GGB pt 3, Bad River to Baie Fine

The last few posts have swept you through Georgian Bay fairly quickly, so I wanted to give you the ‘big picture’ view of where this post begins.

We are anchored at the red dot in the middle of the purple circle.

Bad River 45° 56’ 05”N, 80° 58’ 26”W

Exploration by dinghy and climbing!

Bad River is oh so GOOD! Actually, great!  I believe Bad River (and surrounding area) was my overall favorite location in Georgian Bay!

Now for the close up view…

We are anchored at the pink star…ignore the red lines and numbers, those are just route plots.  Devil’s Door, Cross Channel and The Five Fingers were amazing places to explore!

We would travel upstream as far as we could, in the Whaler, and Keith would nose up to a rock so I could climb up for a better view.

This was the first place, in Georgian Bay, where the water level seemed very low.

After getting our fill of the scenery on the west side of the anchorage, we headed for the east side, and found very different terrain.

This is definitely the work of a local…no out-of-towner is going to attempt mooring there!

Time for some rock climbing!  I don’t mean ‘hang from your fingertips on a vertical face’ kind of rock climbing. You would get a more accurate visual if you imagine an intoxicated mountain goat, with 3 legs, trying to gain elevation on big smooth rocks.

But we found BLUEBERRIES! We have been looking for wild blueberries since we entered Georgian Bay, and we thought they would be a little easier to pick.  These plants are 6-8 inches off the ground, and finding a bush with more than 2 ripe berries was very difficult. This plant is the happy exception.

It took a lot of picking to get enough to make something, but our efforts were justly rewarded…

The best blueberry cobbler ever!

The next day we headed to Covered Portage by way of Beaverstone and Collins Inlet.

As we worked our way to the west, the topography changed quite drastically!  We quickly went from smooth pink granite to sheer and jagged outcroppings.

And this is where our good camera took a very hard spill on the pilot house floor…never to be heard from again!!  Luckily, Keith dug out our old camera, and we were back in business!

Covered Portage 46° 00’ 06”N, 81° 31’ 44”W

Exploration by dinghy and climbing.

The anchorage inside the cove was surrounded by these massive walls of rock.  However, the anchorage was pretty busy, and we chose to anchor outside, in a location that offered better protection from the forecasted strong northwest winds.

This rock will protect us nicely…and of course, we had to climb it.

This is the view from the top, while we were (once again) picking blueberries…yum!! With this batch we enjoyed blueberry pancakes, and blueberries in our yogurt.  We have decided that if we find any more we will make ice cream 🤞!

Rest time is good too!

Baie Fine 46° 02’ 40”N, 81° 28’ 42”W

Pronounced Bay Fin

Exploration by hiking, climbing, and hiking some more!

Apparently, the hike to Lake Topaz is in that direction…it looks like a lot of uphill from here!

Most of the trail is a dry creek bed with a gradual uphill slope.

Behold…the three legged mountain goat. As we get closer to the prize, the going gets a little tougher.  

We made it, and we are going for a swim.

Now, to get out of here. The blueberries are on the top of that rock.

We came…we conquered, and we celebrated!

The next morning we decided to get an early start for our 20 mile trip to Little Current.

All was calm at 6:45 a.m.

This is officially our last anchorage in Georgian Bay.  Once we pass through Little Current we will be in a body of water known as North Channel.

What a phenomenal experience!  

I do a lot of reading (especially when we are in places with little/no internet connection), and recently read a passage that sums up my feelings nicely.

“…humans innately can be healed by beauty, especially the splendors of the natural world.” The Oceanography of the Moon, pg 225.

Therefore, my advice to you…if your soul ever needs to be healed, plan a trip to Georgian Bay!