Baie Finn, ON, CA
When the weather finally improved we back-tracked and cruised over to Baie Finn, one anchorage that we decided we could not miss. Baie Finn (pronounced Bay Fin), which means fine bay, is a 10-mile long fresh water fjord in the La Cloche Mountains in Killarney Provincial Park. it is an extremely popular boating destination with stunning white quartz cliffs descending straight into the bay, windswept pines, and protected calm waters making it a perfect anchor spot. It is so popular that Viking cruises brings a 600-foot ship there, anchors just outside the Baie and puts passengers into inflatable boats to come into the Baie to witness its beauty.
We anchored in “The Pool” at the extreme east end of the Baie, where the 10-mile channel ends, culminating in a large, breathtakingly beautiful body of water surrounded by cliffs and pines on three sides. The entry into the pool is charted at 4.5 feet, which would normally be too shallow for our boat, which has a 4.5 foot draft. However, multiple regulars from the area told us that we would have no problem entering the pool , so with blind faith, off we went. We held our breath as we crept through the shallowest parts where we could definitely see huge bolders right below the waterline, but once through these sections, the water depth was more than ample for our boat. WHEW! One of the couples we talked totold us they spent five days in the pool earlier this summer and come back every year, and not to miss it, so here we are - truly enjoying the peace and serenity this spot offers.
While anchoring in the pool, we were also advised not to miss taking our dinghy over to the shoreline and going on a 1-mile hike up the hill to see Topaz Lake with its crystalline clear waters, spectacular views and potentially go for a swim. We were told, “Oh, it’s an easy mile and is hardly a workout”, so once again off we went! We soon discovered we have a very different definition of “easy” as the hike was far from it! The trail is very rocky and there are several steep rocky sections that were like climbing tall stair steps and took a lot of finesse to ascend. After murmering multiple expletives under our breath, and Ann repeatedly asking “are we almost there?” we persevered, got to the top of the ridge line, and the lake was definitely as beautiful as described. Would we do it again - probably YES! Would we describe it as easy, absolutely NOT! Fair warning - if you are ever in Baie Finn, and decide to do this hike, consider yourself warned.
Another interesting tidbit about Baie Fine is its tie to the Ralph Evinrude family who we mentioned in our Little Current entry. Ralph was the son of the maker of the first commercially produced outboard boat motor. Ralph and his wife, Frances Langford (a Hollywood actress) built a lake house on a tiny island at the east end of the baie, which you can see just as you enter the pool. As the story goes, they would sail their 120-foot yacht up from Florida every year and stay at this little island cottage, and use the yacht’s generator to provide power for the house. Locals say the yacht was longer than the whole island, so when they would park the boat in front of their cottage, the bow and the stern would stick out on either end.
After recovering from the hike from hell, we were sitting out on the deck, enjoying the evening and had a surprise visitor, a large snapping turtle who either came by to get a snack or just to check us out. As Will started talking to him (now we not only take pictures of the wildlife, we chat them up) the little guy (the turtle) kept moving closer and closer to the boat. Alas, when he determined we weren’t going to feed him because we didn’t have any turtle food on board, he swam away…. or maybe it was something Will said that he didn’t like. Ann immediately googled “will snapping turtles bite swimmers in a lake?” The answer was a resounding NO.
