We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning on Alpine lake. The birds were singing and there was a gentle breeze. A great time for a day trip. After a breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we buttoned up camp and headed south on Alpine towards Jasper Lake. Lauren enjoyed seeing the turkey vulture and was full of questions. "What do they eat? Where do they live? Where are the babies?" All of my answers were followed by a series of "Why's?" as we made good time across the lake.

We took our time crossing the short 44 rod portage into Jasper Lake. It was much easier with just a canoe and day pack. The portage is a little rocky and slightly uphill as it follows a stream with a few rapids that ends with a nice waterfall where Jasper Lake empties. The damage from the Cavity Lake fire was very evident in this area and so was nature's recovery. Amongst the burned out tree trunks were flowers, green shrubs and miniature birch trees. We took time to wade and soak our feet in the pool above the falls as we enjoyed the view of Jasper Lake.

We paddled south then west through the narrow channel and into the main part of Jasper. We passed a gentlemen in a kayak with a border collie balancing on the bow and two groups of six in canoes. Lauren anxiously greeted them all saying, "Hi, I'm in a canoe with my daddy. It is green. What color is your canoe? Where are you going? Why?", giving them no choice but to smile and wave back.

We stopped for lunch at the NW campsite on Jasper which sits on a point high up on a hill overlooking the lake. Amazingly, this site was about the only spot on the entire lake that was untouched by the fire. We had a great view of the lake during a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches and then decided to head back to Alpine. We fished a little on the way back with no luck.

Back at camp we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the sun and having a snack of GORP and cookies. Lauren wanted to draw more pictures as I wrote in the journal. A couple paddlers stopped by to ask for directions and marveled at my little outdoor girl. Aside from this group, we didn't see anyone else on this part of the lake today. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the paths behind camp and collecting more rocks.

For dinner we had vegetable parmesan and banana cream pie, which were both very good. Once dinner was cleaned up, we had an enjoyable evening of fishing from shore, building a campfire and watching yet another gorgeous sunset. We didn't catch any fish and it didn't matter as the night was filled with quality time with my daughter. By 2200, darkness set in over the glass-like water. We retired to our tent to the sweet sound of the loons and the increasing "Hum" of the mosquitoes.