Tranquille Slot Canyons
The Tranquille River Slot Canyons aren’t really slots. The definition of a slot is a canyon no greater than a full arms span wide. These are wider for sure, but they are the closest thing we have in the Kamloops area. There are two “slots” that can be accessed from one point, as detailed in previous articles.
The north slot is more accessible, but we had to wade into the clear water from the outset.
There are deeper pools where the water was up to our chests in September. The water was cool in the darker corridors of the canyon
At different times of the day, sunbeams stream down into the canyon at several spots.
We went up through the north slot and back by the same route, carefully stepping through slipper stones under the water. We have to go downstream for a couple of minutes to enter the south slot canyon. Soon there were choices to scramble over boulders or wade in deeper water. A larger chamber in the middle had deeper pools that required us to swim a few strokes.
The deeper pool was a change and the reason was evident on the other side. Part of the canyon wall had collapsed and had dammed the pool with rockfall. There are now two waterfalls below the boulder slope. It is possible to get down this area, but it would best to use a rope now.
We hiked back up the canyon, crossed the river, then climbed over the hill on the east side to come down to the mouth of the south canyon.
Rock towers rise above the canyon on both sides. We climbed to the top of one of them for the view.
We stopped for lunch at the south end of the canyons. A snake had caught a fish and was swimming by the shoreline. Above on the slope is a fossil bed and we spotted a dozen fossils, leaving most there for the next visitors.
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We hiked out the steep route back to the parking area. This is a scramble we do every year and we will return in 2016 in a different month and we will continue to explore the hillsides, hidden spots, and the viewpoints of the Tranquille River Slot Canyons.