Over the winter I purchased a folding kayak so that I could use a backpack to hike to hard-to-get-to-lakes with a kayak.   The first lake for this adventure was Island Lake, a grasslands lake in the middle grasslands of Lac du Bois Protected Area.

With the backpack on, i hiked from the trailhead to the lake on a faint single track and across the grasslands hills to the lakeshore, about 800m.   

At the lakeshore I assembled the folding kayak (the Oru Inlet).    I paddled around the lakeshore,a 1.2 km route.  

The ducks were surprised by my boat, likely the only boat to have ever been on this remote lake.   All photos by the author.    Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption. 

A few moments of the hike and the paddle are captured in this YouTube video:

More backpack and paddle outings are planned for the spring, summer, and fall.