Astotin Lake

In late April, work took us out past Elk Island Park. On the way back, we stopped at Astotin Lake to have dinner and see whether the ice was out. It was!

The main beach was clean and, miraculously, there wasn't too much wind. We decided to drive to the boat launch to avoid the long carry.  

The water level was low, which exposed big rocks right at the surf line. We would have been better off going off the beach. These rocks were a major pain last year as well and make the boat launch tricky to use, especially if you are coming hot with the wind behind you.

The water was the usual iced tea colour, and there was already hint of green in the foam.

We paddled along the north edge of the lake and watched this raven hassle a bunch of geese trying to nest on this little peninsula. It is usually too windy to paddle this part of the lake so it was nice to see a different part.

Eventually, the sun started to come out and the little bit of wind stopped.

We took a loop around this rocky island (probably a glacial moraine) and there was still snow in the shady part. There were lots of water fowl plus a heron with very nice blue plumage.

 

We then paddled over the High Island where all of the ice was washed up on the shore.

This picture gives you a bit of scale for the ice shelf that was left.

We were a bit tired after a long day of work so we watch the birds for a bit and then headed back.

Overall, the water quality was better than usual. The last couple of summers have been super green. It was nice to be out on a lake again and we saw a huge number of bison foraging on the shoulders of the road on our way home.