| Re:
Killarney |
Lee
Frelich |
| Feb
24, 2007 12:54 PST |
Don
et al.:
I don't suppose any of you has seen the other Killarney (the one
in
Ontario), a 100,000 acre wilderness park with old growth jack,
red and
white pine forests on the Cloche Hills--hills about 1000 feet
high of white
quartzite along the north shore of Lake Huron:
http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/kill.html
This would be one of the most important places to stop should
anyone ever
take the northern route from MA to MN, across Upper Michigan and
the north
shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron.
Regarding the Killarney in Ireland, we are doing the same thing
to our
forests in the eastern U.S. as they did in Ireland. The only
difference is
that they did it for several thousand years, whereas we are only
about 3
centuries into the process of destroying our forests. This is
why
wilderness areas are important as reference ecosystems, because
most of the
degradation we cause is slow enough that no one generation of
foresters can
tell that anything is happening, and yet after many centuries,
most forests
end up like those in Ireland.
Lee
|
| RE:
Killarney |
Steve
Galehouse |
| Feb
24, 2007 19:04 PST |
Lee:
I've seen Killarney from the air from float-planes taking off
from Parry
Sound---in this region of low relief it's very obvious on clear
days,
even from 75 miles away---humpy hills on the horizon to the
N-NW. I hope
to see the area close-up some day.
Steve Galehouse
|
| RE:
Killarney |
James
Smith |
| Feb
24, 2007 20:58 PST |
Lee,
My wife and I actually researched that park intensely with an
eye toward
heading up there this summer with our Casita travel trailer.
However, we
opted for a drive to the Florida Keys instead and may do
Killarney (ONT)
in two years (after our Grand Tetons National Park trip next
year).
I have an interest in isolated small "mountain" ranges
that other people
overlook. The highland ranges around the Great Lakes are among
those
I've always wanted to see. Very small mountains, yes, but I
enjoy hiking
in unique terrain like that. |
| Re:
Killarney |
Don
Bertolette |
| Feb
25, 2007 04:34 PST |
Lee, Steve-
No I hadn't seen the Ontario Killarney Park...from the images
associated
with your hypertext, it looks every bit as charming, if not
more! I've
passed close enough 40 years ago to have easily visited it, but
had a head
full of youthful thoughts back then...
-Don
|
| RE:
Killarney |
Lee
Frelich |
| Feb
25, 2007 17:45 PST |
James:
I agree, small mountains that most people ignore often have a
lot of
character, and often are the remnants of very old mountains that
used to be
the size of the Himilayas, but have eroded away. Mount Everett
and the
Taconics in MA, are examples, as is Killarney, Ont.
Lake Superior is especially rich in such mountains: Huron
Mountains MI
(South Shore, not open to public), Brockaway Mountain on the
Keewenaw
Peninsula, MI, with its wonderful dwarf forest and views across
Lake
Superior, Porcupine Mountains, MI, south shore, with its 35,000
acres of
old growth maple, hemlock and pine forest, Sawtooth Mountains,
MN, (north
shore), with their many deep canyons filled with rushing streams
and
ancient cedars clinging to the walls (includes Eagle Mountain
which is 1700
feet above the lake), Sleeping Giant, Ont (North Shore), a
mountainous
peninsula jutting 25 miles into Lake Superior, and Pukaskwa
National Park
and Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario (Northeast shore)
with hundreds
of thousands of acres of boreal black spruce and fir forest, and
several
thousand acres of white pine and maple forest towards the south
end that
has never been logged, and wildly colorful rocks along over 100
miles of
wilderness shoreline--green, white, black, and red rocks, as
well as the
only truly orange rocks I have ever seen, and black sand
beaches.
These have ancient rocks, stands of dwarf and/or ancient trees,
and views
that may not be as grand as in younger mountains, but that I
find more
appealing, perhaps because of the erosional features they have
after a few
billion years.
Lee
|
| RE:
Killarney |
Steve
Galehouse |
| Feb
25, 2007 21:09 PST |
Lee, James, ENTS,
The Canadian Shield is a fantastic region--even areas without
"mountains" are memorable--the tens of thousands of
glacier wrought
lakes with interconnecting creeks, granite and gneiss
shorelines, all
dispersed among beautiful forests. The region is very unlike
most of the
geography in the States.
I've been going to an area near Algonquin Park for over 40
years, and
it's always enjoyable to observe the flora on the drive north
from
Ohio--dogwood drops out of the landscape just north of Ft. Erie,
paper
birch becomes common around Barrie, the land changes after
crossing a
strait around Fesserton, and then you're ON THE SHIELD, and the
aspect
of the land changes entirely; white oak disappears, red pine
becomes a
major constituent of the forest, and white pine, first seen on
the
crests of ravines along I-90 in Ohio, visibly becomes the
dominant tree
of the forest. But most importantly, lakes and rocks and woods
are
everywhere, and even the scent of the air is different.
The area we visit on The Shield has a combination of temperate
and
boreal species, so it's especially interesting--white and red
pine,
sugar and red maple, basswood and beech, yellow birch, as well
as jack
pine, black and white spruce, balsam fir, tamarack, and balsam
poplar.
And the lakes are all drinkable. Wolves howl at night, moose are
in the
water-lily bays in the early morning, and bears scrounge for
blueberries.
Heaven here on Earth.
Steve Galehouse
|
| Re:
Killarney |
James
Smith |
| Feb
26, 2007 14:54 PST |
Yep, I love old mountains. I guess because they remind me of my
former
home in the north Georgia mountains.
A friend sent me a trip report from Sleeping Giant. Impressive
terrain
there, for sure. And another guy sent me some photos he took in
the
Porcupine Mountains with an eye toward showing me the slopes and
gorges.
Of course I immediately saw that he had shot some GIGANTIC pine
trees!
He said there are many such groves in there and hadn't even
meant the
photo to brag on the old trees, but the old peaks.
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