When the snows melt in late winter, the valley bottom clears off first and at the same time, the rivers are at their lowest flow.      The Thompson River flows into Kamloops Lake, but there is also a large floodland area that has sandy islands in winter and in early spring.   The river braids out in the delta area and in some cases we can hop over terminal channels or small channels to islands.     On a blue-sky February day, I hiked out to the river, starting at the gate area of Tranquille on the Lake.    A faint trail winds through the cottonwoods to the floodland shoreline.  

The area past the trees and shrubs is a wet area from April through September, but in winter we can hike up or down the river, hopping over narrow channels. 

On this day, I hiked upriver for about a kilometer, enjoying views of the river valley and the delta.

Coming back downstream I crossed a narrow channel over to a large sandy island that allowed me to hike all the way to Kamloops Lake.  With the recent snow melt, the Thompson River was flowing into the lake and chunks of sand were breaking off the island.    I followed the island back toward Cooney Bay, then along the beach back upstream.  

On a “blue-sky” day, I hiked a loop route of 5.3 km, mostly on sand.   There were some wet spots, but most of these were sandy and overall I kept my boots dry.  All photos by the author.   click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.

sand features above the river with Mount Mara in the background

Mara across the floodlands

the lagoon drainage

Thompson River Delta with Battle Bluff downstream

upriver

my route

Some video footage was taken during the hike too: