Steele Lake, Cross Lake Provincial Park

In early June, we trucked about 90 minutes NW of town to Cross Lake Provincial Park to paddle Steele Lake. The last 10km of the drive are on gravel and the park has a good set of amenities, including a boat launch and dock, a nice beach, pit toilets, picnic tables, and fire pits. There is also a campground.

You can drop right beside the water and park 30m away. It was slightly smoky when we got there but that soon blew off. There was also a small rim of algae on the edge in places (not the bad kind).

With the wind coming from the south, we turned right off the beach and paddled into it, thinking we'd explore the bay in the SW corner of the lake and then work out way east to a creek mouth. The last time we were here, we went north (left) and scoped out the NW corner.

The SW corner is mostly swamp or muskeg, with the trees fairly far back from the water. There were lots of fish and birds but to much else of note.

As we worked our way along the shore, there were a few higher spots with trees closer to the water.

The highlight was probably spotting this loon sitting on a nest hoping the annoying people would just move on (super zoomed in, apologies for the pixellation).

As we started east towards the creek, we bravely rescued a sand shovel that had floated off the beach!

We got to about here (maybe 6km of paddling) and ran into the hugest fish fly hatch I've ever seen. There was no wind and they were so thick my wife said I looked like Pigpen from Charlie Brown.

At that point, we paddled out into the middle the lake to find a breeze and finally get rid of them. Instead of eating lunch on the water, we decided to just paddle back and eat on the beach.

Overall, a pretty nice paddle. Lots of people fishing, both from shore and out of boats. We did about 7km in two-ish hours and had a nice time. The NW corner of the lake was nicer to paddle than the SW. I'd like to get over into the eastern end of the lake sometime.

Spring Lake

In early June, my wife and I ended up on Spring Lake after the put in for Longhurst Lake looked too gross. You can find instructions to the public put-in here. There was a bit of storm sewer construction along the public access (which made it easy to follow the route to the lake!).

Water levels were lower this year than last (and it was low last year) so there was some bum scooting to get through the mud flats (which were a bit smelly). There is a dock about 30m north which offers you a different approach.

Once on the water, we had the lake to ourselves. This is basically what you get: reeds that give way to aspen. There is some accessible shoreline on the southern edge and the island (which is a loon breeding area) is also accessible. The north part of the lake is very shallow (like 8-12 inches even 40 feet from shore).

The bird watching was amazing. The grebes were on their floating nests and there were loons and ducks everywhere.

Above us, three or maybe four osprey were fishing and we saw one get a good-sized fish.

In the southwest basin, there were a bunch of pelicans.

These guys were chilling on an old beaver lodge with a bunch of cormorants.

It was windy as hell that day (at least 35kph, with gusts over 50) so the boats got blown around a bit.

One of the reasons I choose Spring lake as our backup was because it is so shallow that even pretty extreme winds don't generate much for waves. The waves below are in a deeper part of the lake (between the island and the RV campground) and you can see there is hardly any chop.

We did get a bit of spray coming around the eastern end of the island as we turned north to the launch. No big deal, though. 

The exit was mucky, mostly for the boats and we ended up going to a car wash on the way home (more pressure than my garden hose). Overall, nice enough and way better in high winds than another lake would have been.

Fickle Lake

Fickle Lake is located about 30km southwest of Edson, down Highway 47. It is a provincial recreation area. Access is on the east side of the lake with a campsite, pit toilets, garbage cans, a concrete boat launch, and a dock. The last 9km is a gravel road (good signage) that you share with some heavy trucks. Mind the railway crossing (very bumpy!) as you leave the highway.

The water was clean but quite dark. The lake is pretty large (maybe a 15km perimeter). Knowing nothing about the lake, we went right (north) off the launch towards the outflow, figuring that would be the most interesting part of the lake.

The water was very still the morning we were there. The land around the lake is mostly low-lying, with fir and tamarack. There is some Aspen further back as the land rises.  

The outflow is so slow that there was almost no discernible current. We went about 1.5km up, annoying all manner of birds.

The highlight was this loon's nest we paddled past.

We returned to the lake and kept going counterclockwise.

We saw what I think was a marmot sunning itself on a log.

The wind started to come up and we needed to get going so we shortcut the bay back to the launch. There were lots of fish jumping and the sign suggested whitefish, perch, jackfish, and walleye (the latter two being catch and release only).

Overall, a nice paddle and almost no one there (a few people camping and some Alberta Environment staff in a boat). Super happy result for essentially a blind pick on the way back from Jasper.

Edna Lake

Every time I go to the mountains, I try to paddle at least one lake that is new to me. Last May, it was Edna Lake in Jasper. Edna is located on the south-eastern side of Highway 16, about halfway between the eastern park gate and the Jasper townsite. It is just a little southwest of Talbot Lake.

Access is DIY. We approached from the west and parked on the shoulder at the green arrow in the photo above. I'm not sure this kind of parking is permissible. The east-bound land is twinned here, the shoulder is wide, and there was a narrow gravel apron off the shoulder so we could get pretty clear of traffic without blocking anyone's sight lines. There was a drop from the road down to the ditch (four feet, moderate slope).

Then there was another two- or three-foot drop down to the water, which was a little swampy. There was a deeper channel (you can see in the photo below on the right) that might have easier access a bit further east. 

We just bum-scooted until we floated. This wasn't any big deal if you have full mobility and are reasonably confident getting in and out of a boat.

The lake is shallow in this end and we had beautiful sunshine. There was some traffic noise (the highway is right there).

The shoreline is spruce with the mountains not far back.

We saw a lot of birds, including this loon sitting on a nest, hoping we would go away.

As you go up the lake, the rock gets closer and the shore gets steeper. The rock is cool with lots of lichen and moss.

Eventually, the rock starts to recede and you get a forested shore again with deeper water. There is an island maybe two thirds of the way down that pinches the lake some. It also offers some shelter from any wind.

The northern basin is a lot of trees. We saw a guy catch something big (he was hooting about it).

The other access point is likely at the northeast end of the lake (red arrow in the photo at the top of the post). You could park at the pull out for west-bound traffic and carry across the highway. There were several places you could get a boat in but it would be good walk (maybe 50m--perhaps more). I would think the tiny beach on the right side of this beaver dam (that blocks a creek) is your best bet. The entrance we used looked easier--kind of depends on your comfort with the parking situation, really.

You could also walk out onto the spit of land and try one of the low spots (e.g., by the fir tree below) but the water was very low here so you'd be poling or bumscooting.

It took us about an hour to go around (maybe it is 4km). The weather changed when we got to the far end and we could see snow coming down the valley. The paddle back into the wind was a bit of a grind but we got out and loaded before the rain fell.

My wife stopped to collect some junk people had dropped.

We pulled out slightly before the place we got in, thinking the footing would be better. It was but there were a lot of rose bushes. Live and learn!

Overall, I'm happy we did it. Talbot is nicer, bigger, and easier and I don't think we'd go back here. The fishing looked good, though!