In shoulder season I sometimes strike off through the hills, hiking an eclectic route, adjusting the path to explore hills, gullies, ridges, and slopes without any specific plan in mind.    On a windy, cool day which had several hail storms, I wandered through the hills above Kamloops Lake. The areas were dry, with only a few early plants emerging.   I usually aim for hilltops, and on this day I ran into a coyote, two deer, and a grouse.   Snags and wind-shaped trees stood for portrait shots along the way. There were some lava cliffs to explore so my route took me over these, traversing across grassy open slopes to ascend ridges. Wind-shaped trees on the tops of hills are a favorite and I often will hike up just to photograph them. Each one has its own characteristic look. Long grassland slopes descended to the Thompson River. This was my first time on top of these lava flow cliffs. Across the slopes to the northwest was Kamloops Lake with Battle Bluff beyond. This spruce grouse scuttled off as I hiked up through a forested pass. I spent about 2.5 hours wandering in the hills. The last section was through the sagebrush back to the starting point.   There were no trails, but lots to see. I was glad to be back out of the cold wind, but I will be heading back out again to explore more hills in our area.