Our destination today is an anchorage
that is very popular so we are hoping that an early arrival will give us an
advantage. Just 3.5 miles past the swing bridge we passed the Strawberry Island
Lighthouse (photo at left). The lighthouse is 44 feet high and was built in
1881. It was built to guide ships approaching Manitoulin Island and the Port of
Little Current from the South through waters that were largely uncharted at
that time. It is considered to be the ultimate design of classic Georgian Bay
style lighthouses. It features attached housing for a large family, which gives
the lighthouse a combination of beauty and function.
We are going to a scenic location known
as the Baie Fine, which is pronounced Bay Fine.
The entrance is only about 14 miles from Little Current and runs just
over 10 miles ending at 'The Pool' which is where we plan to anchor, if
possible. There are white quartz
mountains that stretch down the narrow bay making this a very scenic
destination. In addition to the beauty, I was intrigued by this suspension
bridge from the house on the main island to a guest house on a very small
island (photo at right). I suppose this
is where you could house the in-laws stayed when they came to visit.
We were a little concerned about finding
room at the anchorage in the Pool, which was the reason for our early departure
for such a short trip. We did get our hopes up as we passed about 8 boats
headed out on our way down the channel. The photo on the left shows the beauty
of the shoreline in the Pool. The geese in the foreground are feeding on bugs
in the seaweed. We did not realize at the time, but the floating seaweed was an
indication of how our anchor would be covered with a huge blob of seaweed when
we pull it up tomorrow.
We launched the kayaks after lunch to
set off to the dock at the start of the trail up to Topaz Lake. There were
several other boats at the trail head (photo at right), but most of them were
related to the construction of a cabin somewhere up the hillside. Since we were
in our kayaks, we left our Fit Bits on Lucky Us, so I have to guess that we
hiked about three quarters of a mile and gained about 250 feet in elevation.
The hike was well worth it as the lake is beautiful (photo at left). We ended
up about 30 vertical feet above the lake in a steep fairly open area, which
really enhanced our views.
The photo at the right is another view
over the lake with the rocky hillside in the background. To me the beauty of
the setting is enhanced by the combination of rocky outcrops along with the
contrasting trees and water. Later in the afternoon three of the go fast boats
that we had seen multiple times in the Mackinac Island area arrived and rafted
up across the Pool from us. We spent much of the rest of the day enjoying this
idyllic and peaceful setting…
The last photo (at left) from Topaz Lake
shows Lucky resting while being scratched. If you look carefully at her ears,
you can see that they are flying in the wind. Thus, our weather report for
Topaz Lake is very windy, but the breeze was welcome after our climb up here.
The last photo for the day shows the view
back toward Lucky Us as we set out in our kayaks. The entrance channel is out
of view to the right, but the wind was being funneled up the channel toward us.
Thus, we had to negotiate waves up to one foot in height until we got out of
the wind and into the Pool. The boats in the anchorage are oriented in many
different directions, which showed that the winds were swirling around in the
Pool.
Meanwhile, the Admiral continues her hopes of a bear sighting...
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