North Buck Lake

In late September, we took a trip north towards Lac La Biche. Our first stop was North Buck Lake, about 30 minutes west of Lac La Biche, near Caslan. There is a provincial park on the south end of the lake with a campsite and a day-use area.

The day-use area has pit toilets, picnic tables, and fire pits. The boat launch is a cement ramp with a dock and the water was very clear, even this late in the season. North Buck Lake is a big lake and it was a bit rough to the north (where the main lake is located). We decided to go west and south to stay out of the wind. A trop around the SW reach is about two or two-and-half hours of paddling.

It warmed up while we were paddling--you can see Jenn shucking layers as the photos progress.

The water was very clean and the bottom was sandy. The shore was reedy with sandy bits that give away to a mixed forest. While the "beaches" at the campsite were terrible, there were some large paddle-in beaches that were nice. There must be road access to them given the number of ATV tracks in the sand.

The water had weedier sections. There were very few birds to be seen, given the season.

We had a very nice paddle here and I'd go back in the summer. There is also nearby Chump Lake that looked good.

Below you can see one of the "beaches" for the campground. Mostly weeds with the swimming area buoys pushed ashore.

The campground gets super mixed reviews on google. It was clean but seems like a bit of a local party spot. I hear Chump Lake is more secluded.

Muir Lake

I was out at Muir Lake in early September for a quick paddle one day. The fall doldrums had set in with not much happening. I did have an eagle orbit above for most of the paddle, though!

There were also dramatic early autumn skies as the Sun is starting to drop a lower. Only a few folks on the lake fishing or paddling.

The lake was still pretty clean and much better than North Lake and Little Mere and Chickakoo, which had some pretty big patches of algae along the shores.

Looks like there is a resident beaver. The water level was also up, but I don't think those are connected because I don't think there is an outlet for Muir.

After an hour on the lake, I packed up and detoured west to try to find access to Mere Lake, but was unsuccessful (the banks are way steeper tan google maps suggested!).

Overall, a lovely paddle that is closer to home. This was also paddle 41 for me this year and I'm keen to try to hit 50 before the snow flies.

Ashland Reservoir and Dam

On the Labour Day weekend, we ventured out to the Ashland Reservoir that is SW of Warburg. We went west on Highway 16, turned south on Highway 770 (the Carvel turn) and then went south to Highway 39. We then turned west and went two miles before turning south again on Range Road 34 (which was gravel). It took about 75 minutes to get there and the same time to come back through Calmar and Devon

There is a campground here and a day use area. There is a $5 fee per car to use the day use area which includes a portapotty, picnic tables, parking, and a boat launch. The day use area is open until September 15 but a fellow said some folks continue to use it after September 15 by parking at the gate and then carrying their boats 500 feet to the boat launch.

The boat launch was pretty good but the mud at the bottom was soft! It was also a very smokey day from a fire in Jasper.

We went left out of the launch and towards the southern end of the lake. The water was iced tea coloured and got weedier the further south we went. 

There were ducks and a hawk out and about but everything else had slowed down for autumn. The bushes were just starting to show some fall colours but the overcast note the colours some.

We paddled the whole perimeter at a leisurely pace in about 75 minutes. This looks like it would be a great lake to fish in (lots of folks in boats with electric motors out fishing). I hear it is also nicer looking earlier in the year.

The smoke and cloud did eventually clear off and we had a lovely paddle around the northern end of the reservoir.

Overall, a nice paddle and I'm happy we went. There are nicer lakes closer to town though, so I'd probably not stop here again unless I was already headed towards Rocky Mountain House for some reason.

Jackfish Lake

In early September, I went out to Jackfish Lake for a quick paddle. I used the public boat launch in the day use area just off Highway 770 (Weekend Estates turn). Note that google maps at time of writing does not exactly match the new entry the county has constructed off of Highway 770 (which is 100 meters south and requires a tiny bit of backtracking once of the highway--no big deal, just slightly different than shown).

A nice clean launch with a dock, pit toilets, picnic tables, and a goodly amount of parking. If you stay after 4:30 on a weeknight or go any time on a weekend, there is a parking fee (I think $20).

I decided to head up to the northern half of the lake this trip as it had been years (2015?) since I'd gone that way. As soon as I got away from the dock, a wind front came through and the lake got moderately choppy. 

It wasn't too bad on the western edge but trying to get into the most northernly basin was a bit of a paddle. Other than a surprise lap full of water, it was a fun paddle and the wind eventually gave up.

The lake is basically a mix of cabins and stretches of reeds in front of aspen forest. There were a lot of birds on the water but not much else happening. The water was very clean.

Overall, a nice paddle and I was happy to evade the parking charge by going early in the morning.

If I get a chance to go back, I'll give the southern half of the lake a go. I think I was here with Jess a few years ago but we didn't do much of the perimeter.

Lac Ste. Anne, Darwell Launch

In late August, I decided to try Lac Ste. Anne. I don't think I have paddled here before. The lake is pretty big so I decided to try it in pieces, starting at the west end from the Darwell boat launch. The boat launch is at the bottom centre of the picture below. I turned right, paddled northeast east around the island and back. Maybe 6km all told but really only a fraction of the lake.

The boat launch was pretty good. Big grassy parking area with garbage cans, a dock and a cement launch. There was no one around and there looked to be pit toilets at the community picnic shelter on the right as you enter the boat launch.

There was a tiny bit of algae collected right in front of the launch that I managed to paddle to the side so I could get in cleanly. The water was a medium green colour and I would not want to fall in.

Below is a pretty representative photo of the paddle. Reedy edge giving way to an aspen forest. There were weedy patches in the water but nothing that interfered with paddling much.

There was a lot of wildlife on this paddle including about a dozen herons fishing and several hundred ducks flocking up. I also saw an eagle cruising overhead and I startled a couple of beavers.

The water in this end of the lake was calm and I saw no one the entire time (there was a campfire going on the southern shore but I couldn't see anyone around). Maybe the lake is too shallow and full of deadheads here for boating?

The loop around the island was interesting for the wildlife. The island itself was nothing special.

On the way back, I saw 21 pelicans formed up in a V (right below the Sun in the shot below) headed south.

Overall, this was an okay paddle. The absence of anyone else was nice (I figured the lake would be busy on the last Sunday afternoon in August). The boat launch was well kept. I'm going try a bit further to the east the next time I'm out here--maybe paddling out of the West Cove boat launch and up Farming Island.

East Pit Lake

In mid-August, we took a second trip out to East Pit Lake, just north of Wabamun on a Sunday evening. The parking lot (which is small) was nearly full but it was entirely with people fishing on the edge.

We humped the boats up to the crest of the hill and then all the way down. About 1000 feet from the parking lot and maybe 150 feet of vertical gain and loss.

The entry was clean and the lake was deserted and calm. Being down in a valley seems to negate most of the wind.

The lake is very much a prairie lake (hasn't been enough time since the area was strip-mined for the aspen to grown back). The water was super clean.

We saw some geese, a beaver, an osprey fishing, and some angry loons. Lots of fish jumping.

The picture below is the hill you have to climb back up at the end! We did two laps in about 90 ninety minutes at a very leisurely pace, including a trip up the little reach on the south side of the lake.

Overall, a neat change of pace from the usual lakes. 

Thunder Lake

In early August, we went back out to Thunder Lake. We'd paddled the SE third mid-day in June but the lake was too rough that day to venture up the lake. This time, we went after dinner and the water was calmer.

We put in again at the day-use area of the provincial park, which was basically deserted. I picked up my first leech in maybe 10 years (last time was in the green canoe out at Astotin Lake) and it had lots of friends in the water when I started looking!

We went NW along the north shore for awhile and basically it is reeds giving way to an aspen forest. Very pretty but nothing really notable. There was a blue-green algae warning on the lake but we didn't see any algae.

There were a lot of boats on the lake but the wakes weren't anything to be bothered by. It was smoking hot at 28C with no wind.

We paddled around the islands in the middle of the lake, watching the birds. Terns, cormorants, loons, ducks and some black-birds.

The cormorant drying its wings was the most interesting part of the islands.

We got about halfway down the lake and then some wind came up so we toured the south shore back towards Lightening Bay. Lots of young birds in the sheltered areas plus a few folks water-skiing.

Eventually, we cut back across past the deserted public beach and pulled out. A few more folks had arrived for a late evening paddle board as we were leaving.

Overall, a nice evening paddle. I'm more of a morning person and I'd forgotten how nice a warm, calm paddle with the sun dropping towards the horizon can be.