If you have stayed at Mile High Lodge, you may have been on Face Lake, but if not, it is hard to get to. Drive up the Paska Lake Road and not far past, the road ends at the Mile High Lodge. You could park at the lodge and launch your boat, paying a modest fee, but if you want to find your own spot, you have to drive to the Face Lake Recreation Site on the northwest corner of the lake.

Right at the gate to the lodge, turn left onto a road that has a Dead-End sign at the start. A short ways up, look for another weather-beaten Face Lake sign that is easy to miss. This 2.2 km road is rough and is only suited to high-clearance vehicles. It eventually comes down to the Rec Site where there are 2 camping spots and a hand launch.

With two arms at the north end, the lake offers more shoreline to explore, although some of it is in shallow water, fine for kayaks. The launch is off a grassy bank in a quiet bay.

A small islet lies at the entrance to the west arm. It has a trail and a small informal campsite.

Shallow areas had lily pads and smart weed in bloom. Caddis flies and water boatmen were in hatch and fish were jumping. Dragonflies combed the surface. Chuwhels Mountain stands over the eastern side of the lake. All was quiet. This is a pleasant 6 km paddle. When the valley heats up in the summer, the 4800 foot high plateau lake is cooler and the fish continue to feed.

Enter the water gently. Paddle easily, drifting often to observe the creatures of the lake and the hum of life, surrounded by the silent green forests.

“Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts. “
– John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, (1938).