Patricia Lake

A bright sunny morning greeted us during our May trip to Jasper so we decided to give Patricia Lake a go. You can access the lake in a couple of spots off Pyramid Lake. We chose the entry at the far northeast corner as it had an outhouse and good parking. This outhouse remains one of the nicest in the park, for whatever reason.

The carry was about 20m, just to the south of the parking area and it was a gentle, sandy entry. 

The lake was like glass for most of the 90 minutes it took us to go around (maybe a 5km perimeter).

The clarity of the lake is amazing and with bright sun and a calm surface, it is possible to see almost 30 feet down (note the cliff face below Jenn's kayak in the photo below).

We ran into a pair of loons at the far end.

The clam water also meant great reflections.

We spent a fair bit of time scanning the bottom. There is some WW2 wreckage in the lake but it starts at 45 feet down so is likely beyond what we could see.

We did find this boat bottom.

Plus a couple of sections of old dock.

Then a bunch of fish flies hatched and drove us away from shore (yuck!).

Back at the launch, we found hundreds of minnows snack on these frog eggs.

Overall, a great paddle, which is not always the case on Patricia if the wind comes up.

Lake Edith

In late May, we paddled Lake Edith in Jasper. Edith was right on the edge of the 2024 fire and we were keen to see whether it was affected or not. The evening started off a bit cloudy but the sun eventually came out.

The parking area had some burned trees but the facilities were all intact and the paddle board rental trailer was here. We parked and carried about 50m to the main beach for an easy launch.

The water was as clean and clear and (you'll see later) as colourful as ever.

For the most part, the trees around the edge of the lake were intact, although the fire came right to the eastern edge of the lake. There were a few spots (right behind my wife's head in the picture below) where the fire did take a few trees at the water's edge.

What's more noticeable is the eastern edge of the valley is burned right up the side to the tree line. You can sort of see the scale of the burn in background of the pictures below.

As the sun started to come out, the water started to show more colour.

 

One of the islands in the southern end had these lovely purple flowers growing on it.

Lots of snow on the mountains still!

Overall, this was a great paddle. There was no one on the lake and only one other family in the picnic area. 

Pyramid Lake

In late May, we took a trip to Jasper and paddled Pyramid Lake. This was our first time back since last summer's fire. Pyramid was, happily, unaffected by the fire. It was a bit overcast that day, but it was a nice paddle nonetheless.

We went in off the Pyramid Lake Beach on the south shore of the lake. We launched from the main beach (this just seems the most convenient to me) but there is also a proper boat launch, if that is your jam. 

There were pit toilets, garbage cans, and picnic tables. We went clockwise around the lake (left off the beach).

The skies were very dramatic and we had a slight tailwind down the lake. There was good dusting of snow on the mountains behind us.

Jenn managed to fish out someone's ice gripper as well as this hat that somehow got tangled up way high on this stump. 

We also cleaned up someone's bush party. We didn't stop for lunch on the beach in the north end because its as too cool. The area near the outflow was also closed to let the loons nest in eace.

The sun tries to come out:

We did follow this goose family for a bit.

The water looked a bit high to sneak under the bridge to Pyramid Island so we looped around. I forgot (again) that there is a debris field off the far side of the island and managed to hang myself up on some rocks when I got too close to shore. At least there wasn't a bus load of tourists watching... this time.

The lodge had a huge selection of kayaks, canoes, and boards to rent and the beach here is also good launch point.

Overall, a blustery paddle but very nice. Super happy that the fire didn't get up into this part of the park.

Obed Lake

In late May, we headed to the mountains and stopped at Obed Lake Provincial Park, about 50km west of Edson. It has been awhile (12 years?) since we've stopped here and I don't recall liking it then. Happily, we had a great paddle.

Access is through the campground and you can see the launch as soon as you turn off the highway. There are maybe 10 campsites, pit toilets, garbage, fire pits and some picnic tables and days parking down by the water. The launch is gentle gravel and you can drop your boat right beside the water (parking is on the left in the photo above). 

Obed is a big lake (maybe 15-18km of shoreline). We went right (east) off the launch, thinking that the inflowing and outflowing creeks would likely be the most interesting part of the shoreline. Both creeks and then cutting back across the lake was about 5km (so an hour and change).

The water was amazingly clear and clean and there was no wind until the very end. Obed is big enough that a stiff breeze means waves and splashing and a generally hard paddle.

The shoreline is mostly fir trees and scrub and the water seemed high (into the grass in places).

The inflowing creek was a fun little exploration. In the picture below, the bird is fleeing a coyote (in the bush centered in the shot but almost impossible to see) that was stalking it.

The calm water made for great reflections!

We paddled past some kind of camp towards the outflow. On google maps, this looked like a beaver dam.

It is actually a stone dike with a bit of debris on the top. There is a good drop over the other side.

At this point, we were ready to head back and get on to Jasper. The weather was also turning and the wind picked up as we were halfway across the southeastern bay. The waves weren't too but there was a lot of spray and I got a bit damp.

Overall, a very nice paddle in great weather and I'm happy to see my recollection of the lake was incorrect. There are two other lakes in the park, but both look like they'd entail more of a hike than I'm up for!