A Day of Lakes for Our Last Day of Jasper

On our last day camped at Jasper, we are cleaning up the list of must-do things in the area. We have been blessed with cool weather this summer, and skies that are clear of smoke. Our dress code this summer has been long sleeves and long pants, with high temperatures in the 60s and 70s. That's nice summer weather!

Our last hike of our five-day stay is a relatively easy one to the Five Lakes Trail just south of town. At first we were trying to keep track of the five different lakes, so we could determine our favorite.

But we were visiting with a couple from New Hampshire during the entire loop, and by the end of the trail we couldn't differentiate the lakes.

They were all beautifully clear and had one of the shades of green to blue that we have come to love.

Lake One is the biggest, and we took the longer version of the hike that completely circled it.

This hike also features a set of those red chairs, overlooking one the five lakes. 

When not hiking around a lake, we were in the moss-covered forest that looked like the Keebler elves might be living here. By the end of the hike we were ready for a Keebler cookie, but I guess we'll be waiting for a treat at Tim Horton later instead.

We were waiting for the warmest part of the day to put the kayak into another lake near Jasper. After doing our research several days ago, we are heading to Patricia Lake just north of town.

It got our vote because it is less crowded. One corner has a road and public boat launch, but the rest is surrounded by forest and mountains that are not open even to hikers. We were hoping to see some wildlife.

We didn't see anything big, but we did enjoy several loons on the lake. Last summer we learned about the different calls that loons make, and we heard three different calls today from this guy.

One of the calls sounds like an elk bugling, and it's surprising to know that it comes from a little bird instead of a big mammal.
We also spotted two birds in the distance, with the mountains behind them.

As we rowed closer, we found it was a mother loon and her adolescent on the water.

The young one is still fluffy with fuzzy feathers in a totally different color from the adults.

When it loses the fuzz, it will have the beautiful markings of the adult. We had read that the parents carry the very young offspring on their backs, but this teenager was too big for that. So he's cruising the water right behind Mom, and only a few fluffy feathers are sticking out so we know he is there.

The water in Patricia Lake is a lovely color of green. We're having a hard time describing the various colors of lakes we see, as our crayola vocabulary has already been used up. How about sea foam green?

Even with that much color, it is still perfectly clear. We can see the fallen logs under the water as clearly as if they were above the water.

It's a beautiful day to be kayaking, as we are blessed to be wandering God's wonders again.

We took one last picture of Patricia Lake with Pyramid mountain backdrop as we head for the shore.

We intercepted another loon, floating on the lake in napping position with his beak tucked into his wing.

Our closeness wakes him up and he gives us a show as he preens and flips water to freshen up after his nap. Then he spreads his wings to show us just how beautiful his marking are.

We're heading to the shore to put away the boat. Then we'll be spreading our wings as we locate to yet another beautiful destination here in Canada.