Killbear: A Return Visit....

Today was a great day. I went on an outing with my brother and his friend to Killbear Provincial Park on Georgian Bay just north of Parry Sound for a quick visit before heading to Gilly's, a very popular eating spot nearby for a late lunch.

The whole purpose of the outing was to have lunch  - in particular, the specialty of the house - pan-fried (or battered) pickerel and fries. I had been looking forward to it as I had heard great things about their fish and chips and was anxious to try it out. The lunch did not disappoint - it was absolutely delicious and topped off with key lime pie? Yum! But for me, being back in Killbear for probably the first time since my teenage years, was the real treat... 

Memories came pouring back. When I was in university, but home for the summer working in the bank, I used to camp there with my friend Rosie on summer weekends. We each had a Honda 50 and after work on a Friday night we would load up our camping gear on them and head up to the park and set up our tent at Beaver Dams campground, I cringe now to think we rode those little scooters on the trans-Canada highway in summer traffic in cottage country!  I guess the traffic back in those days was not as insane as it is now, but still....

Whatever, we had a wonderful time and we survived! I have great memories of days on the beach, swimming, hiking, meeting new friends and in the evenings singing (and trying to play the guitar) around the campfire. Those were the "good old days" of my youth, the ones they write songs about. The care-free summers we had before leaving home and starting our adult lives...

They say you can never go  back. And that thought hit me as, in even that short stopover, I could see that Killbear was a totally different place now - so much bigger, apparently hosting between 250,000 - 300,000 visitors a year! The park opened to the public back in 1960 and it was the mid-sixties when I camped there. The park was young and so much smaller - so much less sophisticated. Yachts didn't anchor off the beaches... but, you cannot change that landscape..the pines, those beautiful flat undulating golden rocks, the sparkling waters of Georgian Bay. It is a magical place. Always will be. Just much more crowded!