Talbot Lake

In late September, I took a trip to Jasper and paddled Talbot Lake, which is about halfway between the east gates and the townsite on the southeast side of the highway. It was a bit of a cloudy day when we were there so the sky and the pictures are a bit moody.

About half way down the lake, there is a pull off with a boat launch, small parking area, and a pit toilet. The launch is easy with cement and a nice gravel bottom. The water was crystal clear.

The western half of the lake is more alpine, with rocky shores and fur trees. 

The highway runs right beside the lake so there is a fair bit of road noise. The most interesting parts are the various sandy beaches. The first set is immediately across from the boat launch at the end of some dunes. There is also a hidden beach about half way down the lake that is right beside the highway but blocked by a small ridge. 

The eastern half of the lake is more swampy, with reeds in the middle as well as along the shore. We saw more fish in this half of the lake. There was no wind so the lake surface gave super reflections.

We paddled about two-thirds of the overall lake in three hours. I would think this is a good half day paddle if you wanted to do the full perimeter. The fall colours were glorious.

Sylvan Lake

In mid-September, we were down near Red Deer and detoured west to paddle Sylvan Lake. The eastern end can get both busy and windy so we decided to try the west end. We went off a public boat launch on the south shore at Range Road 23.

Nice gravel launch, good parking, and a port-a-potty. The lake was very clean and warm. We turned west (left) and paddled towards the nature area on the west end of the lake.

The lake was quiet early in the morning and the weather was cloudy and cool.

We saw a pair of eagles and a bunch of ducks.

Lots of dramatic sun rising pictures due to the smoke from the wildfires.

The leaves were turning nicely and there were lots of cabins to see.

We found a big buoy loose at the north end and dragged it back to the parking lot.

 Overall, this was a very nice paddle. Next time, I might try to get in from the north side of the lake.

Buffalo Lake Provincial Recreation Area

In mid-September, I took trip down to Red Deer and detoured east to Buffalo Lake. Since we were coming from the north, we decided to try the Buffalo Lake Provincial Recreation Area on the NE corner. We also could have launched from Pelican Point.

The recreation area (also called Boss Hill locally) has a campground (pit toilets, no power or water, playground) and a beautiful beach. Access was easy--we could drive up to the edge of the beach and then carry maybe 50 feet to the water. It was pretty dead in mid-September but the park website said the day-use areas fills up in the summer.

The lake is sandy and shallow here. in the photo above, I'm 50 feet from the beach and ankle deep. In the phot below, I'm 100 feet offshore and maybe to my knee. The lake does have swimmers itch.

We paddled west and follow the south side of the island for awhile. It was lovely (+26 and calm) and there was little boat traffic as it was quite shallow here.

Basically you get beach, grass, and trees.

We saw a few birds, including a heron.

The east side of the lake is reedy as is the north side.

On our way back, we saw a pair of bald eagles in a tree.

Overall, a lovely beach and nice paddle. Maybe a bit boring? Going south might have provided a bit more shoreline interest. There are lots of other entry points for this lake, including White Sands, Rochon Sands and the Narrows on the south shore. Maybe next time!

North Saskatchewan River through Edmonton

In mid September, my wife and I took our annual float through town on the North Saskatchewan to see the leaves as well as the city from a unique angle.

We put in below the Quesnel bridge, which gave us the chance to paddle up Whitemud Creek. The water level was high for this time of year so we got much further than I have in the past.

There were some nice stretches and then a few placed where we had to negotiate shallow water or narrow channels.

We made it almost a kilometre upstream before running into a series of gravel bars and debris piles. We probably could have dragged the boats further but decided to just turn around.

We made it back out to the main channel and then continued on downstream. The river was periodically busy and then very quiet. Lots of fall colour already.

The street car was going across the top of the high level bridge while we went under.

It is always surprising just how big this bridge is from the water level.

The Edmonton Queen was out for a Sunday cruise. I don't think I've ever been on the water at the same time as the boat was sailing.

Spotted my first croc in the river.

Also huge pieces of coal eroding out of the river bank.

Downtown always looks so nice from the water.

We met the Queen again at accidental beach and then got stopped by the water cops doing a safety check.

We pulled out a Dawson Park. After a very busy float through downtown, there was no one at the park (which is unusual).

As usual, a nice float with zero challenges. This is a fun way to see the city.