Hubbles Lake

In mid-August, we took a quick week-day trip out to Hubbles Lake for a paddle. We went in through the crown land on the north shore (directions here). This involves (according to Strava) about a 400m carry with a descent of 15m (there are actually two drops and one climb on the way in). Spirits were high in the picture below, despite finding bear scat in the parking area.

This is the long drop to the lake. The trail turns to the left as it enters the trees and keeps descending. The trail and the footing was better than when I was here last fall.

The entry is so-so. The dock is dilapidated but sturdy. We decided to go in to the left of it and bum scoot through the mud. There was some lake goo here (just late season slime, not blue-green algae).

There was a lot of bum scooting and the mud smelled bad but eventually we got out into the lovely clean lake.

A reverse shot of the entry.

We went left (east) off the launch and paddled towards the Allen Beach Resort. There was no one on the water at 10 am on a Tuesday and no one on the shore either. The water was like glass.

A bit of high cloud looking towards the resort. There is a fellow in a golf cart on the beach!.

The sun kind of came out as we went east. The lake is maybe 1.2km long and about 200m wide and you could do two laps in an hour or so.

The west end of the lake had a fair number of birds and we stopped to float and share a chocolate croissant, like I imagine the voyageurs would have done 150 years ago.

We finally saw some other paddlers.

I had a chance to rescue a bee!

Getting out was basically the reverse of getting in, with some bum scooting and light cursing. The picture below is the first half of the hill before it turns to the right and keeps climbing. It is fairly steep and would be better with a cart than carrying.

The hill finally conquered with only a small amount of gasping. Not sure this if this was easier to harder than doing it with one boat on my head last fall.

And back to the parking spot and loaded. All told, maybe a ten-minute carry from the water to the car? Room for two or maybe three vehicles here.

Overall, a fun paddle on an empty lake with clean water close to town. I see why this lake is so popular.

Camp Lake and Thomas Lake

Camp Lake has long been on my list of places to visit and I managed a trip in mid-August. Access is through Camp Lake Park on the east side of the lake, a campground run by Beaver County. There is no fee but you do need to check in and sign a waiver at the camp office.

There is a large parking lot, with a port-a-potty and a picnic shelter. There is also a sandy beach, a cement boat launch, floating dock, and gravel shoreline for you to choose among. The water was clean but had a very mountain dew colour to it. Lots of people were swimming there when I put in.

The lake is about 3km north-south and 500m across east-west. The shoreline winds a lot and I'd say the perimeter is about 8km. A full trip took me two hours. 

The north end is much less interesting than the south end. The picture below is illustrative of the north end: rocky shoreline with occasional reeds, steep bank and lots of shrubs (chokecherry, wild rose, dogwood, saskatoons). There was honestly just not that much to see.

Heading south, things get a bit more interesting with beaver lodges and a few birds. 

The southern half of the lake had many more trees (mostly aspen) and a grassy shoreline, often with a sandy edge. There were a lot more weeds that attracted muskrats, beaver, and waterfowl.

I interrupted this coyote stalking some ducks in the very southern end.

I also followed this bald eagle around the southern end. There were a few power boats on the lake, towing tubes but none in the southern end (it was fairly shallow).

There were lots of birds trying to lead me away from their young.

Overall, this was an okay paddle. It was very windy at times. The lake is too shallow to get big rollers but it was choppy and quite wet. Friends have camped here and said it was a nice campground.

Thomas Lake

Just west of Camp Lake is Thomas Lake. I didn't have the gas to paddle a second lake but I did scout an entry point for the next time I'm down this way. You can get in pretty easily off of Highway 619 (orange arrow). There is a small pull out here where you can park and it is a short haul to the water along the highway right of way. 

The photo below looks west from the pull out, towards the orange arrow.

The lake edge is fairly sandy and shallow. The water looked pretty clean here.

The other option may be off of Township Road 480 (green arrow). I did not get up here but it looks like the road ends in an informal boat launch.

Kelley's Bathtub, Jarvis Lake, William Switzer Provincial Park

In early August, we stopped at Kelley's Bathtub, a day-use area on Jarvis Lake in William Switzer Provincial Park. Jarvis Lake is shaped like a J, with the main access on the south end (i.e., the bottom of the J). Kelley's Bathtub offers both a sheltered paddling spot and easy access to the north end of the lake (the top of the J). Our plan was to paddle across the small, enclosed bay and then lift the boats over into the main lake.

Unfortunately, it was raining like hell when we arrived so we settled for a walk around the bathtub on the trail. The main parking lot offers pit toilets and picnic tables. The visitor centre is also in the parking lot. It is about a 30-meter carry from the parking lot to the water but there is a significant slope.

The shot above looks back at the access point and gives you a sense of the drop and the narrow beach area.  The water was clean and this would be a good place to paddle board.

To access Jarvis Lake, you need to paddle across the bathtub, get out of your boat by the bridge (in the picture above), lift over the walk, and get back in. You cannot get under the bridge. The north end of Jarvis was lovely and is sheltered from both west and north winds (sometimes an issue).

You probably want to lift over the board walk on the south end (on the left as you paddle towards it), just in front of where my wife is standing. The bottom there on both sides is pretty good. The bottom on the far side of the bridge had submerged logs and looked way harder.

I'd definitely go back and give this a go the next time where through here.

Victor Lake and Grande Cache Lake

In early August, we took a quick trip that included a night in Grande Cache. We ran into some bad weather which turned a hoped-for paddle on Victor Lake into a quick scouting report.

Victor Lake

Victor Lake is located about 2km southeast of Grande Cache on Highway 40. The lake serves as the town's reservoir and there are no gasoline-powered engines allowed on the lake. There are a couple of access points.

There is a day-use area (blue arrow) that I took a snap of below. This has a fire pit, some parking, and a fairly easy grass and gravel entry once you lift down a few feet to the lake. The water was clear and clean and there were lots of fish jumping. 

Maybe 10 meters further west (green arrow) was a boat launch (looked like gravel). Further down the road, you could get access to what appeared to be an old air strip and has other access points (orange arrow). 

Allen Creek flows into Victor Lake by the day-use area and is apparently navigable except there is one point you have to portage around (according to the fellow we spoke with). The west end of the lake looks super interesting. This lake is definitely on my list of places to go back to.

Grande Cache Lake

Just a few kilometres further east on Highway 40 is Grande Cache Lake. It had about twice the foot print of Victor Lake and is prone to getting rough if the wind comes up. The easiest access point is the municipal park just off Highway 40 about half way down the lake.

The park has pit toilets, picnic tables, a playground, a boat launch, floating dock, and a gravel-dirt beach with clean water. The dock was crowded with people fishing the morning we were there.

Access to Allen Creek is about 1km west from the beach. This would probably be my second choice for paddling because of how open it is to the wind.

Gregg Lake, William Switzer Provincial Park

In early August, we stopped and paddled Gregg Lake in William Switzer Provincial Park, about a half hour north of Hinton on Highway 40. The easiest access was the day-use area, which included a boat launch, floating dock, playground, pit toilets and picnic tables. You can park right beside concrete ramp and either go in that way or off the shallow and firm gravel-sand bottom beside it.

There are boat rentals here if you arrive without your own. The lake is about 3km north-south and 500m east-west and takes about two hours to paddle at a moderate pace.

We went off the ramp and then turned left (north) and followed the western shore (a concession to the slight wind when we started out).

The shoreline is basically this all the way around the lake, sometimes with a screen of reeds at the shore.

We saw a couple of deer while we paddled and lots of birds, including loons and eagles.

There are a handful of small islands and then one much larger island (eastern shore, half way down).

At the north end, one of the swampier sets of islands is covered with nesting boxes. These are small and I think for swallows.

The wind had died off by the time we got to the north end and the whole run down the eastern edge gave us beautiful reflections.

The sun is obscuring the image below a bit, but in the distance is a beaver lodge on the bank in shallow water. What I was trying to illustrate was one of the deeper channels (dark area) that the beavers had dug out through the shallows so they could get in and out under the ice. The whole shallow delta here was covered in a network of deeper channels.

Fiddling with camera settings.

When we got to the south end, we could see that the water was high enough to get into Jarvis Creek and go upstream a ways. The map below shows the boat launch (purple arrow), the entrance to Jarvis (blue arrow) and how far we got (the pond at the orange arrow). 

Jarvis was pretty wide (6 meters?) at this point, compared with further upstream where it is maybe half or less this width. It has been a wet summer and it rained two days before, so the creek may not always be navigable.

We basically wound our way up about 1 km (20 minutes?) to a small pond I saw on the map. As we got close, we hung a left and went down a smaller grassy channel into the pond. We could have gone further upstream but we were pooped and decided to float back.

There were a few obstructions along the way, in the form of trees hanging low or submerged and this part of the creek is not recommended for paddling (there is a stretch upstream designated for this that I posted about last week).

When we got back to the launch, it was hopping (noon on a Saturday!) but there was still room to park.

Overall, an amazing paddle on a lovely lake. The water was clear and swimmable the whole time and there were lots of shallow parts on the western edge where you could wade out a long way.