On a smoky day I drove up into the hills to look for a smaller lake to paddle, then go for a short hike.   I chose Pat (Six Mile) Lake.   Access is on a rough road that turns off the Trans Canada Highway just west of Tobiano.   the old double track was once the highway and a bit of the asphalt is still on the road, but the road is mostly potholes now.   Both Pat Lake and Morgan Lake were dammed and the expanded lakes cover the old paved track.    I parked at the east end of Pat Lake and paddled around the lake.

The shallow boat launch is actually the old road bed.

The west end of Pat Lake is marshy.   Most of the ducks were in the shoreline reeds and rushes.

Although the sky was smoky, the hills reflected in the lake on a calm day.

I  paddled the lakeshore and then turned the kayak and paddled back the other way for a 4 km workout.

Fishermen were on the lake.    It is one of the first lakes to open in spring and it is stocked by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C.

After paddling and reloading the boat I went for a short hike on backroads.   The end of summer dry grasses and ponderosa pines dominated the landscape.

Pat Lake was one more lake in a season of paddling.    This was day 55 of 66 days of paddling in 2020.  Some lakes are paddled every year, some are every 2nd or 3rd year and a few are first time or last time paddles.