Alpine Jasper Falls - A Day Trip #BWCA 10

On Day 3, we were planning on taking a day off and stay in the same camp, but just paddle around to the other end of Alpine Lake to have lunch, go fishing and see Jasper Falls. But first we wanted to see if the campsite on the tip of the peninsula was open now. It is rated a 5 and is the best campsite on the lake, but it was taken when we arrived the day before so we camped at a nearby 3 rated campsite. As luck would have it, the people had moved on and we decided to move camp. So we paddled back to our camp and just folded down the tent and threw everything else into the canoe and moved it over to the new place. By the time we were moved in, it was mid morning.

Before heading across the lake to the falls, we decided to check out the 110 rod (1/3 mile) portage we would need to do first thing on Day 4 to get out of Alpine Lake into Seagull Lake. It was a busy portage since both entry points 54 and 55 were in Seagull Lake and to get anywhere West you needed to cut across Alpine. More about the portage later, but it was interesting.

We talked to lots of people there coming in for the long Labor Day weekend and they spoke of getting our campsite, the one on the tip of the peninsula. They were disappointed when we told them it was taken, actually many of the ones they asked about were taken - the lake was filling up for the holiday.

Again, we got lost paddling around even though we had been on the lake for a day already. We were trying to find the Alpine Jasper portage around the falls and it was tucked away in a corner around a bend. We got there around lunch time and did the portage to see the falls which were rushing and loud. We saw this couple with the dog "Tracker" that we had also seen at the previous Alpine-Seagull portage. They were on a mission to get somewhere first.

The interesting thing about the Lakes in BWCA is that they are at different elevations. Jasper Lake was higher elevation than Alpine lake and the rushing falls were a clear visual of this.