern mountains, but they're mountains.

And so the idea of a two-mile portage, that's a little daunting.

Here we go.

Here we go, here we go, here we go.

Let it begin.

(gentle music) Going up!

- Going up.

We didn't have a lot of gear, but we had enough gear to make things a little bit heavy and a little bit awkward.

I mean, the ideal scenario is you just make one trip through the portage, especially the longer ones.

The shorter ones, you can kind of leave stuff behind and make your way through, drop everything down, and both of us run back and get the the next load.

But this long one, we wanted to make sure that we can do it in one shot - As a paddler, canoe tripping, originally for me, was paddling and then having to do these portages to get to the next paddling location.

But, you know, canoe tripping really isn't about that.

Canoe tripping is really a cool mix of paddling and backpacking.

And once you realize that, that the portaging isn't just the necessary evil (laughs) to get to the next lake to paddle, that it's part of the adventure and it can be just as enjoyable as the paddling portion, then, you know, it changes how you look at the whole trip.

♪ Go, go, mountain, go flex - [Ken] Boom, got it.

(both laugh) - Everybody has a role to play when it comes to these trips, and a lot of times we kind of fall into those roles naturally.

- I wonder if James is still in one piece.

Sent him ahead to get a head start, which really means go on bear patrol.

(laughs) Of course he didn't know that, but he's the perfect bear patroller because he has a tendency of entertaining himself.

(hands tapping) ♪ In the jungle ♪ The mighty jungle ♪ The lion sleeps tonight - There will be no wildlife within half a mile (laughs) when James is going down the trail.

♪ Woo ♪ Uyimbube (Ken breathing deeply) - [Ken] This is exactly where you expect to see a moose.

- [James] It looks like someone's put in here.

- [Ken] This is it.

- [James] Like often?

- [Ken] Yeah, no, this is definitely it.

Oh.

(groaning) - [James] It goes for a bit.

- Huh?

Looking at the map, there's this section of the portage trail, which had this body of water alongside it and there's real potential to hop in and cut out a bunch of the portage.

And if there's an opportunity to paddle instead of carry the boat on my head, I'm going for it.

You know what, let's take the canoe.

- [James] Do a quick run?

- [Ken] Do a little scouting trip.

- [James] Scout.

- [Ken] Yeah, it's worth it.

- [James] It is also shallow here.

How are we gonna get out?

- [Ken] Oh, yeah.

No, no, we're good.

- Yeah, yeah, alright.

Let's do a scouting miss.

(light music) - [Ken] We can get some speed going here.

- [James] Yeah, I think we can make it through.

- [Ken] Oh yeah, it looks like we can.

We can get through there.

- Like it was busted a while ago.

We gotta get some speed though.

So we might be bumping over a flog or something.

- Woo!

- [James] Boy, it's a little shallow.

- [Ken] Yeah, oh yeah.

- [James] Deep.

There we go.

- [Ken] Now we're, uh-oh.

(light music) - We really cut a good bit of both time and effort off of our trip just by taking that little bit of an expedition, side expedition.

Taking a guess at it.

I mean, I think we cut a good hour off of our hike.

Just think Ken, we could have been walking all the way up over there.

(both laugh) - Yep.

- [James] Really feels like we're cheating.

(laughs) - It does a little.

It does feel like we're cheating a little.

And I'm okay with it.

I'm totally (laughs) okay with it, in fact.

(light music) Alright, let's get her up there.

(light music) Is that it?

Oh, yeah, that's it.

- [James] Yeah, this is the trail here.

- [Ken] Sweet.

- So we're back on the trail.

- We're pretty spoiled.

We're using super lightweight canoes on this trip.

It wasn't that long ago that in order to do this trip, people would have to use beast of canoes.

Canoes that were at least twice the weight of these.

So it's hard to complain.

Even though it's still a lot of work, it's hard to complain.

- Wow, we have water.

- [Ken] Nice.

- [James] We are at the lake.

(Ken laughs) - Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

We made it, David Lake.

That Portage, I mean, it was a grind.

But it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be.

Now we just need to find camp, peg home for the night.

- How far is the camp?

(both laugh) I could sleep now.

- [Ken] We're not far, not far.

- [James] Feels good.

Nice to get into camp before 6:00.

(laughs) (gentle music) - I've always had a love/hate relationship with mornings.

I love the mornings once I'm up and I have a cup of hot coffee in hand, but I hate the getting up process.

(light music) - After seemingly just putting up a tent, you're taking one down.

- Well, it's cold.

It's a cold day to get an early start.

But an early start we need to get because we got a pretty big day.

We have to paddle a ways, and it looks like it's some beautiful country we're gonna paddle through.

But then we're getting to a hike, and that's the challenge today.

We got a pretty big hike ahead of us.

We're going to the highest point in Killarney Provincial Park called Silver Peak.

- Like a gazelle.

(light music) Thanks, campsite.

(light music) I love to fish.

And every given chance, that's what I'm gonna do.

And I didn't bother asking Ken.

I'm a ask for forgiveness versus permission kind of guy.

Well, the bad news is I was fishing and catching.

I should probably help paddle for a little bit.

- It doesn't matter.

- [James] Hmm?

- We don't really go any faster when you're paddling.

(laughs) You might as well fish.

- [James] He's just saying that.

He doesn't really mean it.

- Every backcountry trip seems to have this particularly memorable wildlife moment.

And we were expecting maybe to see some bear or moose, or what have you, on this trip.

We weren't expecting the most memorable moment to be the loons.

- You're always trying to kind of see how close you can get, you know, and we did that.

We stopped and cruised, but it didn't go down.

We kind of went, you know, a couple more strokes thinking that for sure those paddle strokes for sure are gonna set it off and it's gonna go under, still didn't go down.

And then it kind of did this little celebration.

It was almost a welcome.

- [Ken] Awesome.

- [James] Putting on a show.

- That was cool.

Do it again, do it again.

(light music) No, I was talking to the loon.

(both laugh) Thank you, Mr. Loon.

(gentle music) - [James] How far are we going?

- About three miles.

Wanna see?

- Sure.

- We are here.

We're going the highest point in the park, Silver Peak.

- Just don't take us to that one.

- Yeah, (laughs) we're not going that way.

It's about three miles.

- Alright, let's get it.

(gentle music) - [Ken] What I love about backcountry trips is that they aren't just this single adventure, they're all these little adventures that when you put them together, it makes this incredible experience.

And this final adventure that we have, it's gonna be hard.

But I know once we get to the top, it's absolutely gonna be worth it.

- [James] So the cool part about this part of the trip is we had nothing on our shoulders.

I had my water bottle and that's it.

I didn't have a bucket in front of me and a big backpack on the back of me.

And I didn't have Ken grunting behind me with his canoe.

(gentle music) - [Both] Wow.

- [Jason] There we go.

(laughs) Wow!

- [Ken] That's the million dollar view.

Okay, we're not gonna make it very far with all these view stops.

I like it though.

(gentle music) Well, we're reaching the end of another adventure.

Another big day out here.

Yeah, it's a big park.

It's everything I expected it to be and more.

God, I love this place.

(gentle music) As we approach Silver Peak, it's impossible to ignore the conflicting emotions.

Although we'll still need to hike down, camp, and paddle out tomorrow, there's no denying that our journey is reaching its end.

And while I'm confident this won't be the last adventure that James and I tackle together, as I get older, I find myself more appreciative of every trip that I get to share with friends and family, and more saddened when they come to an end.

But those thoughts can wait because at this moment, I'm literally on top of the world at the highest point in Killarney Park, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

- That one looks higher.

- [Ken] Ah.

(both laugh) Well, almost nowhere.

(uptempo music) ♪ Go on and do your thing - If you're a paddler and you enjoy multi-day paddling trips, you should definitely, definitely put Killarney Provincial Park on your bucket list.

If you're not a paddler, hopefully this episode has inspired you to give it a try, because almost everyone that does asks themselves, "Why didn't I do this earlier?"

If you do decide to get into paddling, the first question you're gonna have to answer is, "Do I go for a canoe, a kayak, or a standup paddleboard?"

And so we're gonna take a couple of minutes to answer the question, what's the best paddle craft?

Now the easy answer to that question is they're all awesome, depends on what you're gonna do.

But that's not very helpful, I know.

And so let's dig a little deeper than that.

Starting with the canoe.

Canoes really shine in a few scenarios.

They're amazing for multi-day paddling trips because you can carry a ton of gear.

They're particularly good on paddling trips that involve portages, where you need to carry your gear over land from one body of water to another.

The reason they're great in this situation is that you can carry all your gear in big backpacks or barrels, which if you're strong enough or masochistic enough, you can carry at the same time as you carry your canoe.

Canoes are also great crafts for family trips because you can easily bring the kids or the dog.

Now, where kayaks really shine is for people who want to paddle their own boat, for people who like to feel more stable on the water, and for people who want to have a higher-performing paddle craft.

Kayaks are best for solo paddlers because the two-bladed paddle provides the most control and power.

And having a lower profile to the water than canoes makes them better for paddling in windy and wavy conditions because the boat doesn't get pushed around nearly as much.

Kayaks are more stable because you're sitting much lower than you are in a canoe, which means your center-of-gravity is lower.

When it comes to performance, kayaks are the fastest, most maneuverable and versatile paddle craft, although that's certainly not true for all kayaks.

Now, while canoes are typically considered the Kings of Camp Trips, kayaks can also be great for camping.

Their downside is that you need to pack your gear into smaller bags that will fit into the kayak.

And so if you need to portage from one body of water to another, it's a real pain because you have all these bags to deal with instead of one or two big packs that you can throw on your back.

Kayaks are also the best boats to fish from, and there are a surprising number of fishing-specific kayaks available.

And lastly, kayaks are great for family outings.

If you're in a tandem kayak, you don't even need the kids to be paddling.

And if your kids are more independent, then they can paddle their own kayak much more easily than their own canoe.

Sit on top kayaks also allow kids to hop on and off, which is important because kids can only sit and paddle so long.

So where do standup paddleboards fit in?

Well, to be perfectly honest, (laughs) I don't use a paddleboard very often.

The reason being, they're not as stable as canoes or kayaks, they don't perform as well as canoes and kayaks, and they're not as good for family outings or multi-day trips.

So why would you use a standup paddleboard?

Well, the challenge and novelty of paddling standing up is really cool.

Paddleboards also provide a better full body workout than either the canoe or kayak, which is why it's such a popular fitness tool.

They're also easier to get around, and they're great for kids because they're a lot like floating docks that you can paddle.

It's great for jumping off and climbing around.

This is one of the reasons they're so popular for cottages.

So going back to the original question of what's the best paddle craft?

Well, it really does depend on what you're gonna be doing.

With that said, if you're thinking about getting into paddling, just go for it.

You will not regret the decision.

Well, hopefully you found this little piece about choosing the right paddle craft helpful, and that maybe it starts you down the path of doing an adventure like we had here in Killarney Provincial Park.

Otherwise, thanks for joining me this week.

I hope you enjoyed this episode of "Facing Waves".

And stay tuned because we've got lots more paddling adventures coming your way.

(light music) Funding for facing waves is provided by Discover the World.

Collette offers small group explorations, tours, destinations and local experiences designed especially for small groups.

Explorations by Collette Guided travel since 1918 Postum Instant warm beverage made with wheat, grain and molasses.

It's non-GMO and caffeine free.

Since 1895, all three flavors are available online at Postum.com and by these additional sponsors.

♪♪♪