Every year I try to find some new lakes in the area to paddle.    Access to some of the lakes may be an issue.    Rough roads and launch spots are a deterrent and the effort has to be weighed with the benefit.    After doing some of the lakes, I may decide that it was a once-only effort.    Other spots call for another visit.

Two  of the lakes from this year were Buse Lake and Chuwhels Lake.

Buse Lake has relatively easy access, just off Barnhartvale Road, but I had to haul the kayak down the slope and launch in a muddy area.    It is an alkali lake and late in summer the oxygen in the lake depletes and so we can observe brine flies and brine shrimp.    Alkali salts ring the lake and a red band of pickleweed grows above the white ring.   It is a quiet place for a paddle.     The cliffs of Buse Hill rise above the lake to the south.    The lake and the hill are part of BC Parks (Protected Area).   A paddle around the lake is about 2.2 km so two loops is a good option.     When I paddled the lake in the summer, there were still lots of ducks on the lake.    It can be combined with a hike around the lakeshore, enjoying the salt marsh ecosystem.

Chuwhels Lake lies in a small remote valley between Chuwhels Mountain and Greenstone Mountain.   Access is by bumpy backroads.    We can get to the lakeshore with a high clearance vehicle in dry conditions from the Greenstone Mountain Road, then a series of side roads.    The lake is dammed and we can hand launch from the shoreline.    The shoreline is forested with some rock bluffs above the shoreline on the south side.     It is a quiet spot that has some fish in the lake.    A paddle around the shoreline is about 1.4 km, so two loops plus the hike in carrying the kayak is about right.    I sometimes combine this with a hike on the Greenstone Mountain Trails or the Upper Cherry Creek backroads.

More lesser-known lakes will be featured in upcoming posts…