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.

Helliwell Lake

In early July, I headed up Highway 2 towards Athabasca to try Helliwell Lake. The lake is 4 miles long (maybe 7km) and is in three basins, straddling two range roads. I've seen this lake from Highway 2 on many trips to Athabasca and decided to paddle the eastern and centre basin (almost 11km return).

The best access I could figure was off Range Road 250. I parked on the south side of the lake (just below the pink arrow and made my way in to the eastern basin at the green arrow. You could probably get in elsewhere along the road (I did walk it all on both sides)--this just looked the easiest given the weeds (lots of nettle!).

I beat a path down the bank (below, green arrow) and then slide the boat down. It was reasonably steep. Then I stepped in and bum-scooted the launch.

There is a bridge on RR250 but it is not possible to pass under, both because of the cross beams and the beaver dam.

The picture below is basically what you get in the eastern basin. Lots of bullrushes, some aspen/fir forest and a few cabins. The very hopeful "lakefront property" signs put up by real estate agents on the roads nearby made me laugh. Yes, it is a lake, but really is is a sloe.

The water was full of blue-green algae when I was there. Not too smelly but definitely not for swimming. There were lots of ducks, loons, cormorants, and fish jumping.

At the far eastern edge (blue arrow), you could get in off Highway 2 (below) if you could get your car off the road and into the ditch (note how close the highway is to the lake!). RR250 was likely a better option, I think.

I fished this bird (I think a female red-winged blackbird) out of the water. She was still alive (despite the picture!), just exhausted. She warmed up as I paddled back west and I set her ashore on some sunny grass to recuperate (or not). Getting out, I almost brained a muskrat with my kayak, startling us both!

I carried the kayak across the road to the centre section at the pink arrow. This was a bit more of an adventure, with more nettle, worse footing and a sharp turn at the bottom.

The centre section is two miles long and is mostly this:

At the far western end, it gets more agricultural:

The most interesting part were about 60 pelicans sitting on an old beaver lodge.

At the western edge, you hit Range Road 252. I think you could get out here. I wasn't keen on trying the western basin and I was getting hot, so I turned around and headed back.

All told, an interesting paddle with lots of birds. I can't imagine going back, though. My boat needed a pretty thorough washing when I got home.

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.

Chump Lake (Big Johnson Lake)

In mid-August, we spent a nice morning on Chump Lake (also called Big Johnson Lake), about half way between Boyle and Lac La Biche. The launch is in the Chump Lake Campground and the turnoff of Highway 663 is not signed. You want to watch for (and turn north onto) Golden Nodding Road and then follow it to the end.

There is no cost for day use and you can launch off the beach or use the boat launch. There are pit toilets (super clean!), a playground, and benches. The campground staff were very friendly.

We launched off the beach. It is about an 80m carry from the parking lot down a hill and across the sand. The carry was so-so (bit of a slope, uneven footing--no big deal if you are fully mobile). Super easy beach launch and good swimming here.

The boat launch has a dock and is cement.

I can't say enough about the water quality. There are the usual weeds but the water was very clear.

The shoreline is about 10km and is basically this: reeds and bullrushes, then a mixed forest.

There is an island in the middle of the lake that you cam camp on. 

Access is on the west side. The bottom is a mix of rocks and sand.

On shore there is a fire pit (with wood!) and benches. There is room for a tent here. There is also a second more rustic site further into the interior of the island.

We did a loop that included most of the shoreline. There was not much for wildlife the day we were there. There was a lot of loud loons and lots of beaver lodges.

Overall, a very nice two hours. The campground operator said the fishing was very good, especially over in the southwest bay.