Cliff Jumping at the Mermaids Lagoon; Abraham Lake

For the first time in many years I got to go camping with my family. We used to go a lot when I was younger but as life changes so can those family trips.

Abraham Lake, Alberta is located very near to Crescent Falls where we used to camp, about 3 hours from Edmonton.

Ryan and I have visited Abraham Lake twice before but have never stayed there or ventured overly far into the area. The camping area isn’t the easiest to access as the “roads” are quite steep in areas and are frequently washed out.

My parents Jeeps got us in and out really easily and my dad already had his campsite picked out before we ever left. I’m using the term campsite somewhat lightly though as this isn’t an actual campground at all. No picnic tables, bathrooms of any kind, wood piles or anything else. It’s just you and nature so if you can’t handle peeing in the woods you should probably stay home.

As is always the case the first thing we did after claiming enough spots for 4 tents was to set up. Everyone got their tents up, beds made and then turned the focus to food (or knives and other pointy things in the case of my brother.)

Is it too early start a fire? Will it rain and put the fire out? Can I live on marshmallows?

These were a few of the things that went through my head. While considering these very important things we had water boiling for tea, and then it rained. A bunch.

Everyone retreated to tents except Ryan, dad and I who pretended that it was better if we were under a tree.. We were not protected at all under those trees and got good and soaked. We eventually went to our tents as well but only had to stay there for a short time before the sun was back and we could start the fire and get the roasting sticks out.

Roasted vegetarian hotdogs are not the most delicious thing out there but when they are followed by chocolate chip cookie s’mores I can live with them!

Ryan and I were the first up on the morning of our first full day and took the time to walk along the rocky edge of the water while we waited for the vehicle to unlock so we could get breakfast. It’s a very calm, quite area with the only background noise being the water hitting the rocks and the breeze rustling the leaves, a pretty perfect escape from city life.

In time other people started emerging from their tents, we got breakfast and then we did not much of anything for a while. Isn't that the beauty of camping though? Having nothing to do and nowhere to go. You dress yourself appropriately for your surroundings, feed yourself and then do what makes your heart happy. 

On the subject of happy hearts, I absolutely adore the water. I have loved swimming for as long as I can remember and being in a place this beautiful makes me want to spend as much time as possible in or near the water. 

My brother, his friend, Ryan and I all got our suits on and headed for a rocky area that allows for a pretty significant cliff jump into the lake. Kevin did it once before and so he was able to assure me that the water was deep enough. 

Side note* Abraham Lake is actually a reservoir with a dam, not a lake, and as such the water levels rise and fall, be smart about it. 

The four of us stood on top looking down for several minutes before anyone even considered the jump and then out of nowhere Evan made the leap. There were a few shouted profanities as he hit the water and some more as he swam as fast as he could to get out of his icy hell. The boys were all more concerned with the water temperature rather than the 25ft leap off a cliff, I was quite the opposite. 

Kevin went next and took it like a champ. Once he was out of my landing area I took the leap too. 

Let me just tell you, it was horrifying. I screamed bloody murder. Standing on the rocks and looking down gives you a good sense of how high up you are, but once you jump and there is no longer anything under your feet it sure seems a lot higher. 

It hurt like hell when I hit the water and the icy pins and needles start as soon as you are submerged, fortunately it's cold enough that everything goes numb pretty fast. And you know what, once you're numb and start to adjust to the water it's really beautiful. The jump was scary and painful but also thrilling and exhilarating. And as I'm writing this 5 days after the experience I have several bruises and also a new sense of how brave I am. 

The cove where we jumped is such a beautiful place. The water is perfectly, almost unnaturally, blue. It's around a bend from the rest of the lake and therefore slightly protected from sun and wind. Do you remember that scene in Disney's Peter Pan when Wendy first sees the mermaids? I think that's what goes on here when no one is looking. 

I momentarily considered jumping again, only from about 5 feet this time, but I couldn't get myself to do it so I swam a bit more before going back to camp for lunch. 

Because that is the way of camp life, everyone else went for an afternoon nap and Ryan and I took ourselves for a little hike around the area. 

We went back to the jumping rocks to get pictures and then decided to cross the highway to see what was on the other side. We found a canyon with a river flowing through it and then I felt odd for having never noticed it before. We threw rocks in the water, tried and failed to cross the river and then noticed that the river flows into a culvert, under the highway we just crossed and then flows into our mermaids lagoon. There was a second culvert much higher up that would presumably allow for the lake to flow through if the water got that high but since it was currently empty I decided to walk through it and get a new perspective of what I had so recently jumped from. 

We continued to explore more areas, see what else was around us and generally enjoy the beautiful day. I can only take so much sun before I need to hide away so we took ourselves back to camp, found a shady spot to put our chairs and stayed there for a long while. As the minutes passed by I started to realize just how much sun I got and how burnt I was. Why do I never learn??!

The rest of our day was spent alternating between playing in the shallow water, hiding in the shade and eating snacks. By the time it was dark we got our fire started, supper cooked and marshmallows ready for roasting. Really, it's the only way to end a camp day.