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All new posts/articles will be now posted on a new version of the same website, but at a slightly different address:
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On a mild February day, we hiked up to the Ridge Lakes from Lac le Jeune. In most years we snowshoe up and back, waiting until tracks have been stomped in on the single track and snowmobiled on the double tracks. Over the last two years there has been considerable logging and firebreak work on the hill so some of the trail has been changed. The whole slope is populated with lodgepole pines, a result of former forest fires. The skinny trees are closely packed and prone to windfall. The trail from the end of Lac le Jeune Drive can only be done with volunteers cutting down and clearing the route of fallen trees. We hiked on microspikes. The route was packed down from snow melt conditions and the tracks of a few hikers/snowshoers. We used to use two single tracks to get over the hill but the upper trail has been obscured by the new firebreak work so we followed double tracks all the way to the lake. It was cloudy the whole way, but the sun appeared for a few minutes at the larger Ridge Lake. A few images and a map are shared here. Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.
single track through the lodgepole
our track
across to the burn
Ridge Lake Rec Site
None of the area is signed, nor obvious. From the end of Lac le Jeune Road, a single track bears east, winding past two small marshes. At the end of the second marsh, a single track trail bears south up the hill. It is unsigned and easy to miss. It climbs to the firebreak. Continue along the firebreak, bearing southwest, then take a south bearing track to the smaller Ridge Lake. The larger lake is to the west. Return the way you came, following your own tracks. There are other hiking routes to Ridge Lakes in summer with a side trail to the top of Ridge Mountain. A link is provided below.
With the variable winter of 2023-2024 it looked like we wouldn’t get our annual snowshoe to Ridge Lakes, but we took the opportunity to hike up using microspikes instead.
A YouTube video features some of the moments of the hike:
On a mild February day the valley bottom was closed in by dense fog. The hike chosen was the Mara Outer Loop Trail, a km route above Tranquille. Most hikers go on the shorter Mara Trail, but the outer loop is now signed and it provides more viewpoints to enjoy. On this day, the hike was a counter-clockwise loop, all …Continue reading…
When the temperatures warmed up, the snow started to melt in the bottom of the valley. Some areas had some ice, slush, or mud, but the most open areas dried more quickly. At the end of January, the road to Cooney Bay was difficult, with deep puddles and mud. The parking area was muddy and there was slush, ice, and …Continue reading…
On a cold and grey winter morning I hiked the double track from the end of Abbey Road, then turned up into the hills. I followed some double tracks, then climbed off-trail up to the top of the hills. At various spots along the hills were views to the west, views down to Saltwort Pond, to Kamloops Lake, over to …Continue reading…
On a mild winter day I drove up through the Lac du Bois Grasslands to the upper end of the Nature Conservancy. Snow covered the tracks of the route I had chosen so I stomped through the snow past a few animal tracks, but no other human footprints. The low winter sun shone over the chain of ponds as I …Continue reading…
On a mild winter day, I hiked the outside loop route on the Barnes Trails. From the Gardiner Road trailhead, the lower trails were wet but not yet muddy. Darker clouds swirled around the hills above the sagebrush grasslands for the first 2 km. I hiked a counter-clockwise loop going past Killdeer Pond on the west side of the trail …Continue reading…
On a sunny-foggy early January day, I hiked up old tracks from Pineview, zigzagging up the hill to the top of Coal Hill. The bike trails were closed, there was construction at the east end of Python Lake, and there was new fencing up the hill between Pineview and Aberdeen. My route followed an old double track, but I also …Continue reading…
On a mild winter’s day, the low winter sun broke through the clouds a few times on a hike through the hills. A bit of snow covered the ground, but there were bare spots under the trees too. I chose a route following trails for a while, then went cross country through open forest and grasslands meadows, making a decision …Continue reading…
On a mild winter day I hiked off and on trail on the West Ridges on the edge of Kenna Cartwright Park. For the fits half of the hike, the route was off-trail, traversing the hills. The hills were open sagebrush grassland slopes, moderate off trail hiking. At the far northwest end of the ridges, the slopes descended down to …Continue reading…
With so little snow in December we were able to hike dry trails. Since the hills were often muddy, we enjoyed hiking the Rivers Trail from the west end. We hiked along the dike for 3 km, then we turned and hiked a single track through the marsh out to the beach, For much of the year the area has …Continue reading…
Most of the homesteads in the hills have been abandoned for over 100 years and there is not much to find, but a few have remained mostly hidden and forgotten. We can find them by accessing historical records and by using Google Earth. Then it requires hiking to the potential site to further investigate. We spotted an old site in …Continue reading…
On a sunny mid-December morning the Batchelor Hills called for an 8 km hike. We have hiked some of these routes for decades, but now there are a number of additional single track trails too, with new names, and some new routes. For this day I chose to follow mostly old double tracks toward Mara Mountain, up and around a …Continue reading…
In mid-December there is sometimes too little snow for snowshoeing, but we can still hike in the hills, using old double tracks to climb into the hills. It helps to use good boots, to wear gaiters, to use poles, and to carry traction devices. On this day I did a 4 hour loop hike on double tracks, single tracks, and off-trail, mostly exploring.
The grassland hills and forests were homesteaded too, but later and for a shorter period of time. Settlers came from around the world and built their homes and developed farms, but the dry climate and periods of drought forced many to sell their lands. Many of these quarter sections passed over time to larger ranches and the homesteads were abandoned and fell to ruin. A few are still standing in hidden pockets in the hills. We can hike to these spots to enjoy them while they still stand. Two hidden homesteads are shared here.
On a grey day in Kamloops, I drove up the Lac le Jeune Road to hike above the foggy valleys. There was a bit of snow by the time I reached McConnell Lake at 1300 m (4265 ft.) elevation. There was no one else in the park. I hiked the lake trail past some large douglas firs.
