Publish Date: Saturday, July 18, 2009
Picking wild blueberries…hiking up a stream…swimming in a dead lake…kayaking…roasting marshamallows around a campfire with new friends…what a banner couple of days! On Sunday, July 12, we pulled into Maryanne Cove on the North Channel of Canada. The bay itself is gorgeous with large white quartz rocks, smooth clear water, magnificently beautiful forests, and a certain magical presence in the sun and clouds. The adventures we have had in this small bay, are ones I will definitly remember.
The first of our adventures was hiking up to Frazier Mountain: A beautiful mountain that looks over Baie Fine . Of course, the view was hard to enjoy, as we were on our hands and knees most of the time. Why? Wild blueberries. This brings us to something I have never done; that is, picking and indulging in wild fruit! There were so many bushes of the tiny berries, that we spent a good two hours rummaging around in the woods looking for dots of blue. The blueberries you pick in the wild are way different than store bought berries. First of all, they are probably four times smaller (if you want an idea of this, cut a store bought berrie into four pieces…one of those pieces is about the size of a wild blueberry). The second is these berries are much more flavorful. They burst with juicy sweetness available only directly off the berry bush. These berries are addicting to pick! Once you start, you can’t stop until every dot of blue is gone. After you have filled up several back packs full, you can make blueberry scones, blueberry muffins, blueberry coffee cake, blueberry smoothies, or just eat them plain!
The next adventure we undertook while in Bay Fine was to hike to Topaz Lake; a small dead lake located near the top of a mountain. A dead lake means that nothing can live in it. No fish. No seaweed. No parasites. No bacteria. No anything. It was only rock and water. The hike up there was gorgeous, but definitly not what you might consider a “trail.” The “trail” was actually a running stream you had to hike up! Once we reached Topaz Lake, I realized what everybody was talking about. It was gorgeous, with water the coolor of topaz…and not a smidge of life. We spent an hour or two swimming around, as the water was smooth, clear, and well, yes, cold.
We have also done a fair amount of kayaking while in this area. It is a great way to get to shore without having to use the diingy. Because we are medeteranian moored (meaning we have an anchor down, and a line tied to something on shore) we literally have the Canadian wilderness in our backyard. One of my favorite pastimes is using the line from our boat to shore to tow myself from Three@Sea to the base of Frezier Island. I won’t lie; I fell off the kayak a few times :).
CRUISER SHOUT OUT to: The Beckering Family and friends! We had a great marshmallow roast/bonfire on a mountain overlooking Maryanne Cove with them, and it was definitely a highlight. Thanks so much!
All together, the adventures of Baie Fine are Fine…in fact…great!
Pictures Coming Soon