Day 4 of Jake and Lyndsay’s Canadian SUP tour can only be described with one word – epic! Read all about it here:
Day 4: Hike and Paddle Boom Lake, AB
I think we can all agree that ‘epic’ is the most overused word ever. The car is epic. The dinner was epic. Blah, blah, blah, epic. Jake and I realized today, for the first time, how ‘epic’ should be used. We would like to share our revised definition with you:
epic: adjective
- Today Jake and I woke up from The Emerald Lake Lodge in British Columbia and finally decided on a lake to hike into and paddle. We have been indecisive since we first started planning this trip on where to go, how long to hike, how many boards to take in, etc., but in the end we chose a lake we knew nothing about: Boom Lake, AB. Boom Lake is one of many lakes in the area and to be honest I’m not sure why it became the frontrunner. It looked fairly large on the map and was roughly a 3 mile hike in (6 miles round trip) which seemed good enough for us. We had our backpacking packs with us so we filled one with a paddle board and gear (pump, fin), and the other with supplies including water, food, hammock, extra clothes, towels, etc. The trail into the lake was uneventful – just a very lush, muddy, tree ridden trail.
Then we saw Boom Lake… The lake is set in a bowl that is surrounded by glacier peaks. The trail let right to the shoreline which was full of boulders. Unlike most of the lakes in this area, the water is very clear and a beautiful blue/green color. Jake pumped up the board on the rocks and paddled towards the other end of the lake with the supplies to find a spot where we could hang out at while I waited on the rocky shore with other day hikers. After about 45 minutes he came back to get me after finding an island in the middle of the lake. 
We both carefully and unsteadily worked our way to the island (complete silence with the distant trickle of cascading waterfalls as our only company). Once we docked on the island I set up the hammock and Jake set off to paddle around and explore the coves of the lake. The lake was crystal clear (very similar to if not clearer than Lake Tahoe) with a calm wind that died down at times to give the water a glassy appearance. 
About an hour went by before he returned and the only thing he said was, “You have to go out there. I can’t even describe the things I saw.” So off I went. All I can say is thank God for pictures. Without them we could never describe in enough detail the overwhelming clarity of the water, the endless waterfalls that cascaded down steep granite walls into the lake, or the phenomenal views of the glacier mountains themselves. As I paddled around the lake alone, it was almost too much to take in. At that moment I felt as though deciding to hike to Boom Lake, AB was the very best life decision we have ever made. The rocky mountains are unbelievable. Just when you think you have seen the very best, they go and outdo themselves.
Anyways, after we both paddled the lake and were convinced we were the first and only ones to ever do so, we packed up all of our gear and headed back to the far shore to take the trail back to the car.
Example: “Today we had an epic day.”
Click a link below to read the 6-part series to their story:
PART 1