Twin Lakes, Crimson Lake Provincial Park

In mid-September, we overnighted in Rocky Mountain House. With a free evening on our hands, we headed to Crimson Lake Provincial Park (about 10km NW of town) to try out Twin Lakes. Twin Lakes is small lake (maybe 800m by 400m), really more of a fishing pond, but quite lovely.

There are a couple of access options. Almost as soon as you turn into the lake, there is a small parking area on the west end with a path that leads down to a dock. There is an easy shore launch here but the stairs down were uneven.

We opted to drive around to the east side of the lake (3 minutes?) and use the hand launch, which I think is the nicer option.

You can drop beside the lake and then go park about 20m away. You can launch off the sandy/gravel shore or you can use the proper kayak launch on the dock. There are pit toilets here as well as picnic tables and fire rings.

We did two leisurely laps over the course of an hour.

The water was very clear and clean.

There are a couple of places you can get out on the south and west shores.

There were lots of fish jumping and a loon was fishing.

The water was very calm and the reflections as the sun started to set were great.

There is a second smaller lake to the southeast. There is a narrow channel that appears to connect to it on the air photos. The channel was only slightly wider than my boat and, after about 20m, it started to twist such that I couldn't get my 10-foot boat through it. A shorter boat or higher water might be required.

Overall, this was one of the nicest paddles of the summer and you could easily do Twin Lakes and nearby Crimson Lake in a single day.

Medicine Lake Provincial Recreation Area, near Rocky Mountain House

In mid-September, a trip to the Okanagan took us past Medicine Lake (about 30 minutes north and east of Rocky Mountain House). The lake is about 3.5km long and 500m wide and requires about a 12km drive on gravel.

Lake access is through the provincial recreation area campground's day-use area. There are pit toilets, a picnic shelter, and some picnic tables. The boat launch is cement but there is a sandy launch beside it as well as a floating dock You can drop beside the water and park about 30m away. The water was super clear and clean, even very late in the season.

We had a cloudy and windy day when we were there and the lake was really rolling. We turned right (north) off the launch to head into the wind and the calmer north end. Basically, the lake is a reedy edge with a mixed forest beyond that. There are some sandier spots you can get out fairly easily.

As we puttered in the north end, the wind started to calm down.

We then use the tailwind to coast to the south end. While pretty enough, the lake wasn't super interesting. Just a lot of treed shoreline.

We did see a bald eagle sitting in a tree, likely waiting out the wind.

By the time we turned around and came back up the east shore towards the launch, the wind had abated a bit and the sun started to come out.

There are a fair number of campsites on the eastern shore with water access (if that is your jam). Several folks were fishing or getting ready to go out.

There is a small pond just east of the campground that connects to the lake. You could, theoretically, get a boat under this bridge but a half-finished beaver dam made access impossible for us.

The camp hosts appeared to be renting boats as a side hustle.

Overall, a nice lake with a boreal feel and great water. I'm not sure I would drive here to paddle, but if I were going by, I might stop again.

Narrow Lake

In mid-September, I took a birthday paddle on Narrow Lake, about two hours north of Edmonton on Highway 2. Narrow Lake sits in a shallow valley and runs roughly SW to NE. It's about 4km long and maybe 500m wide at its widest point.

The best (and, as far as I can tell, only) public access is through the Narrow Lake Campground on the east side of the lake, about halfway down the length of it.

The launch has a a day-use area with a pit toilet, picnic tables, and fire pits. There are also a small number of campsites here. The boat launch is sand-gravel with a dock. There is also a sandy beach launch available and the water is amazingly clear.

The northern end is the more interesting and sheltered part of this lake so I went right (north) off the launch, and crossed over to the west side to paddle in the chilly air in the sunshine.

The clarity of the water is astounding, even late in the year.

There were lots of geese overhead but only a few birds, including this loon with a chick.

The eastern shore of the north end has lots of submerged logs. On a calm day with good lighting, you can see some pretty cool sights. It was still shaded when I paddled back down so mostly I saw logs thrust up out of the water.

The northern end took me about an hour and I still had some time so I did the southern end too. This was pretty and all, just more open, slightly rougher, and with less to see.

In the SW corner is Camp Wright. There is also a beaver lodge and the opening to a creek that may (or may not) lead you south towards Long Lake (Forfar). I was running out of time (and gas!) so I didn't poke around here

The lake was down between 8 and 12 inches over normal. A lady I spoke with said the drop had been quite sudden (over a week). About the only thing that would account for that is a beaver dam breaking. I'm not sure if that is the case (perhaps the creek on the south drains into Long Lake?) or if, perhaps, she was mistaken.

Overall, a very nice boreal lake and, if you were keen, you could do Narrow Lake and Long Lake together as a long day. The best access to Long Lake for this two-for-one would be the small campground in the north end of Long Lake. I'd come her more but the drive (two hours each way) is a bit daunting for a quick paddle.

Islet Lake

In early September, we decided to take advantage of a nice weekday and head out to Islet Lake. Access to the lake is about a 100m carry that begins on the gravel path behind the cooking shelter. In addition to the shelter there is lots of parking, picnic tables, fire rings, and pit toilets.

The path is straight forward but does have a steeper section right as you approach the lake.

Looking at the photos from last summer, the water level is down about a foot (maybe a touch more) so there is a much larger sand/gravel apron to launch from. There were more rocks we bumped over as we launched.

There was no wind so we went left (south) off the launch and paddled the eastern basin.

The sun came out and it was toasty warm.

There was more fall colour in the countryside than there is in town.

A few pelicans gave us a close pass. We then paddled down to the far northwestern end of the lake.

Along the way we saw some hawks and kingfishers. We also ran into this lone heron, fishing.

The north end gets pretty shallow and you can see (in the photo below) where my wife's paddling was staring up the bottom muck.

Eventually, it was lunch time and we headed back. Some Vees of geese flew over.

This shot gives you a sense of the water. A dark yellow-green. My white paddle disappeared from view about 3 inches down.

Overall, a fine enough paddle and I was happy not to have to fight the wind for once!