I saw a large shape moving toward us beside the upturned canoe. “What the f*** is that?!” I yelled. Jake swung his headlamp around and there it was, a huge black bear walking right into our campsite.

Not quite how I expected to end our final canoe trip of the season…

*Our food barrel in the morning, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2025*

We had set off bright and early like we usually do, although it was still pitch black around 6 am on the Saturday of Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in October. We only had a 3 day trip planned, so it was a hefty drive there and back for a short visit, but Killarney Provincial Park can be so beautiful that it feels worth the effort.

We had planned 2 nights on David Lake, a part of the park we had been through before, actually twice, though we had somehow forgotten the 5 day trip we did a few years ago that went through the same area. We did, however, remember Thanksgiving 2022 when we basically did this same route over 3 days to hike Silver Peak on the middle day but stayed on Boundary Lake. This year we had the same plan but were booked on site 181 at the far end of David, away from the Silver Peak trailhead, only because the closer ones were already taken when I booked it a few weeks earlier.

We made pretty good time, arriving at Killarney Kanoes at the Bell Lake access point, where we were renting a canoe, around 11 am. While checking in, they told us there had been some bear activity on David but it was at the opposite end of the lake to where we were staying, so “you should be good.” They reminded us to hang our food because the bear had been getting into campsites after some campers had not stored their food properly a few weeks ago. We were already planning to hang ours since we would be away most of Sunday hiking Silver Peak.

*Setting off from Bell Lake on Saturday morning, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2025.*

We were on the water around noon. The route was a big loop with David Lake in the middle, so we could go either way. We chose to go anticlockwise since we had not done that route before, and our site was not far from the portage at the end of the paddle. Paddling through Balsam Lake gave me déjà vu when I realised we had been this way before on that 5 day trip. There are only 2 portages this way, a super short 40 m lift over from Three Mile Lake into Balsam, then a 620 m from Balsam into David which starts with a steep rocky climb but then levels out before dropping into David with a beautiful view of the white quartzite ridges of the La Cloche Mountains.

*Portaging from Balsam Lake to David Lake, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2025*

We reached our site around 4 pm and got cracking on camp chores. Being early October, sunset was at 6:45 pm so we had to hustle. First job, our least favourite, the bear hang. We found a decent tree set back from camp about 80 ft from where we planned to pitch the tent, which was another 20 ft or so from the firepit. We tied a rock in a bag to the rope and threw it over a branch about 15 ft high. Jake put his full weight on the rope about 6 ft from the trunk. Solid. We test hung the barrel and it held. Job done. Feeling pretty pleased with ourselves for getting it done without drama, we pitched the tent and gathered firewood. It was getting chilly and neither of us fancied a dip, so we got the fire going and settled in with a negroni and some summer sausage for apero hour. Dinner was Farm Boy Jalapeño Jack burgers, corn, and shishitos, a camping favourite. I had done most of the cooking, so Jake was on washing up duty, leaving the dishes to drain on the upturned canoe like usual. Once it got dark, we packed away the dishes and loaded the barrel, poured another negroni, and sat by the fire while the stars came out. Tess had already put herself to bed in the tent once she realised there were no more food scraps coming her way.

Around 8 pm we were watching the flames when I caught a shadow out of the corner of my eye near the canoe about 20 ft away. Then I saw a large shape moving toward us beside it. “What the f*** is that?!” I yelled. Jake swung his headlamp that way and there it was. A big black bear walking right toward us, sniffing the canoe. We jumped up shouting “Hey bear” and clapping. I grabbed my whistle and blew long loud blasts while Jake started bashing a pan with the saw. The bear turned and slowly walked away. Jake kept banging while I ran for Tess, terrified the bear might circle around and go for her in the tent. I clipped her leash to my waist. She didn’t bark but was clearly confused and could feel our panic. We kept making noise and scanning the woods but saw nothing.

We stood by the fire in shock. Only a few hours earlier Jake had said, “I hope we see some wildlife this trip, we have not seen much this season.” Well, Jake, wish granted. Next time wish for the winning lottery ticket instead!

A few minutes later we saw a bright light out on the water. Someone shouted, “You guys alright?” It was a couple who had been camping a few sites away on site 185. They had also had a bear wander in while they were warming up her mum’s homemade apple pie over the fire. They scared it off but said he was not at all afraid of people. They figured he was around 300 lbs, which sounded like the same one we saw. They ended up stashing their food on one island and sleeping in a hammock on a different island not far from us, they didn’t feel safe staying on their site. We thanked them for checking in on us, wished them luck, and started trying to figure out what to do next.

We didn’t love the idea of staying, but it was pitch black and felt riskier paddling off not knowing where we were going. The bear had clearly been after food, he had gone for the canoe, probably smelling the dishes that had been draining on it earlier, so we knew we needed to get the food away from us. We went together with Tess clipped to me and hung the food barrel, sweeping our headlamps through the trees the whole time. No sign of him.

*Jake demonstrating the height of our hang, 15ft high and 6ft from the trunk, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2025*

Back at the fire, we were too wired to sleep. We talked through what to do if he came back. We have been bringing fairy lights with us on recent trips to hang near the firepit, so we decided to leave them on in case we needed to move fast in the night; they would help us not get disorientated. We figured we had done what we could. Still, we couldn’t believe how unbothered he had been. Everyone says black bears are scared of people and you can easily ward them off. Well, not this one. He was calm, clearly used to campsites, and was not bothered by people at all.

We crawled into the tent around 10 pm. I had just taken my shoes off when we heard a loud crack and crash. He’d got the barrel!

Jake jumped up, grabbed the saw and the camera tripod, our new noise makers since the pan was now inside the barrel. I told him to wait so we would go together. Everything I have read about bears says stay in a group, make noise, look big. Tess still clipped to me, we went to where we had hung it. The branch had snapped. The barrel was still tied to the rope, and the rope was still tied to the other tree. We started shouting “Hey bear” again, clapping, whistling, banging, but he didn’t care. He just pulled the barrel closer. I clamped my hand over Tess’s mouth, terrified she would bark and trigger the bear to become aggressive. Jake edged closer and I shouted at him to get back and stay together. There was no scaring this one away. He was not aggressive, just totally fearless. I didn’t want to find out what happened if he changed his mind. We backed away slowly, eyes locked on him. My hands were shaking, adrenaline pumping. There was no way I was sticking around to see if we were going to be dessert.

We ripped down the tent and threw everything into our big orange canoe pack and a heavy duty black bin bag. We broke camp in under 5 minutes. It usually takes us 2 hours. We tossed everything into the canoe, including the fairy lights, strapped on our lifejackets and paddled into the dark.

*Packing up our makeshift campsite on Sunday morning, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2025*

The couple from before saw our headlamps and shouted again. We yelled back that we were coming to join them and that we had a dog, hope that is okay! We figured safety in numbers. It definitely helped to know there were now 4 of us plus Tess. We compared stories and it sounded like the same bear. They had been told he had even chewed through ropes on other food hangs over the last couple of weeks. We set up our tent on a big rock slab on their island. It was about 11:30 pm when we finally lay down. My heart was still racing but at least I had stopped hyperventilating. I barely slept. I lay there replaying everything, planning what I would do if he swam over. I even went through all my wilderness first aid training scenarios in my head of what to do when someone is mauled by a bear. I had a full plan for if he came back!

It was a long night. Sunrise was not until 7:40 am. I think I might have dozed off for about 20 minutes if that. We started packing up the tent about 6:45 am as it was starting to get lighter. We debated going back. I was scared the bear might still be there and be possessive over the barrel, but we also didn’t want to leave the mess from our likely destroyed barrel. The other guy convinced us to check. He thought the bear couldn’t get in the barrel. I knew otherwise, I’ve seen photos of barrels bears have destroyed so I knew it was possible. We decided we would go back and have a quick look.

*Looking back at the little island that we’d camped on for the night, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2025*

The lake was blanketed in morning fog and it was tricky to navigate, but we spotted the big rock near our site and paddled over. It was a stunning morning that we would have appreciated much more had the circumstances been different. We paddled to the side of the site near the hang. Jake wanted to jump out for a quick look but I said no, we go together, safety in numbers. We paddled back round to the main access to the site and walked over together to where we had hung the barrel. The barrel was still tied to the tree, rope intact, but contents strewn everywhere. I heard a rustle in the woods and panicked, we legged it back to the canoe. It was probably just a squirrel and we felt so bad leaving such a mess. So we psyched ourselves up, grabbed our trusty heavy duty bin bag, and went back. I stood watch scanning the trees while Jake threw everything in the bag. I heard another rustle and yelled that we had to go. We cut the rope and legged it. Whatever it was, bear or more likely chipmunk, I didn’t want to find out!

Once we were safely in the canoe, breathing easier, we started the paddle out. Silver Peak was obviously off the cards as we had no food. It was such a perfect day too, bright blue sky and the trees just past their peak colours. We reached Bell Lake Access around noon. Portaging a bin bag of bear slobbered gear is not fun, but I’m glad we brought it out. Most of our gear survived. The barrel and harness were toast. A couple of dented cups, one shredded barrel organiser, and the other somehow unzipped neatly like the bear opened it himself. They really are surprisingly dexterous. He had only eaten the food, he didn’t even chew on things that smelled like food, like the dishcloth or washing up bowl, though it looked like he had licked everything just to check.

*Making the most of the beautiful morning paddling out of the park, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2025*

We told the team at Killarney Kanoes all about our ordeal. They were not surprised. They said it all started a couple of weeks ago when some people had not stored their food properly and now this bear associates campsites and barrels with food and seems to be going from camp to camp each night. They said he would have easily swum from the other couple’s campsite to ours in a few minutes. When we got back to the car park we noticed there was a printed sign on the park map that had the warning that there had been bear activity a couple of weeks ago on 2 sites, and there were handwritten notes all over it where people had added their encounters too. It all sounded like the same bear, not aggressive but not afraid at all and difficult to scare off.

We took the barrel with us and headed to the main park office at George Lake to report it after a pit stop in the little town of Killarney for some food. The head ranger on duty took a full report and I left my contact details so they could reach me if they had any more questions. She reassured me that we had done the right things in the situation. It was sadly a habituated bear that now associated campsites and barrels with food, all because some people had not stored their food properly a few weeks ago, which now ultimately puts other people in danger and puts the bear in danger. There is a saying that ‘a fed bear is a dead bear’. I hope it doesn’t come to that for this bear. It is entirely humans that are at fault in this situation. Hopefully he has a good rest over the winter and moves back to feasting on blueberries in the woods next year, not lentil curry and summer sausage. I know we certainly won’t be planning an early spring trip to Killarney. I would rather not bump into him again post hibernation!

*Hiking up Silver Peak on Thanksgiving a few years ago, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2022*

I left the barrel with the park office. They are going to use it to help educate people that food barrels are NOT bear proof as some people seem to think they are. Even with a barrel you still need to secure it properly, ideally hanging it, especially if you are in a well travelled area like some of the popular routes in provincial parks. As I mentioned in my last blog post, we don’t always hang our barrel. It is often difficult to find the right kind of tree to hang from. We have been on group trips with outfitters who never hang their food either. They just stash it away from camp. I think the difference is that a bear is less likely to approach a big group. I don’t know if we will always hang ours now, but we will definitely try. If a proper hang is not possible, we will at least secure it far from camp like we’ve been doing on other trips.

There are a few key learnings and considerations that we are taking away from this for future trips though:

Buy reflective rope so it is easier to hang the barrel deeper in the woods and still find it in the dark.
Test the branch with the barrel and one of us hanging from it. A barrel plus a 300 lb bear was too much for the one we chose.
Always plan an escape route when we arrive at camp, a direction, an island, a compass bearing, so we know where to go in the dark if needed.
Maybe bring bear spray. Still debating this one, but it would have felt better having that as a last resort.

It was not quite the Thanksgiving weekend we had hoped for. We didn’t get to see the views from Silver Peak this time, though we did a few years back, so we will just have to return another time. It hasn’t put me off canoe tripping, but it has given us some good lessons for next year. You do what you can to avoid attracting bears, and I think we are pretty good at that. We were just unlucky to cross paths with one that has become too used to people and lucky that we all came out fine. Well, almost all of us. Poor Tess somehow gashed her paw in the chaos. She has had stitches and is now bandaged up, but she is a trooper and is getting lots of treats.

So that’s a wrap on our 2025 canoe season. We saw a few beavers and otters, no snapping turtles, no moose, and one bloody massive bear, way closer than I ever wanted to see one!

As we pack our gear away for the next 6 months, I am excited to try some new things this winter and keep moving more outdoors. But I will definitely be counting down the days until the ice melts and we can get back out on the water again.

*Views over Georgian Bay from the top of Silver Peak a few years ago, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2022*

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