Inks Lake is a small, muddy grasslands lake that seldom has anyone paddling on it, but it is a seasonal home to ducks, geese, killdeer, spotted sandpipers, muskrats, turtles, and shoreline birds. It is a scenic and quiet place for a paddle.
There are three arms to the lake, and since it is not a large lake, I usually go around twice, once in each direction.
A few peaceful moments are shared here:
When we hiked in the Six Mile Lakes area, we called Morgan Lake “The Slough.” Before it was dammed it was a long marsh. Now it is a popular fishing lake. We drove in from the Tunkwa Lake Road.
We parked at the west end of the lake (by the old Trans Canada Highway track, now submerged below the lake. there is a good hand launch there. When we arrived there was no one on the lake, a rare occurrence in nice weather.
We had first paddled Leighton Lake then stopped down to do Morgan Lake too. A paddle around the lake is only 2 km.
Another great day of paddling, the 86th day of 2022.
On a hot summer morning I drove up to Roche Lake Provincial Park, turning onto the Roche West Road to launch from a spot halfway up the lake.
Roche Lake is a bit larger than most area lakes and a paddle around the whole shoreline is about 10 km but when the weather is hot, a loop on half the lake is a better choice. On this day I paddled the southern half of the lake.
There was no wind and not many boats on the lake. There were ducks, eagles, loons, and an osprey on the lake. At prime times there can be be many boats on the lake and the wildlife finds quieter fishing grounds.
Some video footage showing paddling on the lake is now available on YouTube:
I will be back in the fall to hike the backroads and to paddle the other half of the lake.
When the smoke seemed to be everywhere, I used firesmoke.ca to select a lake missed by the smoke streams. There was a forecast gap of good weather for 2 hours at Edith Lake so I got out early to the lake. Some sun was shining through clouds, and most of the smoke was down in the valley.
Darker clouds were moving in, but conditions were still very good for a paddle around the lakeshore.
The summer drought had turned the pasture lands to dry yellow grasses in the hills around the lake.
I have kept the paddling time during the smoke to an hour to 1.25 hours. Once around the lake with some photos and some investigation took about an hour.
In most summers, all of the paddling on quiet lakes is rewarding, but with the smoky conditions, we have to take what we can get, doing some research to find the right spots. Edith Lake was a perfect spot for a summer day in fire season.
