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.
The open hills of the Six Mile Lake area clear of snow early and dry up for early season hiking. Pat Lake is one of the first lakes to clear of ice for fishing. The rugged hills on the north side of the Six Mile Road area are south-facing and drain well so hiking routes follow a combination of … Continue reading…
On the west side of Kauai, we can climb the Waimea Canyon Road to look into the canyon and hike the trails along the rim. At the upper end of the canyon road we enter Kokee Park for more wonderful hikes. Right at the junction between the two is a small parking area where we can hike a series of … Continue reading…
The steepest slopes of our area have few trails, but sometimes it is better just to climb into the hills and explore. It is never easy to go straight up a steep hill with no trail so we go slowly and take note of what we find along the way. This is slow hiking with lots of attention to picking … Continue reading…
Paddling upstream is always a good workout and part of a spring fitness program, getting ready for longer paddling adventures on the bigger lakes, the rivers, and the ocean in the summer. One route we do every spring is to go up the North Thompson River, which is a bit harder than the South Thompson River. I launched at Pioneer … Continue reading…
Cooney Bay can be a busy place on Easter Weekend with fishermen, dog-walkers, hikers, and families parking at the end of the road past Tranquille, and walking out to the gravel beaches where the Tranquille River meets Kamloops Lake. Getting an 18′ kayak out to the shoreline isn’t easy with a number of logs to get across, but with some … Continue reading…
A the end of March, the snow had melted and left the grasslands wet, but open to hiking. There is a good parking area just off the Lac du Bois Road. We passed the interpretive signs at the trailhead and headed northeast toward Island Lake following grassland tracks among faded brown hills. Some mud lingered in sheltered spots and there … Continue reading…
Red Rock Canyon lies a few kilometers west of Las Vegas. It is an area of desert hills surrounded by mountains, but within the broad amphitheater are a number of sandstone hills. The “red rocks” are the Calico Hills, but there are also a number of other sandstone hills nearby. The cliffs and rock faces attract climbers. There are over … Continue reading…
An open hill overlooks Kamloops Lake between Tranquille and Battle Bluff. It is a 0.8 km hike to the top of the Dewdrop Ridge and we hiked over the top, then under the bluffs in early spring. Red Plateau Escarpment rises 640m (2100 feet) above the Dewdrop Range on the north. We hiked up the open slopes to the … Continue reading…
The Calico Tanks Trail is one of the most popular trails in Red Rocks Canyon, just west of Las Vegas. Most of the hikes start at trailheads off the Scenic Drive. The Sandstone Quarry parking area is the start of the Turtlehead Peak Trail, the Calico Tanks Trail, and as a starting point for climbers in the Calico Hills. The … Continue reading…
The Barnes Lake Trails are horse-and-hiker trails in Barnhartvale. We enjoy hiking the trail system in spring and fall. The eastern end is open grasslands and the upper western-southern end is forested. In mid-March the upper trails were still covered in snow (and ice) so we improvised a loop in the open areas for a 7 km route. We started … Continue reading…
Red Rocks Canyon National Conservation Area (just west of Las Vegas) has many opportunities for hiking, climbing, and exploration. We spent 3 days hiking a few of the trails. We left Death Valley and arrived later on our first day so we randomly chose a shorter hike. The Keystone Thrust Trail starts at the White Rock Trailhead, then climbs … Continue reading…
The Westsyde Bench route extends from the Batchelor Hills subdivision to Deep Lake. A good single track starts right at the parking area by the cattleguard (at the south side) and winds around a ridge, then bends north passing by the new housing areas before joining double tracks on the relatively flat benchlands. The route continues north past Oak Hills … Continue reading…
Within Red Rocks National Conservation Area are a number of hikes into deep canyons in the Spring Mountains. Icebox Canyon leaves the Scenic Drive and crosses rocky desert hills to the mouth of the canyon which become increasingly narrow until it ends in a vertical slot where a seasonal waterfall cascades into a pool. The first section of the trail … Continue reading…
The Dewdrop Range is one of the first areas to lose its snow and dry out in early spring. The flats alongside the road are quite open, but the land is flat and behind a ridge so that area collects the snowmelt and remains wet and muddy for a while. The south-facing hills overlooking Kamloops Lake, though, are open and … Continue reading…
Red Rocks Canyon National Conservation Area is located just a few kilometers west of Las Vegas. The colorful desert hills and mountains offer many opportunities for hikers to follow established trails or to explore new routes. One of the designated trails is the one to Turtlehead Peak. From the one-way Scenic Drive Trail, the trailhead starts at the Sandstone … Continue reading…
As spring approaches, the lower south-facing slopes clear of snow first, but the hills above with no tree cover follow shortly afterward. Within two weeks after we can hike on the lower Barren Hills, the upper Barren Hills can also be hiked but hikers will face a bit of snow and mud on the north side of hills or in … Continue reading…
