It was a super last-minute decision to come to Lake Kuttara. We’d paddled Lake Eniwa in the morning, and were vaguely contemplating going for a bob on the Lake Chitose in the afternoon. But while the man-made Lake Eniwa was nice enough, I knew Lake Chitose was going to be only a very short 1km or so of paddling all up, with not a whole lot of scenery. A quick look on Google told me that we could be at the pristine Lake Kuttara in just over an hour if we used the expressway, so we decided to make the dash there instead. It was my second time to visit the lake (first time by canoe), and the other three had never been there before.
We arrived at around 1pm after making the drive along the expressway with canoes strapped to the top of the car. The quiet calm of the lake was in direct contrast to the relative chaos of this last minute decision to come here.
As soon as we were on the water, we were taken aback at how crystal clear the water was. Or should that be aqua-clear, or emerald-clear. It was difficult to put one’s finger on the exact color, as it changed so often.
It didn’t take too long to get to the larger of the beaches, about half way around the lake at the 4km point. We imagined this would be the perfect spot for a leisurely picnic lunch on a hot day.
The highlight of the second half of the very circular journey was the interesting half-cave about 20 minutes from the lodge. There was water seeping through the rock, and moss clinging to the sides of the cave.
We polished off the final few hundred meters of the paddle, finishing what was a very worthwhile and unexpected afternoon out.
