North Channel Killarney Mountain Lodge and Anchorage Baie Fine

On Saturday, August 1 we left Wright's Marina in Britt about 7:30 am. We went out into Georgian Bay and had a very smooth ride. There was rain forecasted but never did happen which was nice. We arrived in Killarney about 12:30. Killarney Mountain Lodge is a beautiful resort area with many restaurants, a pool, free bike, canoe, kayak,  and paddle boards available, and many other amenities. It is also the beginning of The North Channel part of Lake Huron. We docked at its sister hotel and marina, The Sportsman's Inn. We still had access to all of the amenities at Killarney. It's one of the "must-stops" on the Loop. We explored the area and saw "The Big Dipper", the world's largest paddle. We had dinner at The Ranch and had amazing pickerel for the entree and a macha brûlée for dessert. (I included photos below.)  It's a lovely view at The Ranch overlooking Killarney Channel and Georgian Bay. Later we stopped at the Carousel Lounge where they had an amazing musician, Duncan Cameron. We also saw a helicopter land right in front of the Carousel Lounge. It was a Bell 206 Long Ranger,  similar to the helicopters used in Naval Flight School back in the day when Tim was there. 

On our second day in Killarney, Sunday, August 2nd, after church we took a walk and then did a little canoeing. There are a few business on the street between Sportsman Inn and Killarney Lodge so we stopped at the General Store for a few things and had ice cream at Gateway. We also got in some pool time in the afternoon. We had dinner at the Main Dining room at Killarney Lodge. This time the pickerel was baked in parchment. After dinner we enjoyed a beautiful sunset from our boat.

On Monday, August 3rd, our last day at Killarney, we took the dinghy to a popular scenic cove called Covered Portage. We pulled up on shore and had a picnic on the rocks and waded in the water a bit. The quartzite cliffs were very pretty and many boats were anchored there. Speaking of "anchorage", we had dinner at the Sportsman Inn's restaurant called The Anchorage.  We also sat at the Pier bar before the evening came to a close. We definitely enjoyed our time at Killarney Mountain Lodge!

On Tuesday, August 4 we left Killarney to go to a popular and scenic anchorage called Baie Fine which is French for Fine Bay and it is pronounced around here as "Bay Finn". It is one of the largest freshwater fjords and is surrounded by quartzite cliffs. When you go all the way back there is a small  lake called "The Pool".  We left Killarney about 7:30 and took our time and arrived about 12:30. We were a bit apprehensive as we warned about a few "skinny" areas and a lot of weeds, but we made it in there with no problems. At the entrance is a famous lodge called Okeechobee. We also saw a Viking cruise ship in Frazer Bay and they were launching excursion boats to Okeechobee and also in to Baie  Fine. Once settled at anchorage we took the dinghy to a trail in The Pool that leads up to Topaz Lake. This is one of the favorite Looper experiences recommended and  we did enjoy it. The hike was a bit more challenging than we thought with rocky terrain and steep climbs. There were several people already swimming and several more came later from a tour boat. We did swim and the water (like all the water here) was crystal clear and refreshing. The more adventurous people jumped in from the rocks, but we were happy just to wade in along the large boulders. The hike down was, needless to say, much easier. We went back to our boat and did some more lounging on our raft. We really enjoyed this anchorage, but will be  working our way back to the states and will be making 2 more stops in The North Channel before that.