Introduction
Point Grondine is a park located adjacent to Killarney Provincial Park on the south side of highway 637.
The park is run by the First Nations and offers a (smaller) network of backpacking trails and canoe routes like Killarney. But unlike Killarney, it doesn’t require a reservation 5 months in advance to the day to save a spot to camp.
The main backcountry backpacking trail in the park is the Wemtagoosh Falls loop which is 21km long. With 7 campsites along the loop, you can do the loop in as many days as you’d like. For this trip, I planned on doing it in 3 days and 2 nights and I was taking a big risk. The day before, I purchased a new pair of trail runners and decided to use these for the trip with no break in period. I was also using a newly purchased pack for the first time as well.
At least I was doing it by myself and Hana the Portage Puppy so I wouldn’t be inconveniencing anyone else if I had to turn back due to blisters.
Day 1 – Trailhead to Campsite H6
Sunday, August 4, 2024
Distance : 9.8 km
After departing Toronto at around 7am, I finally made it to the park shortly after noon. I forgot just how far Killarney was and it made my frequent drives to Algonquin seem short.
Registration was quick and before long, we were on the way. This was Hana’s second backpacking trip so I had some concerns regarding her ability to navigate the terrain. Those concerns were realized when she came to a complete stop upon coming up to a fallen tree. Instead of jumping over, she just barked to get my attention. Thankfully, she quickly got the hang of it after half an hour and before long, she was leading me along the trail.
After around 30 minutes of hiking, we came to the channel between Mahzenazing and Rock Lake which marks the official start of the loop. A few canoes on each side of the channel allow hikers to paddle to the other side. Obviously, a sign tells you to ensure that you leave at least one canoe per side. In my case, there were 3 so I jumped into one and paddled the short ~50m to the other bank.
One of the recollections I had from hiking the La Cloche Silhoutte trail decades ago was that it was quite tough. There weren’t many flat areas but lots of elevation along with short sections where you’d have to scramble up and down some rockbands. The same was true with this loop to no surprise since it’s adjacent to the park.
Progress was slower than expected and despite what I was told at the park office, the mosquitos were quite active throughout the day. Thankfully, the trail had some nice views of the lake and some open areas to blow away the mosquitos.
We eventually reached our campsite at around 5:30pm. The campsite was smaller than expected but sufficient for myself and Hana. Unfortunately, we were camped almost across from a canoe camping site which had some loud occupants. It was frustrating to drive 5hrs and hike 5hrs to camp near a bunch of loud inconsiderate campers. But at least they went to bed early.
Since it was just myself, I didn’t consider starting a fire so I spent most of my time in my tent to get away from the mosquitos.
Day 2 – Campsite H6 to Trailhead
Monday, August 5, 2024
Distance : 14.6 km
Day 2 was supposed to be a lazy day on the trail. Our destination was campsite H3 which was only around 7km away.
After waking up at around 8am and leaving our campsite by 9am, we quickly made it to Wemtagoosh falls where we took a quick water break. The falls were an ok sight but the water around it was full of algae so it wasn’t very photogenic.
We then continued onwards along some terrain which was quite different from the first half of the trail. Lots of hiking on exposed quartzite with some nice views. By the time we arrived at campsite H3, it was still only 1:30pm.
Campsite H3 was quite disappointing. It was small, overcrowded with trees and barely had enough flat ground for a two person tent. There was no way I wanted to kill up to 7hrs of daylight in this area before going to sleep. Especially with all the mosquitos.
I asked Hana if she wanted to go home and to my surprise, she jumped up and down while barking in excitement. That was the sign for me to shorten this trip and head straight home.
The return hike was another 7km but was uneventful as we arrived back at the car for 4pm.
All things considered, it was a good outing where I was able to test my shoes, which fared remarkably well. However, I can’t help but think that driving almost 800km for an overnight trip was a little excessive. If I could do it all over again, I would’ve tried to find a nearby campground to stay one more night to do a day hike in Killarney like the Crack.
