Marc Ankenbauer's 10+ year quest to jump in every named lake in Glacier and Waterton National Parks for charity.
168 lakes. Only 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ZERO LAKES LEFT!!!
-- Marc jumped into Fisher Cap Lake on Sunday September 8th, 2013 to complete his goal! --
Read about Marc and how this project started...

Kessler Lake – Right on the Edge – CAN

Kessler Lake Fence PicHi there every body!
I’m here to tell you about Kessler Lake, Ed, Diane, Jenny and a galloping  black bear.
Now, you see.
 Purple Flower
Ed went with me to Crypt Pond in Waterton last year.  However, this was the first lake outting for his wife Diane and our friend Jenny.
Actually I had never hiked with Diane before now, and she’s  a rock star.
Mt. Dungarven

June has been cold, rainy and even snow off and on.

So, this was a great day by just being alright… Clouds were threatening but luckily that just added cool clouds.

Kessler Lake is at the base of the Eastern Front which is literally where the plains hit the mountains.

Plant and Clouds

To the west of the Rocky Mountains are hundreds of miles of rolling mountains all the way to the coast.  For the most part…

However when you go east of the park its open plains till you hit Chicago.

The plains get better weather and since Kessler is right on the edge we got a pretty fair shake on weather.

Cows Running

We drove up to Canada in the morning and found a road just north of the park.

The Easment Pathway

It lead in to private property but there is a right of way through the cow fields to the boundary of the park.

Cows and Mountain

There we met up with the barbed wire fence that marks the boundary and had to climb under it.

Fence Line Waterton Border

 

From here there was basically a trail leading along the fence line which we followed directly towards the Mt. Dungarven and Mt. Galway.

Ed and Mt. Dungarven

 

Along the way we had to schwack around marshy impoundments and over little grassy rises.

Kessler 10

 

Kessler 11

The lake was well larger than I envisioned.

Kessler 12

It was very shallow through.

Kessler 13

When I did finally get in I had to basically just lay down out in the lake.

Kessler 14

Not much swimming going on.

 

When we first got to the lake, I had to sift through camera gear and we all ate lunch.

There is fencing that goes all the way to the edges of the lake as its half in the the park and half out.  I planned to make my way inside the park boundary.  So, I would be official, you know…

Kessler 15

We were about to head to the fence and out comes a black bear right where we were going to jump in.

He walked to the lake, swam in and right back out.  He shook off his coat like a dog and started bounding back up the little rise and out of sight.

The clouds all day were crazy.  The dramatic filter on my camera was able to get some pretty great shots.

Kessler 16

Kessler Lake

 

It was nice to have a so many people along.

I haven’t gone to a lake with four people in a while.

Kessler 17

Aside from great company, I had a mini film crew.

Ed took my GO PRO HERO 2 and walked out in the lake to film.

Diane took photos with their camera for evidence.

Kessler 19

Jenny staffed my new Olympus OMD EM5 and got video.

You three are awesome!   I really appreciate it.

Kessler 20

We eventually headed our way back to our car and drove back into the states.

Kessler 21

Chief Mountain Customs Station

Great day!

Even enjoyed a great dinner with friends and a good Ranger IPA.

 Kessler 22