I started exploring this area in 1976 and I continue to follow tracks and routes wherever they lead, with the aid of map, compass, GPSr and camera. After many dead-ends, but also many discoveries, I chose to share this information. Getting out 12 months each year, I continue to explore trails, tracks, routes, and waterways of the Kamloops area and beyond.
In spring each year we hike around Long Lake in the Lac du Bois Grasslands. The route involves little in the way of elevation gain, but is about 9 km return to do the hike, with no established trails. The route follows the fenceline (single tracks) into the deep trench which has a series of lakes and ponds (the … Continue reading…
One of the first routes to clear and dry up in early spring is an off-trail route up a series of open ridges to the top of the Pimple. This up-and back hike is 6.64 km and climbs 545m (1788 feet). Along the way are wide-open views of the Tranquille River Valley, the flanks of Mount Mara and Mt. Wheeler, … Continue reading…
At the very start of spring, I hiked into Battle Bluff twice. The first hike was half way in to check out conditions. There was some mud and ice, but by skirting those spots, the route was clear enough for a group hike. When I returned 4 days later, the ice was gone and the mud was really only in … Continue reading…
When we reach transition season and all the trails are either snowy, icy, or muddy, we have a few “go-to trails” we can hike in late winter and early spring. The Savona to Sabiston Creek hike is just above the lake and the whole route is on a south-facing slope, so it is often the first to clear and dry … Continue reading…
When spring approaches the snow is slow to melt in the hills and hikers will have to face snow, ice, or mud for a while, In the meantime, we can hike the lower elevation routes in the river valleys to find dry ground. The Rivers Trail (West) is one of the first to clear. From the parking area at the … Continue reading…
In late winter when the snow still lingered in the hills, we stomped across the ice and through the snow to explore the three hills that make up Batchelor Hill in the Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area. The trailhead we chose is the “Upper Barren Hills trailhead”, off a short side road just past Batchelor Hill itself. The double … Continue reading…
In late winter as the temperatures started to warm up, the snow melted slowly in the hills. I ventured up into the hills overlooking Tranquille River, following double tracks, single tracks, and some cross country sections through the sagebrush and the snow. From the Mara Trail start, I followed the old wagon track that connects Tranquille to Pruden Pass … Continue reading…
We snowshoed from Lodgepole Lake southwest across ponds and cutblocks to do a loop of the Walloper Creek drainage, Our intent was to head over to Melba Lake and create a larger loop, but we cut off too soon and went through some very dense forest and windfall, making our whole outing quite a bit longer. The route across Lower … Continue reading…
In 2018 we hiked into Painted Bluffs Provincial Park twice. We explore the area most years, some of them arriving by kayak, launching from Tobiano or Savona. Most visitors only go to the foot of the weathered bluffs, but we have hiked and scrambled up and down the ridges and the gullies for a variety of views. Although the painted … Continue reading…
The trails on the west side of the Pineview Trails system are in the Ironmask Hills and can be accessed from a parking area off the Lac le Jeune Road. The trails have been designated for fat tire bikes and snowshoes. Snowshoes help to pack down the trail for bikes without creating holes so this is a good partnership. The … Continue reading…
Although I enjoyed this snowshoe outing into the forest east of Timber Lake, it is not going to make anyone’s recommended lists. The intent (in late winter) was to drive over to the Timber Lake area and hike up into the hills above on routes we have snowshoed before. there had been no winter logging in the area so the … Continue reading…
The upper (north) edge of the Lac du Bois Grasslands Conservancy is one of our best snowshoeing areas in winter. There are short sections of trails which can be connected up, but the snows blanket the area, obscuring both single and double tracks, so following snowshoe tracks may be easier. We chose to follow an old forested track between Clay … Continue reading…
In winter the Lodgepole Lake FSR is kept plowed to the Rec Site on Lodgepole Lake at 1339m (4721 feet). This is a good spot to venture out for winter snowshoeing, using logging roads and access tracks to cutblocks, skid tracks, marshes and ponds, OHV trails, and open cutblocks, linked together to create a loop route. Other snowshoers may have … Continue reading…
In the McConnell Lake – Stake Lake area there is a large marsh that spans the space between the Coquihalla Highway and the Lac le Jeune Road. There has been an access road off the Lac le Jeune Road for a number of years, but it now has a cattle guard so access to the doubletrack and to the marshes … Continue reading…
When winter snows blanket the hills we head to to various locations to snowshoe. Well-established locations like Stake Lake, Sun Peaks, and Bush Lake/Dogwood Marshes are often our first choice, but then we go to secondary routes when conditions are right. We first starting exploring Hill Hill decades ago, running and hiking the old double tracks on the north and … Continue reading…
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