This is a shot of the base camp on Deacon Lake. We're actually on an island in the middle of the lake, which was pretty sweet. This shot is facing roughly North East, so you can't see, but the camp was quite exposed on the West side, which ended up being a bit of a problem since there was a STRONG wind coming out of the West. Not a huge problem though, it was just a little tricky getting the tarps up.
I wanted to put up this shot because before I left I was going on and on (and on) about my new tent. The forest green triangle that looks a bit like a stealth aircraft is my awesome hammock-tent! For those who aren't familiar that's a fully-enclosed hammock with bug netting on the top, and what you are seeing is the tent fly that goes over it. It makes for a weather-proof, bug-proof shelter, just as good as a tent, but it's only 1kg, and you don't have to sleep on the ground. Obviously it has a few downsides, such as not having anywhere out of the weather to put your packs, but I just threw it in the vesibule of my brother's tent (yellow and orange in the background) and I was good to go.
Once we got back to the lodge things were a lot more relaxed. Just hiking, kayaking, and generally taking it easy. Mom and Zoe stayed at the lodge while the rest of us camped, so obviously the shot above was once we were back. It's not often that you can get a good shot of Zoe since she's oddly camera-shy, so I thought I should post this momentous shot. This is actually on a short hike we took along lighthouse trail which, obviously, heads out to a lighthouse a little way outside of the town of Killarney. There was a great place to swim there, which was the ultimate goal of our hike.
Of course, we had to do one serious hike on this trip, so we headed up to The Crack, shown above. It's a bit tricky to see the main point in this photo, but it's slightly left of centre, and it's the split in the rock face, you end up on the right (from our perspective) of the crack. It was a great hike, with a fantastic view from the top.
Well, I'm going to go easy on my total upload space and leave it at that for photos. Needless to say we had a great trip! I'm looking forward to my next trip, though I'm not absolutely sure what that will be. It looks like there's a very strong chance that I'll be heading to Jamaica in January with my family for my cousin's wedding. I'm not sure if that will be my next trip though. I'd actually like to make another run up to Killarney in the fall. I was up there with Dad and Graydyn last September and that was a great time of year to be camping. I wouldn't mind having another climb up Silverpeak, just like last September. If we can get Bell Lake it's possible to get a camping spot that's only about a 20 minute paddle away from the trail to Silverpeak, and just as close to the launching point. Obviously not much of a paddling vacation, but it allows for a lot more focus on the actual camping. Giving that one some thought, but I'll have to see if the other guys are interested in another Killarney camping trip so close to the last one.
I'll keep you all posted!
