In spring the snow and ice clears off the wide beaches between the Airport and the floodlands areas toward Cooney Bay so we can hike on the Rivers Trail along the dike and pick the junctions that parallel the beach.

By staying left, but not going onto the beach, we can follow trails through the cottonwoods and flood channels, bearing west toward the West Beaches.

This route passes by Dale’s Antique Beach, an area of old rusting cars on the banks of a flood channel.

The route leads out onto the expansive West Beaches and we can hike along them for quite a ways, with the extent determined by the river levels.

Our route went around one dry island and at the next island, we stopped for lunch in the lee of the island banks, out of the wind.   Mount Mara flanks the north side of the West Beaches.

We hiked all the way to the western end of the beaches and only the widening of the Thompson River and Kamloops Lake lay ahead.

We hiked/walked on the sand all the way back to the Rivers Trail under the watchful eyes of bald eagles.

A few video clips and additional images were captured in this short video.

For more information on this route, use the search function for maps, directions, images, and more posts.   (West Beaches, Rivers Trail, Tranquille…)