Hubbles Lake, North Shore Entry

In mid-October, I went to Hubbles Lake to find the public access through crown land (thanks to Bevin for the tip). The easiest access is on the east end through the Allen Beach Resort, but they charge a day-use fee, are only open in the high season, and sometimes restrict access.

While there is a public access point on the NE shore, there is no parking on the roadway within walking distance. You can, get in about half way down the lake (green arrow above, enter 17 Lakeview Avenue, Carvel, AB into your nav). You might snag one of the two parking spots or you can park on the side of the road.

The lake requires a 250m carry (blue arrow) along some ATV paths. It isn't a long carry but there are some challenges. There is a small valley and ridge right away.

Then at the top, there is a long, steep slope down to the lake. The picture below shows the first half of the descent, looking south towards the lake. Then the path turns east.

The picture below shows the second half of the descent looking north (from the bottom). It is steep and rutted, there are rocks and roots, and also slippery leaves. You'll want to wear good shoes.

At the bottom, there is a little dock (green arrow) that had been pulled for the season in the photo below. Entry was so-so.

The lake was nice. Small, mostly pretty clean, and empty on a Wednesday evening in October.

I did two laps in an hour and a bit and there was some lovely colour.

The Allen Beach resort is shown below.

The sun started to drop towards the cloud bank so I called it and headed back.

The climb back up with the boat on my head was tough. I made it in one go but was huffing a bit and my back was a touch sore the next day. Mostly the footing was just tricky and, of course, my arms were busy with the boat. This would likely be less challenging with two people carrying two boats.

Lac La Nonne, South Access

On the Thanksgiving weekend, we ventured up to Lac La Nonne and tried out the public boat launch at the very south end of the lake.

The launch has slippery cement ties plus room for a gravel launch on the right. There were pit toilets, picnic tables, lots of parking, and one of those older metal fire boxes (but no fire wood).

Most people had pulled their boats and docks so the lake was deserted until a few fishing boats ventured out after lunch.

We went right off the launch. The shoreline is as above: cabins, trees, and a bit weedy. There was also some late algae still hanging on.

We tried our luck  up the creek on the eastern edge but ran out of water after a few hundred feet so we turned around and made for the island on the eastern shore.

The light was flat and dull so the pictures are dreary. It was mostly a nice paddle with good colour.

We round the island and stopped for lunch on the water.

 

Having toured the eastern bay tot he north of the island we cut over to the western shore.

We followed the western shore back, watching people close down their cabins for the winter. 

All told, this was a so-so paddle. It was dreary and cold (which happens) and the lake, while calm, had a distinct algae-funk. The launch was so-so and it wasn't as nice as our paddle out of the north end last Thanksgiving (better weather). Overall, I probably wouldn't go back in the autumn. Thunder Lake is just a bit further north and is nicer.

North Saskatchewan River, Quesnel Bridge to Dawson Park

On the Thanksgiving weekend, we float through downtown Edmonton to take in the autumn colours.

We put in below the Quesnel Bridge and the river was super clear.

The water was at summer levels so no gravel bars and we made it to Dawson par in about 2 hours (maybe 14km?) with little paddling.

The river was weirdly empty for a long weekend. Maybe we were just a bit earlier than most folks but we saw only one other boat (beached) the whole trip.

The colours were great.

The water was also super calm the whole way (no upstream breeze).

We pulled out just below the Rowland Bridge at Dawson Park.

Overall, a pretty and quiet trip that was mostly unremarkable.

North Saskatchewan River, Emily Murphy launch

In early October, I got up before the sun and hustled down to the launch at Emily Murphy Park to catch the morning light. 

I don't usually post about paddling the river since it is pretty much always the same paddle. I decided to put this one here because the sky was very pretty as I launched and worked my way upstream.

There was no wind and a nice bit of morning mist on the water.

I saw six different beavers out between Emily Murphy and the Mackenzie ravine.

At this point, I turned around. The car read 2C when I started and 4C when I got back and I was cool, despite two jackets.

This is probably the peak of the leaf colours. 

The southward shift in the sun was really noticeable.

The water was summer low, but not as low as usual for the autumn (where the gravel bar the gull is standing on is usually revealed and dry.

I got back without seeing alone else out on the water. There were a few commuters on the paths.

This was my 60th paddle this year, which I think is a record. I expect we'll have a few more before freeze up although putting the garden to bed is occupying more of my time and the shorter days makes it hard to get out.