North Coal Lake and Source of the Blackmud

Fifteen people came out on a sunny day to hike the section of trail that runs from the boat launch of north Coal Lake, past the “source of the Blackmud”, to the high point at the start of the Cloverlawn section.

The source of the Blackmud is the geological divide where water collected on the north side of it drains into Blackmud Creek and water on the south side drains into the Battle River. Eventually, both streams flow into the North Saskatchewan River…which flows into Hudson Bay.

Can you see the divide? We haven’t, but we do walk over it. Maybe it’s around one of the fence lines.

On the lake north of the boat launch, we saw many birds that look like black-headed gulls. Flowers on the trail included harebells, fleabane, penstemon, cinquefoil, coltsfoot, as well as wild roses, wild strawberries, and wild licorice.

Thanks to Lee for scouting and leading the hike and to trail maintenance for their fine work in clearing the trail. You can see all the photos on Flickr.

Where we’re going next.

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