From the open water, Beaverstone Inlet narrows and shallows before taking an abrupt left turn to become Collins Inlet. The location of the name change is a bit nerve-wracking because within the sliver of a channel, the depths reduce and vary wildly as you pass over rocks and weedy areas, never being sure which is which.
Collins Inlet
Turning the sharp corner, the depth increased somewhat, which allowed us to breathe a little easier as we took in the fjord-like views along the way. Mill Lake is approximately perpendicular, approximately halfway along. The land around the lake is all Provincial Park, apart from four cottages. I cleverly planned our anchorage to be out of sight of all of them in just two meters water and surrounded by islets. That way, if we saw the Aurora again, their lights wouldn't interfere.
That turned out to be a bad idea. There's too much sunlight at two meters. Our anchor wouldn't set. When Maryanne retrieved it, it was covered in a ball of weed the size of Begonia. Maryanne grabbed a dive knife and started slashing away at it while I kept us off the shallows. By the time she cleared me to start moving again, she looked like she had just barely won a battle with the Swamp Thing. She suggested we try a little deeper water next time.
We could see two cottages from our next choice, but they have likely already been vacated for the winter. We dropped the anchor in seven meters this time and it held fast right away. It looks like a fine location for a weed fight, but Maryanne had already tossed it overboard after cutting it free.
We did the usual kayak tours during our stay, making sure they aggregated into a comprehensive survey of all the shoreline within the lake by the time we were finished.
Kayak about Mill Lake
On the last day, we landed at a trailhead just before the owner of the cottage on the southernmost island on the lake in her launch. She correctly surmised we were the "catamaran people" and welcomed us to the area. We joined her and her two friends for the short walk to the beautiful Manzanazing river system just over the ridge. Along the way, as the five of us were chatting, she pointed out unmistakable evidence of a bear that had recently been on the trail. Rather than being nervous at such a sight, Maryanne and I were buoyed by the thought that we might have a chance to see another one from a safe distance. Our new companions also directed us to a small waterfall a short kayak away (on the Mehzenazing River).
Ashore to stretch the legs and see (another) lake. We didn't take the kayak with us on this portage trail
Despite scanning miles of shoreline in the coming days, we never did see another bear. Still, we enjoyed all the scenery along the way.
Anchorage location >> On google maps
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