West Hawk Lake with Grant and Doreen

Hi Blog! On Tuesday, August 12, 2015, we had a chance to visit with friends, Grant and Doreen, who we first meet at the Miami Everglades Resort back in February. When we told them we planned to be in their neck of the woods this summer, they invited us to their cottage in lake country. We have often heard Canadians referring to "cottage country," but we have never actually been to one. It should make for a great adventure.

Grant and Doreen have rented the same cottage on Penniac Bay of West Hawk Lake for years and years. The development is called "Pixieland." How cute is that! We were excited to learn that
West Hawk Lake was formed by a meteor impact into an ancient rock bed composed of mostly granite. There are huge granite cliffs that surround parts of the lake. At 377 feet, West Hawk Lake is the deepest lake in Manitoba. We looked forward to getting out and exploring.

When we arrived at the gravel fire road leading off into the woods to their cabin, Great White was a little uncertain about whether or not he would fit. He did whack his antennas a few times, but with some careful coaxing by Kathy and superior navigation by David, we arrived at our destination. [Note to self - removed antennas BEFORE driving down a narrow wooded gravel fire road.]

Grant and Doreen invited a few other friends to join in the fun. They had a whole day of activity planned for us. Here is our hiking party at the trailhead for the Hunt Lake Trail from left to right - Kathy, Marcie puppy, Yanko, Doreen, Grant and Doug. (Ed. Dave took the photo.)

The trail starts with a leisurely stroll along the banks of Hunt Lake. We just missed getting wet as a sprinkle cloud passed as we drove over to the trailhead. By the time we reached the lake, the weather was clearing up. Hunt Lake is just a baby lake compared to West Hawk Lake, but very pretty nonetheless.

Our hike would take us from Hunt Lake over a ridge to West Hawk Lake. Turns out that areas of the park have elaborate petroforms that were made by First Nation peoples, possibly over a thousand years ago. There are petroform shapes of turtles, snakes, humans and geometrical patterns, often found upon pink granite ridges that were shaped during the last ice age. Kathy tried climbing up to see if she could find any, but no luck.

The trail had many twists and turns. At times, Grant was just not sure which way to go.

However, Marcie, with her keen sense of smell was able to pick up the trail and lead us up and over the ridge to this amazing view of West Hawk Lake. (Ed. Just ignore the power lines.)

Here we are celebrating our accomplishment.

On the way back down, Yanko took a turn exploring the cliffs.

Grant was so impressed with our trekking poles, he decided to get a pair for himself - hiking sticks that is. Doreen is not so sure they will fit in the van and Marcie only cares about the squirrels.

We made it safely back to the trailhead, but Grant had drunk all his water. Where, he wondered, was he to get more?

Back at the cottage, we enjoyed a great lunch followed by a dip in the hot tub. While Grant, Doreen and Doug hit the snooze button, Yanko, Kathy and David took to the water in a canoe.  Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to paddle about the entire like, so we had to settle on touring a few bays and inlets nearby.  Here is Captain Dave manning the rudder.

The weather cooperated by providing a few hours of calm winds and sunshine.

Here Janko mans the bow, while Kathy sits back and navigates.

On the way back to the cottage, we came across a family of loons fishing - mama loon, papa loon and baby loon.

Here is a close-up of either mama loon or papa loon. We couldn't get close enough to tell which.

There are two beaver lodges just passed the dock to the cottage. This is the best photo. The other lodge is really hidden in reeds.

We arrived back at the cottage just as Yanko's parents and his little brother arrived. Now the party really got started! We spent several hours eating and chatting. We hated to go, but it was getting dark and Great White didn't want to be caught in the woods after dark.