On a sunny end-of-August morning I drove up through the Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area to a parking area by Lac du Bois.     There is no boat launch, nor any easy lake access so I hauled the kayak over the fence and down to the shoreline for a narrow and awkward marshy spot to access the lake.    Using tall paddling boots or waders works well for this mucky spot.

I paddled around the shoreline in a counter-clockwise loop, completing the 3.3 km circuit in less than an hour.

There were lots of ducks on the lake, swallows swooping, and dragonflies on patrol.     The highlight was a clear sighting of a river otter, slipping down a belly chute into the water on the western end of the lake.

This was an early morning outing before the heat of the day, another great day of paddling.