East Pit Lake

In mid-October, we hauled the boats out to East Pit Lake for a late-season paddle. This is not my wife's favourite lake because of the long carry (350m or more) plus it has 30m of elevation change.

Happily she sucked it up and, with enough rest stops, we made it down to the water without anyone getting injured. The trail, especially up out of the parking lot, seemed to be in better shape than I remember it being.

The big surprise was that the lake was two feet lower than it was the last time I was here (maybe autumn of 2024). This made launching easier but is very worrying.

We had a nice paddle down, taking the autumn colours. There was not much for wildlife beyond a few ducks and lots of beaver activity.

The views were, as always, very pretty. And being down below the surrounding land meant there was very little wind.

About a 45 minute paddle around, going slowly and talking. I would think you could do two laps in an hour pretty easily with constant paddling.

The hike back up was also not too bad. This is one of the few long carries where going in solo with a boat on my head is actually easier than lugging two boats with a second person.