Square Lake is such a pretty lake.
It is not a new paddle area to us, but always enjoyable.
To canoe around Square, it’s just over 12 km of shoreline, which takes us approximately 2 to 2 ½ hours. 🤓 Interesting detail about the lake; it is 2.5 km across both east to west and north to south (kinda looks like a square). It is a very deep lake at 124 ft (37.8 meters)!! 😲This makes it a pretty cold lake, even in August. 🥶️
Each time we canoe on here, usually 2-3 times a year, we reminisce about our first canoeing experience. This is the lake we learned how to maneuver in the direction you actually want to go. 🙄 Quite entertaining for anyone who may have been watching.
Sunday, July 24th was our 1st paddle on Square with Marvin. Pretty sure, if we were to go around it, time would be cut down below the 2 hours. But, today, that was not the plan.
We set out on the east shore past the beaver pond.
Water was slightly rippled with a west wind. The sun just starting to warm up the day.
Almost immediately, our witty banter was interrupted by a loud repeating kli-kli-kli bird call….a Belted Kingfisher! The first time we’ve seen that bird on this lake, or this year for that fact. But it was not just one Kingfisher, there were 3 of them!! 😃
We paddled slowly down the shore, taking pictures of each of them (not like they look different from one another) as they leap-frogged from outstretched trees hanging over the water. Listening to their loud rattling call was a treat.
As we continued along the very picturesque shoreline with the King Fishers company, a duck and about 6 ducklings were cruising along. They were moving quickly to scurry out of site in the sparse grass on the shore edge.
No sooner were they out of site, we caught the glimpse of a black bear in the talk grass and shrubs. This was a first ever sighting of a bear. Although it was a brief view (mainly ears) it was still amazing. We kept the canoe as stationery as we could, hoping the bear would become visible again, but no luck.
The wind had almost become non-existent, and the lake was virtually still. At the jog in the lake where some weed beds appear, we decided to toss a few hooks to see if any of the jack were biting.
Mental note from yesterday’s fishing excursion to change the twisty leader on Jen’s rod was forgotten, and 1st cast she donated her favorite rattler to the lake. Another one bites the dust. 😬
After a few casts and no action, we decided to pull Marvin up on the little strip of sand, stretch our legs and check out the rocks. This is one of the very few slivers of beach on the lake this year. Most years the water is even higher, and no sand is usually visible. Taking our time, we walked along in the sand, just enjoying the day. Very beautiful.
It wasn’t long, and the wind stated to pick up a bit; our calling card to head back. The canoe paddle back was at a quicker pace and only a few birds were seen.
The lake has some “deadheads” (trees that are stuck vertically on the lake button). When you’re boating along the shore, you need to be careful not to hit any of them, they are very random. The one we could see about 40 ft out from shore had a Cormorant perched on top of it, which is quite common. But this Cormorant was quite the display. With wings outstretched, standing on this little log, it was a pretty cool site.
As we canoed up to the boat launch, we could see someone with a quad parked in the water, washing if off with buckets of water. This might have been a frequent sight in the 90’s or maybe even a few years ago, but with the health of our lakes and rivers being high priority, this was a concerning site. We came up to shore and said “hi” to the young kid (probably around 12). He said “hi” back, and I decided to mention something about what he was doing. “Did you know it’s not good to wash our quad in the lake? All the oil and grease that are on it end up in the lake.” His reply (not a shocker), was “My dad told me to.” Unsure what to follow up with, I simply said, “Well, isn’t that unfortunate.” 😕
The ending of the day makes me think of the condition of our local lakes. Lac La Biche lake has had a blue-green algae warning on it since early May, along with a fecal bacterial warning along one area. We are all concerned about what is happening to our lakes, but more education and for sure more enforcement is needed to truly make a difference. We’ve seen many manicured lawns along the shore with no weeds visible. Seen the recent clearing of the land along the lake (down to the dirt) for personal lake access and removal of vegetation in the lake along properties for better swimming. And now today, cleaning of an ATV in the lake. Yes, more needs to be done.
It was a gorgeous day for a paddle on one of our favorite lakes. The viewing of the 3 Belted Kingfishers will be forever in our memories.
Upcoming canoe trips; Elinor Lake, Lac La Biche (from Whitesands down part Lac La Biche River), & Blackett in Lakeland Provincial Park. (Not necessarily in that order). 😉
