Day 34 - 7/29/24

Sleep is wonderful! Homemade bloodies are particularly good and such a treat when no sailing is on the docket for the day.

As we enjoyed our drinks we were alerted to an animal ashore...a bear! He looked to be a juvenile but we never saw mamma. We named him Bear Fine (since we are in Baie Fine).

After breakfast we packed our backpacks and took a short dinghy ride to shore to hike to Topaz Lake. One of the few official hikes we knew about and one not to miss.

The hike was only about 20 minutes, mostly uphill but we saw tons of mushrooms and a frog. We reached Topaz lake and were greeted by crystal clear water surrounded by granite cliffs and mountains.

We weren't the only ones there but it wasn't crowded. There were almost as many dogs as people and Kona had a great time at the dog party.

I'd have to verify (but at the time of writing this I dont have internet) but the lake has nothing living in it due to arsenic leaking from the rocks. Enough not to support life but safe to swim. So we did! We all jumped off the small jump. Someone handed me my glasses afterwards and I treaded water for about an hour as it was so warm and comfortable. As I enjoyed the water I watched Kona play and Richard, Cory and Bert jump multiple times from a cliff about 15-20 feet!

After a few hours we hiked a little around the lake looking for a trail for an overlook to the pool but only found blueberries and a wild potty

The afternoon back at the boat demanded a nap and it was so hot that we just sat and waited for evening.

We made freeze dried Salisbury steaks pretty late as they took awhile to reconstitute. Taps/Last Post was especially good with glass water and the cliffs. We had a boat come over afterwards and let us know they were especially touched by the gift and we chatted all through dinner.

Tomorrow may be another rest day as our "once a week" rain day is upon us. We will see, but we are all ok with some downtime. There is talk of a movie and games.