Clearwater Lake is one of my favorite lakes to paddle and so I paddle some part of it every year.    Over the years, we have paddled the entire lake quite a few times and we have stayed in every marine campground on both shores.    Last year I paddled Azure and Clearwater Lakes.   With the heat, smoke, and difficult conditions this year, I did not get to the lakeshore until September.    We camped at Falls Creek and launched our boats in the early afternoon.

Normally we would want to paddle the lake in the morning when the winds are usually light, but there was little wind at the start so we took a chance and paddled up the lake.   Both shores are forested and sometimes steep.   We followed the east side up the lake with the goal of getting into the main part of the lake where there are views toward the northern mountains.

The winds whipped up blowing from the northwest making progress difficult.   After paddling into a headwind for half an hour, we turned around and returned down the shoreline.

From the boat launch to the widening of Clearwater Lake just past Diver’s Bluff is about 7 km.    We did not get that far on this day, but that will be the goal for the next time.  The lake narrows at the south end, continuing to Osprey Falls, but we landed at the boat launch this time, completing about 9 km of paddling.

We will be back to paddle and camp on Clearwater Lake for as long as we can.