Big Lake in flood

Mid-July continued to be rainy and I decided to try a paddle on Big Lake, just west of the St Albert. I have usually avoided this lake because it is weedy and smelly in the summer. With higher water levels, I decided to give it a whirl.

Big Lake is normally two basins, connected by a channel on the southern shore. I put in at the Riel boat launch (right side of satellite image) and paddled up the Sturgeon to enter the eastern basin,

The Riel launch was tricky, mostly because there was so much water at the launch was drowned.

Once I got out on the water, it was a lovely day and I turned west. The water was still high but down about 45 or 60cm from the peak of the flood (based on the scum line on the sign below and the mud on the bushes behind it).

There was lots of water in Big Lake but the quality was not great and there was a bit of a manure smell that often heralds an algae bloom.

The shoreline is normally reeds that gives way to a deciduous forest. The reeds were mostly flooded and the shoreline began at the trees.

The paddle was fine (the weather was glorious) but it was a bit boring. I reached the entrance to the channel connecting the two basins. You can kind of see the edge of the channel in the line of reeds below. The water level was so high that the two basins had merged into one very big lake.

At this point, I decided to turn around. It was a bit boring and I still had about an hour paddle back. I did see this heron (right side of photo below).

It seemed annoyed and took off.

On the way back, I crossed towards the north shore and came across another submerged channel (marked only by a drowned treeline.

Overall, this was a convenient paddle, being close to home. It just wasn't very interesting so I'd probaby give Big Lake a pass in the future,

Mayatan Lake

In mid-July, we had a brief break in the rain and I hustled out to Mayatan Lake to enjoy a clear morning.

The rain had caused the lake level to come up about a foot over our last visit in the spring of 2025 so the launch was nice and clean.

As usual, the water in the western basin was in good shape and the lack of wind meant great reflections.

I did a quick tour of the western basin. The birding has slowed down as this year's chicks are now mostly grown.

I did see a few ducks and this loon.

The higher water meant the channel between the two basins was easy to get through.

Water quality in the eastern basin was poor. It wasn't quite an algae bloom but probabky soon.

I saw this hawk sitting in a tree, being harassed by two robins.

There were more waterfowl on this part of the lake and the reflections continued to be good, although a south wind started to come up.

I ran into a couple of other early paddlers this morning but the lake was otherwise desserted.

Overall, a nice easy paddle not that far from the city.

Pine Lake by Red Deer

In early July, I stopped at Pine Lake, which is about 30km SE of Red Deer on my way from Calgary back to Edmonton. The easiest access is on the NW corner through the Taunton Day Use Area.

The day-use area has a beach, a pier, a cement launch, pit toilets, and a picnic shelter and tables.

The water was clear the day I was there, with a small rim of loose weeds washed up on the shore. The bottom was sandy, although this turns to weeds as you get out into the lake. Reviews suggested the lake is prone to algae blooms in summer.

The lake runs SE to NW and is about 9km long and maybe 1km across at its widest.

The shoreline is a mix of private homes and undeveloped land.

I paddled the northern basin and then down the western shore about 3km before getting out into the wind and being blown back north.

The shoreline was pretty gentle but was lined with thistle, nettle, and wild roses so you'd have to look around a bit for a decent spot to get out.

Overall, this was a nice enough paddle. I'm not sure I'd go back any time soon. I suspect the lake would have a lot of wake-boat traffic on a warm summer weekend.

Red Deer Lake and Nelson Lake, near Ponoka

In early July, I tried to break up a trip to Calgary by paddling Red Deer Lake. Red Deer Lake is located about 40km NE of Ponoka and the best access I could figure is the west shoreline near the Johnsons Beach Campground. It looked like there was a public launch (orange arrow) so that is what I headed for.

When I arrived, access to the launch point was blocked on both ends (red arrows). It looked like you could drive around the eastern gate on the left (picture below) but I didn't try.

I then tried the campground (yellow arrow). The campground was operating but I couldn't seem to find anyone in charge to ask if I could launch off their beach (lunch break, maybe). Also, the beach was probably 200m from the edge of the water (below) and looked like a lousy entry due to water loss from the lake.

Eventually, I found a path through the trees towards the lake (green arrow) that didn't look too bad. 

After almost 100m of trees, it opened to a grassy field that gave way to mud flats and, after 200m, the edge of the lake.

The ground was very soft and the edge of the lake was super shallow so no idea how far out you'd have to wade to float (another 50 or 100m?) so I gave up. I did get an escort back by a horde of mosquitoes.

With that, I decided to call it and move on to my back-up plan, Nelson Lake.

Nelson Lake

Nelson Lake is located about 20km east of Ponoka on Highway 53. I was hopeful I could get in on the south shore here. There was a gravel drive with no gate or fence and a building that kind of looked like an abandoned public-works pumping station from the highway when I went by at 100kph.

I turned in to the drive and it looked more like an abandoned private building once I got out of the truck. I trekked through the weeds towards what looked like a trail down to the water.

Access was blocked by a gate with a no trespassing sign so I turned around. Some days go like that! 

If I'd had more time, I would have gone to First Chain Lake (which is just SE of Nelson Lake) or to Little Beaver Lake (which is just NE of Red Deer Lake by Ferintosh) but I didn't so I pulled back onto Highway 2 and consoled myself with an evening paddle at the Bowness Lagoon in Calgary (Glenmore Reservoir was too windy).

Sandy Lake, North Basin

On Canada Day, I decided to drive up to Sandy Lake, just west of the Alexander First Nation. We had paddled the southern basin in 2021 and I figured, with the extra water we've had, access might be easier

My plan was to hit the boat launch on the NW corner of the southern basin (red arrow). When we were here in 2021, someone had cut a channel from the then-dry launch through the cat tails and, with some work you could get out onto the lake (see photo below). This was not a first-date paddle, but it was doable.

Today, the channel had completely grown in.

I ventured a little further down the old launch (photo below) and this is now not even a "until death do we part" lake. 

My backup plan was to try the old Alexander campground access (yellow arrow) on the NE corner of the southern basin. It is a gravel/dirt road and, as the loop circles closer to the lake, there is quite an elevation drop (four or five meters). Doable in dry weather, but I wasn't interested in getting stuck at the bottom so I decided not bother. Access would still have required some bullrush whacking. I was then going to just bail out and go to Devil's Lake but, as I was driving west, I noticed this pull out just north of the first launch (green arrow) that seemed to give access to the northern basin.

This looks like winter access, maybe for ATVS or skidoos onto the lake. It was not too difficult to get down and, with the water high, it was possible to paddle through the usual bullrush bed.

Since I was here, I decided what the hell and put in. The northern basin is about 2.5km long (running NW-SE) and maybe 750m wide. It was about 75 minutes around. Below is a reverse shot of the launch.

The photo below is basically what you're in for. There is a deep band of bullrushes around the entire lake with a deciduous forest behind. About half the shoreline has cabins and the rest is wild.

There were lots of coots, gulls, swallows, and yellow-headed black birds. Otherwise, it was a pretty boring paddle.

There are some rush-islands.

The north end of the lake just peters out into a swamp.

The water is not great and was pretty smelly, especially in the north end. It is also thick with weeds. The photo below shows the bands of weeks, some sitting on the surface and the rest an inch or so below. With some warmer weather, weed growth would make this a hard paddle.

There is a bridge at the south end that maybe once offered access to the suthern basin. I would say that is no longer the case. There is also a playground no the SE corner of the north basin but that looked like a horrible entry (although there was a portapotty here).

Overall, kind of a grotty paddle and, absent some work to restore the boat launch channel, I'd say Sandy Lake is a bust as a paddle site.