Slot Canyons on Tranquille River
Tranquille River Canyon is a rugged area from Tranquille Crossing right down to Kamloops with steep walls or rock in some sections. In the narrrowest part of the canyon, the walls are vertical and close enough together to be called a “narrows” at least and a “slot canyon” for some sections. The river is funneled into these canyons, eroding and carving the walls at high water, cascading over fallen rocks, pooling and swirling, rushing through the narrow spots, all wild, rugged and a bit intimidating. The water remains cold and deep until later in August, then we can wade, swim, and scramble through the canyon. I have done this a few times. On a hot summer day, I hiked down to do a solo adventure through the north slot canyon and back , then through part of the south canyon. I try not to do the whole south canyon on my own since it involves lots of scrambling and swimming. There are more risks is that traverse. I will save that part for another day. The trail/route down to the area between the two slot canyons is steep, but it is only a 1 km hike. At the bottom, I stowed my pack, changed to water shoes, and put my camera in a dry bag.
The start of the traverse of the north canyon requires wading into the river. A staff is helpful on the slippery rocks. As the route goes north the water gets deeper and we have to swim through one pool. The rest of the way is wading and scrambling over river rocks.
In a shallow section we can walk through small rapids. Trees have tumbled into the canyon and I climbed over or under the logs.
At the north end of that slot we can work our way out a narrow part of the canyon, scrambling on slippery rocks.
On this day, I just turned around and headed back down the canyon again. It is dark in the canyon so I had to make some adjustments in the camera to improve the exposure. Photographers know that allowing bright spots in the photo may ruin the shot so we work on looking for reflected light off the canyon walls.
I had to swim back through the pool again to get back to where I started. Bright sunlight was shining on some parts of the mouth of the canyon so I took shots from the middle of the pool, avoiding bright reflections. This allows the colours to come through and if we hold the camera steady, we can also get sharper images in the low light. The carved walls of the canyon are an unique feature to our area.
The entrance into the south slot canyon has also been carved in high water. It requires wading and scrambling to proceed downriver.
The river course in the south slot is steeper and the river runs quickly, requiring careful progress. There was a cave-in/landslide farther down the canyon, requiring climbing over large boulders, wading, and then swimming near the mouth of the canyon. It is best done in a small group and a rope may be a good safety measure. I have done it unroped, but there are some drop-offs that require downclimbing and some pools to swim, best done with some level of support from the team.
I worked my way back to the mouth of the canyon and was pleased to see golden light on the sunlight flow going into the rocky defile.
At the end of the wet part of the hike, I changed into dry shoes and climbed back out of the canyon, a steep 1 km hike. the water was colder than I anticipated but I warmed up as I came out into the bright sunshine of Tranquille Canyon.
To see the slot canyons, drive up the Tranquille – Criss Creek Road past the Pimple. The Red Plateau Forest Service Road climbs the hill to the left. Continue past that junction for 2 km. watch for a small loop pull out on the right and park in the loop. The trail is not an official one and there are no signs, but there are a couple of obvious tracks going down the hill. Either one can be taken, winding down below some rocky cliffs to a benchland. The trail goes a bit south, then angles east toward the river, descending on a steep single track to the shoreline. Some route-finding may be required so watch for signs of a trail or flagging tape. Explore the canyons, taking precautions as needed and return by the same route.
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